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).
Ain
Bill Withers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's not warm when she's away
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And she's always gone too long
Anytime she goes away
Wonder this time where she's gone
Wonder if she's gone to stay
And this house just ain't no home
Anytime she goes away
And I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know
Hey, I oughta leave young thing alone
But ain't no sunshine when she's gone
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
Only darkness every day
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away
Bill Withers's Ain't No Sunshine is a classic bluesy R&B song that portrays a man's sense of loss and despair after separation from his lover. The recurring phrase "ain't no sunshine when she's gone" is symbolic of his feeling that there is a permanent darkness or void in his life when his significant other is not around. The line, "It's not warm when she's away," further emphasizes his loneliness and the lack of joy in his life when she's not there. The repetition of the phrase, "Anytime she goes away," highlights the frequency of her absence, driving home the theme of loneliness and emptiness in the man's life.
The lyrics also reveal the man's internal conflict, as he acknowledges the fact that he should let go of this relationship and move on. The lines “Hey, I oughta leave young thing alone, but ain't no sunshine when she's gone” show that he's aware that this relationship is not serving him well, but he cannot bring himself to let go because he cannot bear the thought of being alone.
In conclusion, Ain't No Sunshine is an emotional song that captures the agony of a man who feels lost without his lover. It's a timeless classic that highlights the depth of emotions a break-up can evoke in a person.
Line by Line Meaning
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
Life is bleak and incomplete when she is not beside me.
It's not warm when she's away
Things don't feel quite right when she is not present with me.
And she's always gone too long
She is absent for excessive periods that are difficult to bear.
Anytime she goes away
Her departure is always difficult to accept.
Wonder this time where she's gone
I ponder if she will be away for even longer than usual.
Wonder if she's gone to stay
I worry that this time she will not be returning at all.
And this house just ain't no home
My surroundings are empty and meaningless without her here.
And I know, I know, I know, I know...
No matter how much I may wish to deny it, her absence affects me deeply.
Hey, I oughtta leave young thing alone
Even though I know I should try to move on, I can't help but long for her presence.
Only darkness every day
Life feels truly bleak and depressing without any hope of her return.
Anytime she goes away
Her absence is something I struggle to endure.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bill Withers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@linkinparkforlife6506
This drummer knows the funniest joke in the universe but never tells anyone, he just keeps thinking about it all the time
@shy7660
And this joke was YOURS! I'M JUST FUCKING LOST FROM LAUGH!!
@skhan3564
:D
@kapuseta
lmaoo
@wanchambo8396
I’m weak🤣
@zaddyally416
LMAOOOO this has me dying
@mowondimu1079
That drummer knows where she went...
@craneoazul9873
lol
@BandWagonWS
Mo Wondimu he sure does
@cfetenaris6309
Damn that's brilliant