Written and Recorded by Bill Withers
Ain’t No Sunshine is a classic heartbreak song. His lady has left him once again and each time she’s gone, he never knows if she’s coming back. Sunshine is this song’s metaphor and there ain’t none of it without her, leaving our protagonist cold and alone in the dark.
This song is wonderful even without the bridge, but with the bridge, it’s monumental! It’s a “breakdown” bridge where the bass, piano and sugary-sad strings drop out to clear the way for some hard truth represented exclusively by the drums and Bill’s vocals.
He knows she’s bad news and that he “ought to leave young thing alone.” In fact, he’s so positive he announces, “I know” twenty-six times! This is how much he knows this relationship is wrong! Yet, he admits that this self-awareness will be thrown right out the window because all that matters is that she’s gone, there ain’t no sunshine, and the only thing that he wants is her back home.
The full band returns as he sings “she’s gone,” swaying him back into the familiar heartbreak. We all know she’ll be back and we all know she’ll keep breaking his heart. But from the worst of heartbreak comes the best of songs.
-MJK
Ain’t No Sunshine is a classic heartbreak song. His lady has left him once again and each time she’s gone, he never knows if she’s coming back. Sunshine is this song’s metaphor and there ain’t none of it without her, leaving our protagonist cold and alone in the dark.
This song is wonderful even without the bridge, but with the bridge, it’s monumental! It’s a “breakdown” bridge where the bass, piano and sugary-sad strings drop out to clear the way for some hard truth represented exclusively by the drums and Bill’s vocals.
He knows she’s bad news and that he “ought to leave young thing alone.” In fact, he’s so positive he announces, “I know” twenty-six times! This is how much he knows this relationship is wrong! Yet, he admits that this self-awareness will be thrown right out the window because all that matters is that she’s gone, there ain’t no sunshine, and the only thing that he wants is her back home.
The full band returns as he sings “she’s gone,” swaying him back into the familiar heartbreak. We all know she’ll be back and we all know she’ll keep breaking his heart. But from the worst of heartbreak comes the best of songs.
-MJK
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