tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164220375200882525.post3592462858969506886..comments2024-02-16T08:56:05.880-06:00Comments on Misstra Knowitall: Ain't No SunshineAbdel Shakurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04245104256959807029noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164220375200882525.post-26534505464938524292009-01-19T01:00:00.000-06:002009-01-19T01:00:00.000-06:00I can't ever thank you enough for turning me onto ...I can't ever thank you enough for turning me onto his music last year. Somehow I'd never noticed him (save for knowing "Lean on Me"), and now I can't stop listening.<BR/><BR/>Hope you're staying warm in Chicago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164220375200882525.post-49242812753772159552009-01-11T22:59:00.000-06:002009-01-11T22:59:00.000-06:00It's funny you mentioned the thing about schools b...It's funny you mentioned the thing about schools because in my first draft I wrote about how everybody had to sing Lean on Me during their middle school "graduation."<BR/><BR/>With songs like this or "Grandma's Hands," or "Harlem," Withers has this way of transporting you back to a Black communal experience that a lot of us have only heard stories about. <BR/><BR/>I'm not sure, but it seems like the Southern roots of Withers' aesthetic and outlook has a lot to do with his ability to "take us back." Maybe that's part of what's lacking in some of today's music.Abdel Shakurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04245104256959807029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164220375200882525.post-88393812999567656422009-01-11T14:57:00.000-06:002009-01-11T14:57:00.000-06:00When _Lean On Me_, the Morgan Freeman film, came o...When _Lean On Me_, the Morgan Freeman film, came out back in the day, Withers' song by the same title became like an anthem--especially, I would suspect, in black/lower-income communities.<BR/><BR/>Everybody knew the words; every kid I knew could pick out the notes on a piano (the harmony was relatively easy to play). My fondest memory of the song was singing it at a school assembly in the gymnasium (just like in the Freeman film) as it was played over the PA system, with members of the staff and faculty acting out a skit to the lyrics.<BR/><BR/>That movie--and by extension, the song--captures a spirit of togetherness and solidarity with one's community that I haven't seen in years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com