John Legend & The Roots: "I Can't Write Left Handed" (Bill Withers Cover)

Bill Withers is a true musical icon.  It's interesting, as I write this post from my Boylston Street office in Beantown, his classic "Lean on Me" comes on the radio.  Irony has its way of sneaking its way into your life, and right now it's singing to me.  Bill Withers is a musical genius.  "Live at Carnegie Hall" is probably one of my favorite live recordings in music.  It was recorded and released in 1973 in NYC, at the infamous Carnegie hall.  There was still a large amount of social unrest between blacks and whites at this time, but Bill took over Carnegie Hall and put together an amazing compilation of tunes that make you think, cry, and dance; 3 things we should do often.  One of his songs, "I Can't Write Left Handed," is a standout track. 

It's about a Vietnam vet who lost his right arm during the war.  The lyrics are autobiographical and filled with such an interesting view on the war, what happens while at war, and even about the guy who shot him. 

"I aint gonna live-I don't believe I'm going to live to get much older.
Strange little man over here in Vietnam I aint never seen, bless
his heart, aint never done nothing to, he done shot me in my shoulder."

Throughout the song you start to feel for the guy. In this "spoken letter" that the solder is writing, he keeps asking his mother to ask their local reverend to pray for him, as he feels he's about to die. He asks his family lawyer to get a deferment for his little brother so he doesn't get shipped out to Vietnam to potentially get hurt as well. It's such a deep, meaningful, storytelling song that blows me away everytime I hear it. On the Carnegie Hall record, you hear the entire band of 6 humming in the background while Bill tells stories and sings the tune. It has such a huge gospel feel and one that will make the room quiet whenever you play the song. Just listen to Carnegie Hall itself. You hear a few cheers and "amens" from the crowd, as if the hall was temporarily a Baptist church and Bill Withers was the reverend. It's beautiful.

Below is a really cool version done by the legendary Roots and John Legend, which was released on their record "Wake Up" which hit stores Tuesday of this week. The whole record dives into old school classics like Bill Withers and Donny Hathaway tunes. Really good stuff. Check it out.


Cheers,