The timing of these last two posts is purely coincidental. How was I to know that in the month since I wrote about New Edition’s “Home Again” that I’d be laid up in the apartment for four weeks and that Bill Withers would pass away? Alas, here we are, and my first two posts of… Read More “Hope She’ll Be Happier” by Bill Withers (1971)
Bill Withers has a way of taking real relationship situations and expressing them perfectly in lyric form. “Hello Like Before” is one of many examples from his too-short catalog. In this mid ’70s slow jam, Withers sings in character as someone whose run into an old love by happenstance, probably at a party or some… Read More “Hello Like Before” by Bill Withers (1975)
One of many things I love about Bill Withers is his descriptive lyricism. One listen to 1971’s “Harlem” and you are transported to pre-gentrification Uptown. This might be easier for someone like me to picture because I actually lived in a shitty apartment in pre-gentrification Uptown (137 W. 137th Street, to be exact). Even if… Read More “Harlem” by Bill Withers (1971)
“Better Off Dead” is a stunning (still! 47 years later!) document of a guy who feels he has nothing to offer his partner. He’s a drunk, can’t pay his bills, doesn’t treat his lady right. She’s taken off with the kids, and now he’s staring down the barrel of a gun, ready to take his own… Read More “Better Off Dead” by Bill Withers (1971)
In Bill Withers’ hands, “Ain’t No Sunshine” is a sober lament. Bill knows his “young thing” is gone, and he knows damn well she ain’t coming back. The song’s acoustic guitar intro calls to mind a guy in his backyard, making up stream of consciousness lyrics, a shot (or bottle) of whiskey at his side. When Bill goes… Read More “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers (1971); Michael Jackson (1971)
Five Star Jamz 