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).
Look to Each Other for Love
Bill Withers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Open up your heart everyone
And the world we all share down here
Is bound to make us happy
Let's look to each other for love
Look on the brighter side of life
And the world that we share
Look to one another for love
Look on the lighter side of life
And the way that we are
Can make us happy
Don't be afraid
To show that we need each other
‘Cause I need you in my life
Let's look ahead
With faith that things will be better
If we just look up to the light
Look to one another for love
And everything will be alright
And the world that we share
Can make us happy
Let's look to each other for love
Look on the brighter side of life
And the world that we share
Can make us happy
Don't be afraid
To show that we need each other
‘Cause I need you in my life
Let's look ahead
With faith that things will be better
If we just look up to the light
Bill Withers's song, "Look to Each Other for Love," is a heart-warming call for humanity to unite and rely on each other in times of need. The overall message of the song is to find happiness through connectedness and love. The opening lines, "Love can make us happy, open up your heart everyone," sets the tone for the rest of the song. It encourages people to open their hearts to each other and allow love to flow so that everyone can experience happiness. Withers emphasizes that the world we share is the same for all of us and that recognizing this commonality can further enhance connecting with each other for love.
The chorus of the song repeats the importance of looking to each other for love and the hope this can bring. Withers urges people to "look on the brighter side of life," hinting that a better future can be built by focusing on the positive aspects of life rather than being bogged down by negative ones. He further emphasizes the importance of unity by saying, "Don't be afraid to show that we need each other," acknowledging that it's okay to need others and to rely on them, as it is the only way to truly maximize the capacity for happiness. The song ends with an optimistic message that if we continue to look ahead with faith, we can overcome any obstacle and create a brighter future for everyone.
Line by Line Meaning
Love can make us happy
Love has the ability to bring happiness in our lives
Open up your heart everyone
Let us all be open and receptive towards others in order to bring love and happiness
And the world we all share down here
The world that we live in and share with each other
Is bound to make us happy
It has the potential to make us happy if we seek love and positivity
Let's look to each other for love
Let us approach each other with love and care
Look on the brighter side of life
Focus on the positive aspects of life
And the world that we share
The world that we inhabit together
Can make us happy
It has the potential to bring us joy and contentment
Don't be afraid
Let go of fear and doubt
To show that we need each other
Expressing our need for each other is natural and should not be feared
‘Cause I need you in my life
The singer expresses his personal need for somebody in his life
Let's look ahead
Let us shift our focus towards the future
With faith that things will be better
Believing that things will improve if we remain positive and hopeful
If we just look up to the light
If we focus on the positive and uplifting aspects of life
And everything will be alright
Believing that everything will be okay if we approach life with love and positivity
Contributed by Penelope D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.