Use Me (Bill Withers song)

1972 single by Bill Withers

"Use Me"

Side A of the US single

Single by Bill Withers
from the album  Still Bill
B-side| "Let Me in Your Life"
Released| August 1972
Genre|

* Soul[1]
* funk[1]

Length| 3:45
Label| Sussex Records
Songwriter(s)| Bill Withers
Bill Withers singles chronology
| "Lean on Me"
(1972)  | "Use Me"
(1972)  | "Let Us Love"
(1972)

|
|

Audio video
"Use Me" on YouTube

"Use Me" is a song composed and originally recorded by Bill Withers. It was included on his 1972 album Still Bill and was released as a single. An eight-minute live version opens the 1973 album Live at Carnegie Hall.

## Structure and content

[edit]

The song is noted for its repeated bass figure, which is heard alongside a complex rhythm in the percussion.[citation needed]

Withers has said the song relates to feedback he received from women that he was "too nice", and his intent to change that:

> That's fun stuff. That's just talkin' trash. That’s just a song about being a little playful, a little arrogant and a little cool. Unless you were one of those people that were born popular, I was a chronic stutterer until I was twenty-eight. I avoided the phone. So I wasn't this popular guy. I remember being young and I would have girls tell me, "You’re too nice." I didn't understand that.

> What kind of twisted world are we in? Women like bad boys, I guess. There is no more confusing form of rejection than for somebody to tell you that you’re not interesting to them because you’re too nice.

> So over the course of time, you say okay, you wanna play, okay, let's play? Use Me taps into that. I tried to be nice, now let's get nasty. That song came quick. I was working in McDonnell Douglas out in Long Beach and the noise of the factory, they had some women working there. I crossed that line there thinking, “You all want a nasty boy? Well here I come.” [laughs].[2]

## Reception

[edit]

It was Withers' second-biggest hit in the United States, released in September 1972 and later reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[3] It was kept from No. 1 by both "Ben" by Michael Jackson and "My Ding-a-Ling" by Chuck Berry.[4] "Use Me" also peaked at No. 2 on the soul chart for two weeks.[5] Withers performed it on Soul Train on November 4, 1972.[6] Billboard ranked "Use Me" as the No. 78 song for 1972.[7] The song was certified Gold by the RIAA.[8]

Music critic Robert Christgau called "Use Me" one of the few knowledgeable songs about sex our supposedly sexy music has ever produced", featuring a "cross-class attraction in its narrative.[9]

## Personnel

[edit]

* Bill Withers – lead vocals and acoustic guitar
* Ray Jackson – clavinet
* Melvin Dunlap – bass guitar
* James Gadson – drums and percussion

## Charts

[edit]

### Weekly charts

[edit]

Chart (1972)  | Peak
position

|

U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 14
U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles | 2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100  | 5
Canada RPM Hot Singles | 33

### Year-end charts

[edit]

Chart (1972)  | Rank

|

US Cash Box[10] | 100

## Certifications

[edit]

Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

United Kingdom (BPI)[11] | Silver  | 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

## Other recordings

[edit]

A variety of artists have covered the song, including:

* Fiona Apple
* Patricia Barber
* Beans and Fatback
* Better Than Ezra
* Rick Braun from "Kisses in the Rain" (2001)[12][13]
* D'Angelo
* Holly Golightly
* Gwar
* Ben Harper
* Isaac Hayes
* Vincent Herring, on the album Hard Times
* Hootie & the Blowfish, on their 2000 compilation album Scattered, Smothered and Covered
* The House Jacks, a cappella, on their 2007 live album Get Down Mr. President
* Ike & Tina Turner, on their 1998 album Absolutely The Best[14]
* Mick Jagger featuring Lenny Kravitz and Flea on his third album Wandering Spirit (1993)
* Eran James
* Al Jarreau
* Grace Jones, on her 1981 album Nightclubbing
* Kimiko Kasai
* As a duet, Alicia Keys and Rob Thomas[15]
* The Lachy Doley Group
* Lindsay Mac
* Liza Minnelli, on her 1973 album The Singer
* Ian Moss recorded a version for his sixth studio album, Soul on West 53rd (2009).
* My Brightest Diamond
* Aaron Neville
* Nicky Moore and the Blues Corporation
* Omar
* Esther Phillips, on her 1972 album Alone Again, Naturally.
* Raw Stylus
* Rockapella
* Kendrick Lamar Sampled the Song for His Song Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst from the Album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
* Slash's Blues Ball
* Tenth Avenue North
* UGK sampled the song for their track “Use Me Up” from their 1992 album Too Hard to Swallow
* Scott Walker, on his 1973 album Stretch
* Walter "Wolfman" Washington
* Junior Wells
* Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s
* Jim White (for the 2005 Starbucks compilation album, Sweetheart 2005: Love Songs)
* Widespread Panic
* Zoobombs
* José James

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Bradley, Larry (November 4, 2014). "The 1970s: Bill Withers - "Use Me". The Alternative Jukebox. Cassell. p. 54\. ISBN 978-1-84403-789-6.
2. ^ Sharp, Ken (April 3, 2020). "Bill Withers on 'Ain't No Sunshine', 'Grandma's Hands', 'Use Me', & His Legacy (Archival Interview)".
3. ^ "Billboard Singles". All Media Guide / Billboard. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
4. ^ "The Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.
5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 633.
6. ^ The Best of Soul Train Live (booklet). Time Life. 2011.
7. ^ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972
8. ^ "RIAA searchable certification database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
9. ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG: Bill Withers". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
10. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 30, 1972". Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
11. ^ "British single certifications – Bill Withers – Use Me". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
12. ^ "Kisses in the Rain overview". Allmusic.com.
13. ^ "Berks Jazz Fest 2007: Rick Braun & Friends". SmoothVibes.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
14. ^ Use Me on YouTube
15. ^ "Alicia Keys and Rob Thomas performing for VH1 Save The Music Concert". Dailymotion. 5 June 2007. Retrieved 2011-10-01.

* v
* t
* e

Bill Withers

Discography

Studio albums|

* Just as I Am
* Still Bill
* +'Justments
* Making Music
* Naked & Warm
* Menagerie
* 'Bout Love
* Watching You, Watching Me

Live albums|

* Live at Carnegie Hall

Compilations|

* Bill Withers' Greatest Hits
* The Essential Bill Withers

Singles|

* "Ain't No Sunshine"
* "Grandma's Hands"
* "Everybody's Talkin'"
* "Let It Be"
* "Use Me"
* "Lean on Me"
* "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh"
* "Lovely Day"
* "Just the Two of Us"
* "Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?"

Other songs|

* "Apple Pie"
* "We Could Be Sweet Lovers"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Still Bill (film)

* v
* t
* e

Grace Jones

Discography

Studio albums|

* Portfolio (1977)
* Fame (1978)
* Muse (1979)
* Warm Leatherette (1980)
* Nightclubbing (1981)
* Living My Life (1982)
* Slave to the Rhythm (1985)
* Inside Story (1986)
* Bulletproof Heart (1989)
* Hurricane (2008)

Compilations|

* Island Life (1985)
* The Ultimate (1993)
* Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions (1998)
* The Universal Masters Collection (2003)
* The Grace Jones Story (2006)
* The Ultimate Collection (2006)
* Disco (2015)

Singles|

* "I Need a Man"
* "Sorry"
* "La Vie en rose"
* "Do or Die"
* "On Your Knees"
* "A Rolling Stone"
* "Love Is the Drug"
* "Private Life"
* "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game"
* "Breakdown"
* "Demolition Man"
* "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)"
* "Pull Up to the Bumper"
* "Walking in the Rain"
* "Nipple to the Bottle"
* "The Apple Stretching"
* "My Jamaican Guy"
* "Cry Now, Laugh Later"
* "Living My Life"
* "Slave to the Rhythm"
* "Jones the Rhythm"
* "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)"
* "Party Girl"
* "Crush"
* "Victor Should Have Been a Jazz Musician"
* "Love on Top of Love"
* "Amado Mio"
* "7 Day Weekend"
* "Evilmainya"
* "Sex Drive"
* "Love Bites"
* "Hurricane (Cradle to the Grave)"
* "Corporate Cannibal"
* "Williams' Blood"
* "Love You to Life"

Other songs|

* "Charger"

Related|

* A One Man Show
* Bloodlight and Bami

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work

|

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