Bill Withers

My daughter heard a song the other day and she thought to herself, who is this singing? I’ve heard this song for years but don’t know who sings it. So she got home and did a little googling and found out it was Bill Withers. I was like I have NEVER heard his name before that I can remember but have heard several of his songs. So she went online and bought one of his CD’s.

Bill only sang for like 8 years and he calls this a small window of time and calls it a small miracle because in that brief time in which he created an enduring piece of work. As a singer he is in the same company as Ray Charles, Al Green and is a simple person (I can relate big time because I am as well) and likes the simple things and wrote about them as well. The simple things ARE the most important things in my opinion. Let me explain….. He wrote a song about his Grandma Hands, and I am here to tell you, it is awesome! The meaning to that song, oh my goodness, gives me chills and reminds me of my MawMaw, my Daddy’s Momma. I’m looking online now to see IF I can find the words to it and here they are.

Grandma's hands
Clapped in church on Sunday morning
Grandma's hands
Played a tambourine so well
Grandma's hands
Used to issue out a warning
She'd say, "Billy don't you run so fast
Might fall on a piece of glass
"Might be snakes there in that grass"
Grandma's hands
Grandma's hands
Soothed a local unwed mother
Grandma's hands
Used to ache sometimes and swell
Grandma's hands
Used to lift her face and tell her,
"Baby, Grandma understands
That you really love that man
Put yourself in Jesus hands"
Grandma's hands
Grandma's hands
Used to hand me piece of candy
Grandma's hands
Picked me up each time I fell
Grandma's hands
Boy, they really came in handy
She'd say, "Matty don' you whip that boy
What you want to spank him for?
He didn't drop no apple core"
But I don't have Grandma anymore
If I get to Heaven I'll look for
Grandma's hands

You can go to this link and hear the song.

http://www.last.fm/music/Bill+Withers/_/Grandma's+Hands

Anyway during the time he was a singer he had children and he realized (GOOD FOR YOU BILL) he was missing out on his children’s lives and he quit his singing career and went home to be with  his children.

He wrote the song Lean on Me, he also wrote Ain’t No Sunshine (when she’s gone), and Just the Two of Us. Bill is 61 at the time of this CD. He didn’t wear the flashy clothes, he didn’t play games or do double deals. He’s just plain folk. You know the song Charlie Pride sings, I’m Just Me? That’s MY song, I LOVE the words to that song!! BUT back to Bill……

OH GET THIS!!!! Whoa you GO BILL! He says on the paper that came in this CD, “I worry about the direction of the world. I worry about a culture where only the physically or materially dominant have the right to speak. Each generation needs and art form to license male vulnerability. If maleness comes to symbolize raw competition, how do males learn to offer love, brotherly support and simple humanity? You can call me a senior citizen. A serious guy. I’m serious about tweaking myself. I’ve always been serious that way, trying to evolve to a more conscious state. Funny thing about that, though, you tweak yourself, looking for more love, less lust, more compassion, less jealousy. You keep tweaking, keep adjusting those knobs until you can no longer find the original settings. In some sense, the original settings are exactly what I’m looking for--- a return to the easy going guy I was before my world got complicated, the nice guy who took things as they came and laughed so hard the blues would blow away in the summer wind.”

Check out what Rhoda has going on today on her blog at Southern Hospitality!
Thank you Rhoda for that explaination on how to do a live link! :) Maybe this will work now.