In the song “Rats,” who is Ben?
Ben is in reference to the Michael Jackson song “Ben”. “Ben” was the song from the 70’s movie also named “Ben” which was a sequel to the movie “Willard”. Willard was a movie about a young loner who befriends a rat named Ben. Ben turns into a killer rat that leads other rats into harming others, etc. The killer rat returns in the movie sequel called “Ben”. Eddie Vedder has always said that he was a big Motown fan and a big Jackson 5 fan when he was a young boy. He has said that one of the first records he ever listened to was “ABC” by the Jackson 5 and he gets “chills” when he sees the Motown logo. And yes, in the Atlanta April 03, 1994 show, when Eddie says “Michael Jackson is innocent”, it IS in reference to Michael Jackson and the molestation charges against him at the time.
