”My music is a reflection of my life,” says a matter-of-fact Elisabeth. “Through my work, I want people to know that with a strong self-love, work ethic and fearlessness, anything is possible.” Indeed, It Can Happen To Anyone makes its case for the Berklee School of Music and NYU graduate. It is uplifting and honest but it is also sensuous and passionate and at times seriously sexy, unpredictable and just plain infectious.
Fans of Elisabeth Withers’ Broadway work will be taken aback by the impressive range of her album, which mines everything from R&B, gospel and pop to old school cabaret and rock. Not surprising when you consider Elisabeth loves both Millie Jackson and Sheryl Crow.
The title track finds Elisabeth warning the object of her affection over a funked-up groove with such bold proclamations as, “When you are born until ya grow old, somewhere it’s blowing in the wind. Love don’t care because it comes on, it’s own time!” The church inflected track “Simple Things,” showcases Elisabeth’s deep timbre vocals as she encourages listeners to see the beauty in everyday life. “The World Ain’t Ready” showcases its message of female empowerment over an infectious reggae dancehall rhythm. And on the warm love letter feel of “Heartstrings,” she coos of a love that makes you “want to scream like Tina,” and “shine like the brightest star.”
At first glance, music seemed like an unlikely path for a young and confident Elisabeth. Raised in a middle class, Midwest household, where her mother excelled as a mathematical engineer and her father was a political powerbroker, an interest in anything remotely resembling the arts might have raised eyebrows. Luckily Withers, her sister and two brothers were supported by parents who created a loving environment where individuality was as much a premium as a discipline. At five-years-old, Elisabeth began singing along to her parents’ record collection.
”All of my brothers, including my dad, would laugh at me,” she muses. “Just picture a little me belting out some Natalie Cole or Gladys Knight over dinner, veins popping out of my neck, trying to reach all of these notes” it was too funny. But I remember my mom would get angry and say, “You guys will not laugh at your sister. She’s going to sing!”
Elisabeth saw the meaning of sacrifice first hand as mom placed her professional life on hold to raise the kids while her father worked extra hard to make sure all four kids had everything they needed to excel. By her early teens, performing at talent shows and social engagements had become the norm. The gifted singer saw her exceptional talents garner notice when, in 1993, she received a scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. Four years later, Elisabeth did what virtually every aspiring singer-songwriter has done since the dawn of the jazz age: She set out to conquer New York. By the time she graduated NYU in 2000, Withers had caught the attention of respected producer, arranger and songwriter Tony Moran (Patti Labelle, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross).
A string of studio back-up sessions followed as Elisabeth began to cultivate a reputation as a first-rate vocalist; so much so that Moran recruited her to co-write the dance club classic “Rising” (2002), a track that reached the top 5 on the Billboard charts. Elisabeth Withers was now going under the diva alias Elle Patrice. Another hit single followed “Emotions”, and in 2005 Elisabeth received a call from industry friend and music legend Nick Ashford, who suggested the vocalist audition for the Oprah Winfrey-produced stage adaptation of The Color Purple. She was more than up for the challenge as she won over producers Quincy Jones and Winfrey. Elisabeth’s triumphant run on Broadway soon attracted the interest of record labels. With its rich musical heritage and underlining focus on the art, Blue Note was the perfect home.
“I’ve never been afraid to try anything. I guess that’s why I’ve had a chance to try so many different things,” Elisabeth says of her budding career. “The values that my parents taught me growing up allowed me to go into any situation, from being asked to sing for Paul McCartney to doing “The Color Purple” on Broadway in front of someone as iconic as Oprah and to recording an album for Blue Note, having an album of songs that I actually had the chance to write. It’s been a wild ride and a humbling experience.”
“I hope people will listen to the songs on the album and come away with the feeling that I have, which is why I called the album It Can Happen To Anyone. For that is truly what I believe.”
Why
Elisabeth Withers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Talk to someone a thousand miles away by phone
Build a house that touch the sky
And them machines to let us fly
Then why can't I love you?
If we can find the grave of Jesus
Find a cure to mans most dirty diseases
Build the seven wonders of the world
Then why can't I love you?
If we can build a space ship
And fly into the moon
Then why can't I love you?
If we can walk in space
And conquer the stars
Then why can't I conquer you?
Why?
Why?
(Why can't I love you?)
Why?
If we can tame beasts in the wild
Trace back history a millions years in time
Build bridges over raging waters
Walk the fire without shoes
Then why can't I love you?
If we can build a space ship
And fly into the moon
Then why can't I love you?
If we can walk in space
And conquer the stars
Then why can't I conquer you?
So simple, so divine
Why can't you be mine?
It's love
(Just as crazy)
It's love
(Just as sane)
It's love
(It's everything)
If we can build a space ship
And fly into the moon
Then why can't I love you?
If we can walk in space
And conquer the stars
Then why can't I conquer you?
Why, why?
(Why?)
(Why?)
Why, why, why?
Why can't I love you?
Elisabeth Withers is singing about the puzzling nature of love in her song Why. She poses the rhetorical question, "If we can make diamonds out of stones, Talk to someone a thousand miles away by phone, Build a house that touches the sky, And machines to let us fly, Then why can't I love you?" She is using these examples of humankind's incredible innovations and achievements to emphasize her confusion about love, which seems to resist logic and reason.
Throughout the rest of the song, Withers continues to explore the paradox of love's power versus its elusiveness. She lists other feats humans have been able to achieve, such as finding the grave of Jesus, taming wild beasts, building bridges over raging waters, and walking on fire without shoes. Despite all these incredible accomplishments, love still remains a mystery to her. She is at a loss to understand why she can't simply love someone who seems like the perfect match for her, when humans have been able to conquer so many other seemingly insurmountable challenges.
The song's chorus repeats the word "why" in a plaintive and soulful way, highlighting the universal human experience of love's complexities and struggles. The song's message is that though love may be unpredictable and confounding, it is still worth pursuing, just like the many other great achievements that humankind has mastered throughout history.
Line by Line Meaning
If we can make diamonds out of stones
If we have the ability to turn something so common and unremarkable into something valuable and desirable,
Talk to someone a thousand miles away by phone
If we can communicate with someone so far away that we would normally be unable to see or hear them,
Build a house that touch the sky
If we can build a structure so tall that it reaches the sky,
And them machines to let us fly
And if we have machines that allow us to fly through the air,
Then why can't I love you?
Then why is it that I can't seem to love you despite all of these remarkable achievements?
If we can find the grave of Jesus
If we can locate the burial site of one of the most influential and widely-known historical figures of all time,
Find a cure to mans most dirty diseases
If we can discover a cure for some of the most devastating diseases that humanity has ever faced,
Out of rocks, clay and some dirt
If we can take such basic, commonplace substances and create something truly remarkable with them,
Build the seven wonders of the world
If we can create the most awe-inspiring, mind-boggling feats of engineering and creativity that the world has ever seen,
Then why can't I love you?
Then why is it that I still can't seem to manage to love you?
If we can build a space ship
If we can construct an entire vehicle to carry us through the depths of space,
And fly into the moon
And if we can land on and explore another celestial body entirely,
Then why can't I love you?
Then why does that not seem to be enough to allow me to love you?
If we can walk in space
If we can venture outside of our own planet and walk among the stars,
And conquer the stars
And if we can even begin to explore and understand the vast, uncharted void that stretches out around us,
Then why can't I conquer you?
Then why is it so impossible for me to conquer my own emotions for you?
It's love
This inexplicable, intangible force that drives us to do incredible things,
(Just as crazy)
(Even if it seems completely insane at times),
It's love
This force that can cause us to feel so alive and so passionate about something or someone,
(Just as sane)
(Even if it's also completely rational and logical),
It's love
(Because love truly is everything that we need, everything that we strive toward),
If we can tame beasts in the wild
If we can overcome the most dangerous and wild creatures that the natural world can offer us,
Trace back history a millions years in time
If we can piece together and understand the most ancient and complicated histories of our planet and our species,
Build bridges over raging waters
If we can construct sturdy, reliable paths over some of the most treacherous and dangerous bodies of water,
Walk the fire without shoes
If we can brave the most intense and painful challenges that life can throw at us without flinching,
Then why can't I love you?
Then why does loving you seem like such an insurmountable obstacle?
So simple, so divine
Love is such a straightforward and uncomplicated concept, and yet it is also one of the most profound and celestial things that we can experience,
Why can't you be mine?
So why is it that we can't be together despite all of the incredible things that humanity has achieved?
Why, why?
Why is it so difficult to understand what love truly is, and what it should mean to us?
(Why?)
(Why does it seem so close yet so far away at the same time?),
(Why?)
(Why do we struggle so much with something that should come so naturally?),
Why, why, why?
Why do we always find ourselves asking these same questions when it comes to love?
Why can't I love you?
Why is it that I can't seem to feel for you what I know I should be able to feel?
Contributed by Sydney O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@insidethemusik7114
This song is still everything!! ❣️❣️
@poiisonivy8937
Omg YES IT IS!!!!! 🌙🥰💜
@horacetowers5357
Very underrated song, still jamming...2020
@Imsmexy01
This jam is so smooth I could listen to it all day
@Avacarho
This is one of my all-time favorite songs that is so beautiful.
@deedeelinn
love her voice
@betterSOUNDthansafe
Very sentual... She didnt get nearly the credit she deserved for this tune.... I wish more ladies would treat their men this way.... damn good tune...
@lorenzomorganjr.6585
I really like this song (i.e., "Be With You") by Elisabeth Withers; so much so, that I just purchased the entire album due to my fondness for this particular song.
@sheeherself
Her concerts are even amazing.
@deedeelinn
Love this song ❤