u know something's happening right when u hear that song in the city
― j lol (surm), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 19:56 (twelve years ago) link
Wait is lean on me really bill withers? I had no idea.
It came on the radio the other day when I was driving alone and I got so into. In fact, I get really into it every time I hear it. I love that song.
Lean On Me.
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 19:59 (twelve years ago) link
omg i can just imagine u like bawling at the wheel
― j lol (surm), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:00 (twelve years ago) link
(that's what i would have done obv)
lovely day obv
― lebroner (D-40), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
yeah "Lean On Me" is such a basic piece of fabric of American culture that it's kind of weird to think of it being by somebody any more than, like, "Amazing Grace"
― Señor Smang (some dude), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
^^^^^ YES.
Idk Surm it's powerful for sure but I find it more hopeful than sad. I like the part where he breaks it down. I seriously love that song.
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:02 (twelve years ago) link
i don't really like lovely day
i feel like it's played too much
Lean On Me is a perfect song, so that one.
― metally ill (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:02 (twelve years ago) link
currently "use me", it feels ever so slightly less overplayed than all the others at the moment.
― adult music person (Jordan), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:03 (twelve years ago) link
Fwiw, 'Lovely Day' was one of luna's favorite songs. I prefer 'Ain't No Sunshine'.
― Concatenated without abruption (Michael White), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:03 (twelve years ago) link
use me! kind of like the unique perspective of this song. and the GROOVE.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
'Lovely Day' was one of luna's favorite songs
lol - The band or the poster?
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, May 25, 2011 9:02 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
ur right. i don't know what i was thinking. it is hopeful.
― j lol (surm), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
― Señor Smang (some dude), Wednesday, May 25, 2011 4:01 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark
it's funny because i grew up thinking some of these songs were kind of lame inspiro-drivel (like lean on me is so elementary school music class) but now that i know that he wrote all kinds of songs dude is a total badass.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:05 (twelve years ago) link
(like lean on me is so elementary school music class)
MAYBE BUT IT IS STILL WONDERFUL
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
sorry i kind of hate "Lean On Me", it's trying to hard to be uplifting or something. voting for "Lovely Day" ahead of "Ain't No Sunshine".
― Deeez Nuuults (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU97n-HuAJA
it's just quintessential good-dude-trying-to-make-you-feel-better, a prototype of uplifting pop (sorta like "I Will Survive" or "Imagine")
xp
― metally ill (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
Despite "Lean On Me" being #1 the week I was born, I went with "Use Me." The drumming on that is scary, and I just can't say no to a clavinet.
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:07 (twelve years ago) link
Sorry - I seriously had a moment the other day when this happened where I was like, "Man, I really LOVE "Lean on Me". I had no idea I felt this way so this is still fresh for me, you know, emotionally. OK I'm exaggerating. A little.
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:07 (twelve years ago) link
In a wider poll, probably would have voted "I Can't Write Left-Handed."
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:08 (twelve years ago) link
The poster.
I like all these songs but ANSWSG is always lurking in the back of my head.
― Concatenated without abruption (Michael White), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:08 (twelve years ago) link
I can't even think of how "Use Me" goes
obv the other four are indelibly etched into my memory
― Tom Skerritt Mustache Ride (DJP), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:08 (twelve years ago) link
the fact that the breakdown on the original recording of lean on me is so funky was a huge eye-opener to me tbh
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:08 (twelve years ago) link
sorry i kind of hate "Lean On Me", it's trying to hard to be uplifting or something
That's just because of how it's been used. In and of itself it succeeds in being really powerful without trying too hard at all imo. I think this was part of my revelation.
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:09 (twelve years ago) link
It's so funky!
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, May 25, 2011 4:07 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark
the reissue liner notes to still bill devote a LOT of time to the use me drums
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:09 (twelve years ago) link
oh wait yes I do know "Use Me", I just never knew its name
― Tom Skerritt Mustache Ride (DJP), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:09 (twelve years ago) link
classic tune. I probably would have gone for "Grandma's Hands" myself
― metally ill (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:13 (twelve years ago) link
yeah "Use Me" is the one that gets used mostly for its instrumental intro constantly in TV shows/movies and samples, as opposed to the rest of these where the chorus has been used in a million different things
― Señor Smang (some dude), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:13 (twelve years ago) link
lovely day lovely day lovely day lovely day
― horseshoe, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:13 (twelve years ago) link
it's trying to(o) hard to be uplifting or something
And yet, it entirely succeed with me
― Concatenated without abruption (Michael White), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:14 (twelve years ago) link
Really, where? I'm not sure I ever heard it (apart from the S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. song) until recently.
― jaymc, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:14 (twelve years ago) link
by me. it is played too much by me.
― horseshoe, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:14 (twelve years ago) link
lol, I clicked on the Youtube video for "Use Me" and, unbidden, the AT&T slogan popped into my head
― Tom Skerritt Mustache Ride (DJP), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:15 (twelve years ago) link
do tell? who was the drummer on that anyway?
i was doing a recording session for someone yesterday and trying to straight up channel/rip off those drums.
― adult music person (Jordan), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:16 (twelve years ago) link
lol HS x-post
I feel like i hear it on the radio a lot? Esp this time of year. I swear that it gets played a lot when the weather starts being nice. I might be making this up.
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:16 (twelve years ago) link
I also think it was used a lot in commercials in the UK when I lived there.
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:17 (twelve years ago) link
James Gadson
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:18 (twelve years ago) link
i like the idea that people think "Lovely Day" is overplayed purely because horseshoe is just walking throughout the entire world blasting it on a boombox
― Señor Smang (some dude), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:18 (twelve years ago) link
You could be right, ENBB. I've never really listened to oldies stations.
― jaymc, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:18 (twelve years ago) link
whenever lovely day is being played, i am responsible
― horseshoe, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:18 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbwcU2YbBRI
― adult music person (Jordan), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:19 (twelve years ago) link
I saw Soul Power and Funny People in the same week, in the same movie theater; kind of blew my mind that Gadson was in both.
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:20 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiNgz6KDD2k
― adult music person (Jordan), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:20 (twelve years ago) link
ty horseshoe!
― Tom Skerritt Mustache Ride (DJP), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:20 (twelve years ago) link
any time!
― horseshoe, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:22 (twelve years ago) link
― jaymc, Wednesday, May 25, 2011 4:18 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark
Oh man I totally do.
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:24 (twelve years ago) link
You have already voted in this poll and cannot vote again.Return to Front Page
:(
― horseshoe, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:25 (twelve years ago) link
Man this is hard.
"Just the Two of Us" was actually the first thing I ever consciously heard by him.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:27 (twelve years ago) link
'Just the Two of Us' ruined by both Mike Myers and Will Smith.
― when use becomes abuse (S-), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 23:30 (twelve years ago) link
Still wish there had been a proper release of the Gap commercial mashup of "Lovely Day" and "I Hear Music in the Streets."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ2XBzq387c
― scissorlocks and the three bears (Eric H.), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 23:37 (twelve years ago) link
aint no sunshine
― Midworst (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 23:40 (twelve years ago) link
Use Me
― the morals of a tomcat and the manners of a wolf (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 26 May 2011 02:26 (twelve years ago) link
Lean On Me > Ain't No Sunshine > Use Me > Lovely Day > Just The Two of Us
...though the first three are so close that it feels ridiculous to rank them. His first two records contained much stronger material than either of those latter two songs, though. There isn't a song on Just As I Am that isn't brilliant, really.
Liked the documentary as well, though I wish there was a bit more to it. Reviewed it <a href=http://echoandsway.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/beside-the-music/">here</a>.
― jer.fairall, Thursday, 26 May 2011 02:33 (twelve years ago) link
Ugh, make that here: http://echoandsway.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/beside-the-music/
― jer.fairall, Thursday, 26 May 2011 02:34 (twelve years ago) link
Also would have said Grandma's Hands. But voted Ain't No Sunshine.
― boxall, Thursday, 26 May 2011 02:35 (twelve years ago) link
I feel like on a particular day, I could vote for any one of these (and also "Grandma's Hands"), but "Ain't No Sunshine" is some be-all/end-all shit in my world.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 26 May 2011 02:38 (twelve years ago) link
I just want to vote for USE ME as this live clip is one of my favorite things I found on youtube. The band is so laid back in the pocket and groovy.
The drummer is just the coolest. He's like "this is a pretty killer groove ain't it."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3hBYTkI-sE
― earlnash, Thursday, 26 May 2011 03:28 (twelve years ago) link
I've always been partial to "Kissing My Love," he just sounds so overwhelmingly joyous. Out of this list, "Ain't No Sunshine" has always sounded alien in how fantastic it is, even if "Use Me" is kinda more interesting to me.
― trippin lookin at my portfolio (billy), Thursday, 26 May 2011 03:56 (twelve years ago) link
xp: Goddamn, that's awesome.
― the morals of a tomcat and the manners of a wolf (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 26 May 2011 03:59 (twelve years ago) link
Ain't No Sunshine is inexplicably great. He just rides that "I know, I know, I know" riff and you can't say just how it becomes transcendent, but it does. But I voted Use Me, because, face it, such a great lyric and it's crazy-funky as all get out.
― Aimless, Thursday, 26 May 2011 04:01 (twelve years ago) link
Use Me, the others all in a tie for 2nd place
― Bill E, Thursday, 26 May 2011 04:03 (twelve years ago) link
Bill Withers "Lovely Day" C/D
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 26 May 2011 05:02 (twelve years ago) link
'Lovely Day', for sure. As in the immortal words of, eh, one of the dudes of 'Air France':
Can liven a funeral, I tried and It worked. Makes you move on.
― the europan nikon is here (grauschleier), Thursday, 26 May 2011 12:55 (twelve years ago) link
A Karaoke highlight (for me) was proving to myself that I could actually do that last long note on "Lovely Day"
― Mark G, Thursday, 26 May 2011 13:00 (twelve years ago) link
Anyway, the real answer is "Grandma's Hands"
― skot gigz - moombah pimpin' (The Reverend), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 22:03 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― WHO THE FUCK READS THE (a hoy hoy), Thursday, 26 May 2011 13:08 (twelve years ago) link
everybody doesn't know "Grandma's Hands" like they know these 5 songs -- i'm listening to it right now for the first time ever (not counting the "No Diggity" sample)
― gargle on my nuts (some dude), Thursday, 26 May 2011 13:40 (twelve years ago) link
Funny thing is that if you watch the Still Bill doc somehow knowing absolutely nothing about Withers, you could plausibly come away from it thinking "Grandma's Hands" was his biggest hit.
― jer.fairall, Thursday, 26 May 2011 14:01 (twelve years ago) link
I love the lyrics and groove to "Use Me", so that's what I voted for. But all these are great. And "Lean On Me" is just so classic I may actually switch my vote.
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Thursday, 26 May 2011 14:28 (twelve years ago) link
I'd vote Lovely Day, but you can't go wrong with any of 'em.
And here's a vastly underrated Colombia-era single:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-1Z1TpQCgw
― xtianDC, Thursday, 26 May 2011 18:21 (twelve years ago) link
all of these are great to Godlike. Use Me rocks my world the most. I need Still Bill, right?
― gospodin simmel, Friday, 27 May 2011 08:48 (twelve years ago) link
one of the sweetest memories I have is of hearing "Use Me" while riding with a good friend down a highway at night, no way I can get objective about the other ones in light of it
― w of in the attic (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 27 May 2011 09:33 (twelve years ago) link
'(si si) je suis un rock star'
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 27 May 2011 09:35 (twelve years ago) link
how did we get this far into a Bill Withers thread without the duck joke?
― sometimes all it takes is a healthy dose of continental indiepop (tomofthenest), Friday, 27 May 2011 09:37 (twelve years ago) link
what are you even talking about ward
lol tomofthenest
― w of in the attic (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 27 May 2011 09:38 (twelve years ago) link
trying (and obv failing) for a bill withers-bill wyman 'joke', pl move along etc
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 27 May 2011 10:58 (twelve years ago) link
Ok, I'll bite.
Duck joke?
― jer.fairall, Friday, 27 May 2011 13:41 (twelve years ago) link
That You Got The Stuff track! The loooooong vamp at the end is rocking my world. It sounds like My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts!
― The hoppiest hop hopper now with xtra hops (Dan Peterson), Friday, 27 May 2011 14:22 (twelve years ago) link
http://it.bing.com/search?q=duck+joke+bill+withers&src=IE-SearchBox&Form=IE8SRC
xpost
― Mark G, Friday, 27 May 2011 14:25 (twelve years ago) link
^^ made my day.
― jer.fairall, Friday, 27 May 2011 16:07 (twelve years ago) link
Please tell me there's a music joke thread around here somewhere that I just haven't found yet.
Another fave:
Q: Why did the farmer start a punk rock band?
A: Cause he was tired of haulin' oats.
― jer.fairall, Friday, 27 May 2011 16:09 (twelve years ago) link
Artist-specific music jokes
Knock yersel' out.
― Mark G, Friday, 27 May 2011 16:12 (twelve years ago) link
This is impossible.
― Number None, Friday, 27 May 2011 17:41 (twelve years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 30 May 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
i once had a busker sing "who is he and what is he to you" to me on a subway platform.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Monday, 30 May 2011 23:41 (twelve years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
close!
― Mark G, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:05 (twelve years ago) link
A long time ago I was in a restaurant/bar in Kansas City and my waitress was named "Sunshine", actually she said she was named something else but just used that on her name tag, but anyway I thought she was really cute, so I braved my way to the karaoke stage and sang "Ain't No Sunshine" and dedicated it to her. And she really liked it!
All I can think about whenever I've heard the song ever since.
― Lee626, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:14 (twelve years ago) link
i'm just sad about how many of his tunes have been covered to the point where everyone knows the version that isn't his.
even some generic Christian r&b group called Out of Even remade Lovely Day as a song sung to God in the mid-90s, among hundreds of other artists.....
― lolford brimley (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:32 (twelve years ago) link
Just The Two Of Us 0
otm
― Spo-Dee-O-Dee-Dopaliscious! (The Reverend), Wednesday, 1 June 2011 07:30 (twelve years ago) link
Just The 0 Of Us
― Mark G, Wednesday, 1 June 2011 08:56 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.allmusic.com/album/lean-on-me-mw0003201997
^ andy kellman review
wish jose james had more clout in the review-industrial complex, i like every record of his i hear but i don't hear about them except by accident. this is his bill withers covers/tribute project.
― j., Saturday, 1 December 2018 17:06 (five years ago) link
Ooh thanks for the heads up. I love him and he's got the all-star band on this (Nate Smith and Pino), but yeah I recently realized he'd released multiple albums that I'd missed.
― change display name (Jordan), Saturday, 1 December 2018 17:42 (five years ago) link
ikr
what's the point of being on blue note if you can't work that promo money
― j., Saturday, 1 December 2018 17:58 (five years ago) link
Am I the first one on this thread to mention "Who Is He And What Is He To You?" <3<3<3
The 5 in the poll are all great, but my love for "Use Me" has never dimmed (and I do find it kinda overplayed, but still...)
― The hoppiest hop hopper now with xtra hops (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 21:26 (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this
tho i did rock lean on me in panto once (huntsman assuring snow white i wasnt gonna kill her, full robin hood look including green tights why thank you ladiez)
― puppy bash (darraghmac), Tuesday, 4 December 2018 00:34 (five years ago) link
Bill Salter who wrote/ co wrote Just the Two of Us for /with Bill plus “Where is the Love” for Roberta Flack & Donnie Hathaway is getting some attention via his granddaughter’s Tik Tok. She is now making a doc about her 84 year old grandfather
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/human-interest/2020/12/05/harlem-native-who-wrote-just-the-two-of-us-now-a-viral-sensation
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 12 December 2020 16:41 (three years ago) link