Background
Speaking to The A.V. Club in 2011, Jackson said of the song, "I would say it's a bit world-weary or, not world-weary, but a bit, how else to express this? Once bitten, twice shy. It's saying, 'Well, let's try again, but it's not going to be like it was the first time.' So it's poignant, I think." [6]
Critical reception
On its release as a single, Jerry Smith of Music Week wrote, "A slow ballad sung with feeling, mainly accompanied by piano until the band come in at the end with a warm fluid sax picking out the melody." [7] Colin Davidson of the Evening Express described it as a "great choice as a single" and "poignant songwriting at its very best". [8] Frank Edmonds of the Bury Free Press gave the song an 8 out of 10 rating and described it as a "quiet, plaintive, thoughtful and extremely attractive love ballad". [9]
Sunie of Number One commented, "This is a pretty enough song, all tinkling piano and sad, cynical words. But it's not aimed at you or me. Divorce-scarred, mid-life Americans should lap it up." [10] Billboard noted, "A quiet tune, except for the rousing finish; just Jackson, piano, and a tone of bewildered pathos." [11]
In a review of Body and Soul, The Absolute Sound stated, "'Be My Number Two' is a song worthy of Jackson, a maybe-cynical, maybe-wise love song with a bit of hard-edged Fifties feel. This is the kind of song Jackson has always done well." [12] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide of 2004 described the song as one which "hark[s] back to the incisive cynicism of Jackson's breakthrough albums". [13]
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