Now that Bennifer are properly back together, we need to talk about Dear Ben.
It’s not one of Jennifer Lopez‘s biggest hits. It only peaked at #20 on the Billboard charts — and that was back in May of THIS YEAR because fans were so excited they just had to put it on in the background while looking at photos of J.Lo and Ben Affleck making out on a boat!
Related: Proof Ben Is A Better Boyfriend This Time Around?
No, Dear Ben wasn’t even a single when it was released on the This Is Me… Then album back in 2002. But for a non-number one, it sure is a crucial song in the story of J.Lo in retrospect! So let’s talk about the prophetic paean to the star of Paycheck — and how its lyrics should have told us way back when that Bennifer would return one day… when we needed them most.
It begins with that whispered:
You’re perfect…
OK, obviously, Ben Affleck is not “perfect.” If he was, we wouldn’t be getting a Bennifer relationship sequel — the first time would still be going because he wouldn’t have bailed on the relationship to hook up with his Daredevil co-star, awkwardly also called Jennifer!
This may be the only line gurl wishes she could actually take back… Or, wait, put a pin in that…
Anyway, she continues:
I just can’t control myself
I can’t be with no one else
Huh. Yeah, that… that ended up being spot on. While Jen was able to be with other guys for limited times — obviously she was married to Marc Anthony for seven years, and they had two kids together. And then there was her on-and-off thing with backup dancer Casper Smart and her four-year relationship with ex-fiancé Alex Rodriguez.
But none of them stuck around. She needed her Ben. As she sang:
It seems I’m addicted to the way you like to touch me
OK, that’s just hot. Next!
I don’t think they understand
Why I love at your command
From the words you speak
So deep our bodies meet, I had to have you
“From the words you speak”… Remember when we got the inside scoop on those love letters Ben was sending to J.Lo before they reconciled? We heard at the time one “included a line about him being able to ‘own her heart’ with his pen.”
It seems he had her heart with his words even then!
I love you, you’re perfect
A manifestation of my dreams
You make my body feel
About a million different things
There’s that “perfect” line again. 2002 Jen was in for a rude awakening. The million and one thing was about to be heartbreak. Sorry, but it’s true!
Thankfully it does seem like Ben has gotten past his playboy ways.
I think God made you for me
A mix of passionate fidelities
Baby, you’re so complete
Ooh, damn, more like infidelities! Er, see above. LOLz!
I write this song to let you know
That you will always be to me
My lust, my love, my man, my child, my friend, and my king
She really said “my king”? Damn, gurl! But more importantly she said “always.” She says he’ll always be those things. Isn’t that something? From what we’ve heard lately, she may have meant that! After all, we learned she kept his engagement ring this whole time!
OK, anyone would have kept that Harry Winston monster, but the bracelet, too? One incredibly inneresting turn is in the second chorus, when she sings:
There’s no way I’d leave you
It’s just not a reality
Sometimes I feel like I’m
Living in a fantasy
“There’s no way I’d leave you.” Except… she did leave him, didn’t she? Obviously he had ostensibly already chosen another woman — another Jennifer, no less — but in the end it was J.Lo who pulled the trigger. As her spokesperson told MTV at the time:
“I am confirming the report that Jennifer Lopez has ended her engagement to Ben Affleck.”
She was the breaker upper. And rightfully so after what he did. (So the whole “no way I’d leave you” thing may be another line she wishes she could have rewritten. Maybe added an asterisk. “There’s no way I’d leave you.*”
*unless you fall in love with your co-star…
We will say, now that Ben’s f**kboy days are behind him, we’re guessing most of the other lyrics still hold up for the couple. Does Ben still make Jen’s body feel “about a million different things”? We certainly hope so!
Take a stroll down memory lane yourself and take a listen with Bennifer 2021 in mind to Dear Ben!
[Image via MEGA/WENN/Jennifer Lopez/YouTube.]
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