Trumped only by death, heartbreak creates one of the darker times that can ever beset the human spirit. Ask Kanye…or LC. If one could sing the blues away from love’s sadness, “Hope She’ll Be Happier” would be tune they would sing.

You have to have been here to understand and vibe with this one. You had to have been caught with your dick out and doing dirt. You had to have what I call that “metal pain” in your stomach where you feel a constant ache that isn’t tempered by food, weed, alcohol or punching walls. Numerous nights spent crying and moaning to your boys like a little snatch, tell’em how you did right; knowing you blew your share of the rent money on a freakoff night at Déjà Vu, tossin singles at the dancers, then $60 for a fuckin handjob in the back you wish you got a refund for. Like she wasn’t gonna notice that cum stain on your sweats, tombout “That’s snot. You know my sinuses, baby.” In turn, you caught her buttnaked, freakin on the pest control man during one of his more frequent visits because she said the four walls you shared had “been having more waterbugs.”

The time is so dark, and you’ve acted such a donkey, the bird had to get a restraining order because you threatened her, the dog and the goddamn beta fish because “He was giving me the side eye.” If you’ve been there, then yeah, you know “the darkness” Brother Bill speaks of. And you know you have no power over the darkness. But find solace; this song is your song.

If you can’t relate then perhaps it’s because you’re one of the lucky ones who’s never loved this hard…yet. Don’t stress it. Download the song and tuck it away. You’ll need it eventually.

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Download — Bill Withers – “Hope She’ll Be Happier”