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).
I cant write left-handed
Bill Withers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Since then the war's been declared over
If you're like me you'll remember it like anybody remembers any war
One big drag
Lot of people write songs about wars and government
Very social things
But I think about young guys who were like I was when I was young
I had no more idea about any government, or political things or anything
Who all of a sudden somebody comes up
And they're very law-abiding
So if somebody says go they don't ask any questions they just go
And I can remember not too long ago seeing a young guy
With his right arm gone, just got back
And I asked him how he was doing
He said he was doing all right now
But he had thought he was gonna die
He said getting shot at didn't bother him
It was getting shot that shook him up
And I tried to put myself in his position
Maybe he cried, maybe he said
I can't write left handed
Would you please write a letter, write a letter to my mother?
Tell her, tell her to tell
Tell her to tell the family lawyer
Try to get a deferment for my younger brother
Tell the Reverend Harris to pray for me, Lord, Lord, Lord
I ain't gonna live, I don't believe I'm going to live to get much older
Strange little man over here in Vietnam, I ain't, I ain't never seen
Bless his heart I ain't never done nothin' to
He done shot me in my shoulder
Boot camp we had classes
You know we talked about fightin', fightin' everyday
And lookin' through rosy, rosy colored glasses
I must admit it seemed exciting anyway
But something that they overlooked to tell me
Bullets look better I must say
Rather when they comin' at you
But go without the other way
And please call up the Reverend
call up, call up the Reverend Harris
And tell him to ask the lord to do some good things for me
Tell him, I ain't gonna live, I ain't gonna live
I ain't gonna live to get much older
Oh Lord
Strange little man over here in Vietnam, I ain't never seen
bless his heart I, ain't never done nothing to
he done shot me in my shoulder
The lyrics to Bill Withers's "I Can't Write Left-Handed" tell the story of a soldier who has been injured during his time in Vietnam and is now seeking help from his loved ones to get a deferment for his younger brother. The soldier is asking someone to write a letter to his mother and the family lawyer to help him out. He also asks for prayers from the Rev. Harris, implying that he is not sure he will survive his injury. The soldier remembers his time in boot camp where they talked about fighting and how it seemed exciting, but he never thought about how terrifying it would be when bullets were coming at him.
The lyrics show the struggles and sacrifices of soldiers during the Vietnam War. The soldier is reaching out to his loved ones for help, showing that even with the strength and training provided during boot camp, soldiers are not invincible. The line "I aint never done nothing to, he done shot me in my shoulder" illustrates the pointless nature of war, where even those who have done nothing to deserve it can be injured or killed. Overall, the lyrics demonstrate the devastating impact of war on individuals and families.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't write left-handed.
I am disabled; I cannot perform everyday tasks with my left hand.
Would you please write a letter-write a letter to my mother?
I am injured and unable to write, could you help me by writing to my mother?
Tell her to tell-tell her to tell the family lawyer.
Please inform my mother to update our family lawyer concerning a request for a deferment.
Trying to get a deferment for my younger brother.
I am hoping to secure a delay for my younger brother so he doesn't have to go to war.
Tell the Rev. Harris to pray for me. Lord, lord, lord.
Kindly ask Reverend Harris to include me in his prayers, Oh Almighty God.
I ain't gonna live-I don't believe I'm going to live to get much older.
I have little optimism for my future survival, I do not foresee myself living long.
Strange little man over here in Vietnam I ain't never seen, bless his heart, ain't never done nothing to, he done shot me in my shoulder.
I have been wounded in Vietnam by a stranger whom I have never met before. It wasn't intentional, so I don't blame him.
Boot camp we had classes.
During boot camp, we were given practical training sessions.
You know we talked about fighting-fighting everyday.
We were discussing combat training during the boot camp.
And looking through rosy-colored glasses, I must admit it seemed exciting anyway.
At the beginning of the training, I was naive and thought war was thrilling and adventurous.
Oh, but someone that day overlooked to tell me bullets look better, I must say - brother -
However, nobody warned me that bullets appear more appealing when they are directed towards someone else.
when they're coming at you than going out the other way
Especially when you're on the receiving end of it, and you realize how terrifying it can be.
And please call up the Rev. Harris. Tell him to ask the Lord to do some good things for me.
Can you please call Reverend Harris and request him to pray for my welfare and ask the Lord to have mercy on me?
Tell him I ain't gonna live-I ain't gonna live to get much older.
Inform him that I have a premonition that I will not last long and will not make it to old age.
Whoa, Lord. Strange little man over here in Vietnam I ain't never seen - bless his heart-
Dear God, it's bizarre that I have been shot by an unfamiliar individual who I have never come across before in Vietnam, but I have no resentment against him.
I ain't never done nothing to, he done shot me in my shoulder.
The person who shot me in the shoulder had no motives, and I wasn't even his target. It was a misfortune.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bill Withers, Raymond McKinley Jackson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@maryrosehuyong433
We recorded this song on October the 6th
Since then the war's been declared over
If you're like me you'll remember it like anybody remembers any war
One big drag
Lot of people write songs about wars and government
Very social things
But I think about young guys who were like I was when I was young
I had no more idea about any government, or political things or anything
And I think about those kind of young guys now
Who all of a sudden somebody comes up
And they're very law-abiding
So if somebody says go they don't ask any questions they just go
And I can remember not too long ago seeing a young guy
With his right arm gone, just got back
And I asked him how he was doing
He said he was doing all right now
But he had thought he was gonna die
He said getting shot at didn't bother him
It was getting shot that shook him up
And I tried to put myself in his position
Maybe he cried, maybe he said
I can't write left handed
Would you please write a letter, write a letter to my mother?
Tell her, tell her to tell
Tell her to tell the family lawyer
Try to get a deferment for my younger brother
Tell the Reverend Harris to pray for me, Lord, Lord, Lord
I ain't gonna live, I don't believe I'm going to live to get much older
Strange little man over here in Vietnam, I ain't, I ain't never seen
Bless his heart I ain't never done nothin' to
He done shot me in my shoulder
Boot camp we had classes
You know we talked about fightin', fightin' everyday
And lookin' through rosy, rosy colored glasses
I must admit it seemed exciting anyway
But something that they overlooked to tell me
Bullets look better I must say
Rather when they comin' at you
But go without the other way
And please call up the Reverend
call up, call up the Reverend Harris
And tell him to ask the lord to do some good things for me
Tell him, I ain't gonna live, I ain't gonna live
I ain't gonna live to get much older
Oh Lord
Strange little man over here in Vietnam, I ain't never seen
bless his heart I, ain't never done nothing to
he done shot me in my shoulder
@daveyoriginal
RIP to one of the greatest singer songwriters of the 20th century.
@robertbrinkman8152
Seriously. Old or not, this hurt. RIP Bill.
@JakeIncarnate
R.I.P. Bill. The song that hits the hardest for me.
@jfc4798
I've been on a real Bill Withers phase lately...He is one of the greatest singer songwriters of all time and criminally underrated. Not too many songs make me cry but this does it to me every time.
@roosepark
try looking up Anthony David's cover of this, released recently
@sweettaterpie7009
ME TOO BROTHER.
@purposeoverpride9805
If you're open try John Prime "Lake Marie"
@joanharcum2264
Really hits home
@JSAB14UT
You probably won't see my comments seen as it's beens 4 years. Could you name a couple hidden gems of bills (also having a bill withers moment)
@Cosmikh0bo
I just discovered this song now, and I'm listening to it eyes teary 5th time in a row.
I don't know what I can say, other than I am grateful I discovered his music and influences. He was a gift to music, to people of all creed and color. Those who stopped and listened, feeling it and relating to their own way.
Hands down one of the most beautiful and eerie songs I've heard, may you rest in peace you wonderful being <3