Who Did It Better
A Song for You
I love you in a place where there's no space or time
I love you for my life, you're a friend of mine
A Song for You 0:30 is what you say when words are not enough but they are all you have left. He is at the end of the road, turning back to the one who stayed. No more hiding. Just the truth, rough and unpolished.
What he owes cannot be repaid with anything but honesty. So he gives that ... his unvarnished self, right here, right now, before the music fades and the silence takes over.
The Original -- 1971
Donny Hathaway
"A Song for You" traces the shape of a regret that never fades. Donny Hathaway recorded it in 1971 as a man performing his apology in public because the person he hurt will not take his calls in private. The song understands that some mistakes cannot be fixed. They can only be acknowledged. He is not asking for forgiveness. He is asking to be heard. The difference between those two requests is the distance between a hopeful apology and an honest one.
Whitney Houston approached that same honesty in 1994 and let her voice do what Hathaway's did -- lay every mistake on the table without asking for absolution. The song does not change when a different voice sings it. The regret remains the same shape. What changes is the temperature. Hathaway carried the weight of a man who has been carrying it for years. Whitney carried it like a woman who recognized the feeling the moment she opened her mouth.
The Cover -- 2009
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston approached that same honesty in 1994 and let her voice do what Hathaway's did -- lay every mistake on the table without asking for absolution. The song does not change when a different voice sings it. The regret remains the same shape. What changes is the temperature. Hathaway carried the weight of a man who has been carrying it for years. Whitney carried it like a woman who recognized the feeling the moment she opened her mouth.
Image Credits
1,414 artist portraits across 5 genres (Rock, Jazz, Soul, Blues, Folk). 1,363 sourced from Wikipedia (Creative Commons / Public Domain), 50 from Deezer (promotional artwork).
