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Songs I Probably Shouldn’t Listen To #39
Song: Ain’t No Sunshine (Download)
Artist: Bill Withers
Album: Just As I Am
Key Lyric:
Hey, I ought to leave the young thing alone
But ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone
Only darkness everyday
Commentary:
The weather has been very temperamental these past few weeks, with intermittent rain, and this all serves as a reminder of how cruel Mother nature can be at times. Ain’t No Sunshine is another song that focuses on this topic of weather and juxtaposes it with emotional suffering.
The song was written by Bill Withers, and he explains his inspiration for the song:
“I was watching…Days Of Wine And Roses, with Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon. They were both alcoholics who were alternately weak and strong. It’s like going back for seconds on rat poison. Sometimes you miss things that weren’t particularly good for you. It’s just something that crossed my mind from watching that movie, and probably something else that happened in my life that I’m not aware of.”The best part of this song is when Withers sings “I know” x 26 times. Originally he only put that portion of the song as a place holder for future lyrics he was going to pen. However, after Booker T. Jones and other esteemed musicians told him to leave it be, he shrugged and complied. I think the repetition highlights the conflicting views of the narrator, and how he knows better than to focus on the past, but he can’t help but prevent himself from doing so.
