The lyric from Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” finishes with “ways.” The line expresses the song’s central idea that personal change should begin with the individual.
“Man in the Mirror” was written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard and recorded by Michael Jackson for his 1987 album Bad. Quincy Jones produced the track. Garrett also sings background vocals and appears in the songwriting credits, while the arrangement grows from a reflective verse into a large gospel-influenced climax.
The lyrics move from observing poverty, hunger, and social suffering to accepting responsibility for one’s own response. The mirror functions as a symbol of self-examination, and “change his ways” gives that reflection a specific moral direction.
Listeners sometimes answer “mind” because changing one’s mind is a common phrase, but the lyric uses “ways.” The song became Jackson’s tenth number-one single in the United States and was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 1989 Grammy Awards.