Withers, the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, on July 4, 1938. He was the son of Mattie (Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. He was born with a stutter and later said he had a hard time fitting in. His parents divorced when he was three, and he was raised by his mother's family in nearby Beckley, West Virginia. He was 13 years old when his father died. Withers enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17, and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing and writing songs.
He left the Navy in 1965, relocating to Los Angeles in 1967 to start a music career. His debut release was "Three Nights and a Morning" in 1967. Arranged by Mort Garson, the song went unnoticed at the time but was later reworked by Withers as the track "Harlem".
Withers worked as an assembler for several different companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation, IBM and Ford, while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around and performing in clubs at night. When he returned with the song "Ain't No Sunshine" in 1971, he refused to resign from his job because he believed the music business was a fickle industry. In early 1970, Withers's demonstration tape was auditioned favorably by Clarence Avant, owner of Sussex Records. Avant signed Withers to a record deal and assigned former Stax Records stalwart Booker T. Jones to produce Withers' first album. Four three-hour recording sessions were planned for the album, but funding caused the album to be recorded in three sessions with a six-month break between the second and final sessions. Just as I Am was released in 1971 with the tracks, "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands" as singles. The album features Stephen Stills playing lead guitar. On the cover of the album, Withers is pictured at his job at Weber Aircraft in Burbank, California, holding his lunch box.
Withers was known for his "smooth" baritone vocals and "sumptuous" soul arrangements. He wrote some of the most covered songs of the 1970s, including "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine". The former entered the Hot 100 chart through multiple versions, including Club Nouveau's 1987 cover, which made the composition one of nine songs to have led the chart via different acts. With "Lovely Day", he set the record for the longest sustained note on a chart hit on American charts, holding a high E for 18 seconds. Editors from The Guardian considered that Withers' songs are "some of the most beloved in the American songbook," citing, "'Ain't No Sunshine' is regarded as one of the all-time great breakup tracks, while 'Lean on Me', an ode to the supportive power of friendship ..." For the same newspaper, Alex Petridis noticed "[he] laid pain and paranoia under his deceptively gentle songs, and retired early having conquered gospel, funk, blues, disco and more." In Rolling Stone, writer Andy Greene noted that several of his songs "are embedded in the culture and have been covered countless times."
Writing for The New York Times, Giovanni Russonello considered Withers "[a] soulful singer with a gift for writing understated classics", adding, "the ultimate homespun hitmaker, he had an innate sense of what might make a song memorable, and little interest in excess attitude or accoutrements. Ultimately Withers reminded us that it’s the everyday that is the most meaningful: work, family, love, loss." A Billboard article considered that Withers "stands as one of R&B/soul music's most revered singer-songwriters." In the same magazine, writer Gail Mitchell acknowledged "Withers' legacy has flourished in the decades since, thanks to a cross-section of artists who have covered/sampled his songs or cited him as a major influence." Musician and music journalist Questlove referred to Withers' post-breakup 1974 album +'Justments as "a diary [...] [it] was a pre-reality-show look at his life. Keep in mind this was years before Marvin Gaye did it with Here, My Dear." The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson deemed him "a songwriter's songwriter". Musicians Sade, D'Angelo, Justin Timberlake, John Legend and Ed Sheeran have credited Withers as a music inspiration.
Withers died from heart complications in Los Angeles on March 30, 2020, at age 81; his family announced his death four days later. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).
09 Hello Like Before
Bill Withers Lyrics
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I'd never come here
If I'd known that you were here
I must admit though
That's it's nice to see you, dear
You look like you've been doing well
A hello like before
'Cause we were only children then
For laughs, I guess we both can say
"I knew you when"
But then again, that's kiss and tell
Hello like before
I guess it's different
'Cause we know each other now
I guess I've always known
We'd meet again somehow
So that it might as well be now
Hello like before
I hope we've grown
'Cause we were only children then
For laughs, I guess we both can say
"I knew you when"
But then again, that's kiss and tell
Hello like before
I guess it's different
'Cause we know each other now
I guess I've always known
We'd meet again somehow
So that it might as well be now
The lyrics of Bill Withers's song "Hello Like Before" depict an encounter between two people who have not seen each other for a long time. The singer of the song admits that they would not have come to this meeting had they known that the other person would be present. However, they also express that it is nice to see the other person again and that they look like they have been doing well. The phrase "hello like before" suggests a desire to recreate a past connection, but the singer acknowledges that things are different now that they know each other as adults.
The singer then reflects on their childhood and the fact that they were only children when they last knew each other. They acknowledge that they can both say "I knew you when" for laughs, but they also note that this phrase is a form of "kiss and tell," implying that there are things about their past that they should not reveal. Ultimately, the singer recognizes that it is better to meet again now than to keep waiting for some other time.
This song conveys a sense of nostalgia and a desire to reconnect with the past. It acknowledges that things have changed, but also suggests that there may still be a connection between these two people. The lyric "hello like before" captures this sentiment perfectly, as it expresses both a longing for familiarity and an understanding that the past cannot be recreated exactly.
Line by Line Meaning
A hello like before
Meeting you again after such a long time, like how we used to, feels nostalgic
I'd never come here
If I knew you were here, I wouldn't have come to this place
If I'd known that you were here
I had no idea you would be in this place, or else I wouldn't have come here
I must admit though
However, I cannot resist saying that
That's it's nice to see you, dear
It's a pleasant surprise to see you after so long, my dear
You look like you've been doing well
You seem to be leading a good life and doing well for yourself
I hope we've grown
I hope we have matured and become wiser with our experiences
'Cause we were only children then
Because we were young and naive during our previous interactions
For laughs, I guess we both can say
To reminisce about the past, I think we can both say
"I knew you when"
"I knew you back then"
But then again, that's kiss and tell
However, revealing intimate details of our past relationship is not classy
I guess it's different
Things have changed since our last encounter
'Cause we know each other now
We have grown to know each other as individuals since then
I guess I've always known
I have had a hunch all along
We'd meet again somehow
That we would cross paths again someday
So that it might as well be now
Therefore, there's no better time than now to reconnect
Lyrics © GOLDEN WITHERS MUSIC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: John Collins, Bill Withers, JOHN E. COLLINS, WILLIAM HARRISON WITHERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind