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).
Close To Me
Bill Withers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Said I want you close to me
I believe
I can bring you happiness
Get close to me
Get closer to the feelin'
Let's get down
Come ‘ere close to me
Anyway you want to
Let's let it be
What makes you feel the best
Feelin' high on love and full of energy
And I want you close to me
Said I want you close to me
Come ‘ere close to me
Anyway you want to
Get close to me
Come and take what you can get
Come ‘ere close to me
A little closer to the feelin
Get close to me
And make me shake and sweat
Feelin' high on love and full of energy
And I want you close to me
Come ‘ere close to me
Close to me
In Bill Withers's song Close to Me the lyrics convey a desire to be close to someone intimately. The singer wants their significant other to be physically close to them in order to bring them happiness. The lyrics repeat and reinforce this sentiment throughout the song. The desire to be close to someone is not just physical, as evidenced by the lines "Let's let it be what makes you feel best" and "Anyway you want to", which suggest that the singer wants to please their partner in any way possible.
The lyrics further emphasize the powerful feeling that the singer is experiencing, mentioning feeling "high on love" and "full of energy". The lyrics paint a picture of two people deeply in love, who want to be close to each other in every way possible. The repetition of the phrase "Close to me" throughout the song reflects and echoes this desire.
Line by Line Meaning
Close to me
Expressing a desire for physical intimacy.
Said I want you close to me
Reiterating the desire for physical proximity and connection.
I believe
Asserting a sense of faith, confidence, and trust.
I can bring you happiness
Claiming the ability to provide joy, satisfaction, and well-being to the other person.
Get close to me
Encouraging the other person to move towards and embrace the artist.
Get closer to the feelin'
Suggesting that physical closeness will intensify and enhance the emotional and sensual experience.
Let's get down
Inviting the other person to engage in physical intimacy and sexual activity.
And let the feelin' do the rest
Trusting that the intensity of emotion and physical connection will guide and direct the experience.
Come ‘ere close to me
Repeatedly expressing the desire for proximity, closeness, and connection.
Anyway you want to
Granting the other person agency and autonomy in shaping and directing the experience.
Let's let it be
Advocating for a sense of ease, naturalness, and spontaneity in the experience.
What makes you feel the best
Prioritizing the other person's pleasure, comfort, and desires in the experience.
Feelin' high on love and full of energy
Describing an emotional and physical state characterized by a sense of euphoria and vitality.
And I want you close to me
Reinforcing the recurring theme and desire for physical connection and intimacy.
Come ‘ere close to me
Restating the invitation and desire for physical closeness and connection.
Come and take what you can get
Urging the other person to seize and revel in the experience as much as possible.
A little closer to the feelin'
Emphasizing the importance and pleasure of physical and emotional proximity and intensity.
And make me shake and sweat
Describing a desire for intense physical sensation, motion, and effort in the experience.
Contributed by Amelia C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Richard Cleverley
A great slice of mid 70s soul-funk
Kenny's PAC's
Real music
Eddie DArcy
Wow wow wow love it
Robert Drawn
Hey Yippee Yhow! Get it On Yippee Yippee Yo Get Close enough