Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem was annexed to New York City in 1873.
Harlem has been defined by a series of boom-and-bust cycles, with significant ethnic shifts accompanying each cycle. Black residents began to arrive en masse in 1904, with numbers fed by the Great Migration. In the 1920s and 1930s, the neighborhood was the focus of the "Harlem Renaissance", an outpouring of artistic and professional works without precedent in the American black community. However, with job losses in the time of the Great Depression and the deindustrialization of New York City after World War II, rates of crime and poverty increased significantly.
New York's revival in the late 20th century has led to renewal in Harlem as well. By 1995, Harlem was experiencing social and economic gentrification. Though the percentage of residents who are black peaked in 1950, the area remains predominantly black.
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. (born July 4, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. He recorded a number of hits such as "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands". His life was recently the subject of the documentary film Still Bill.
Withers was born the youngest of six children in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. Raised in nearby Beckley, West Virginia, Withers was twelve years old when his father died. He enlisted with the United States Navy at age eighteen and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing and writing songs. Soon after his discharge from the Navy in 1965, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1967 for a musical career.
Withers worked as an assembler for several different companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation, while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around and performing in clubs at night. When he debuted with the song "Ain't No Sunshine" he refused to resign his job because of his belief that the music business was a fickle industry and that he was still a novice compared to other acts.
Summer night in Harlem
Man it's really hot
Well it's too hot to sleep and too cold to eat
I don't care if I die or not
Winter night in Harlem
Oh oh radiator won't get hot
And that mean old landlord
He don't care if I freeze to death or not
Saturday night in Harlem
Oh every thing's alright
You can really swing and shake your pretty thing
The parties are out of sight
Sunday morning here in Harlem
Now every body's all dressed up
The heathen folk just gettin' home from the party
And the good folk just got up
Our crooked delegation wants a donation
To send the preacher to the holy land
Hey hey Lord, honey don't give your money
To that lyin', cheatin' man
Saturday night in Harlem
Hey hey, every thing's alright
You can really swing and shake your pretty thing
The parties are out of sight
Sunday morning here in Harlem
Now every body's all dressed up
The heathen folk just gettin' home from the party
And the good folk just got up
Our crooked delegation wants a donation
To send the preacher to the holy land
Hey hey Lord, honey don't give your money
Killa, Killa, Dipset man
Aye yo you know I've been all over the motherfucking world man
But ain't no place like Harlem man
Me break it down man
We tie dynamite to the rhino type, whine you might find yo sight
Sell the information for a dime a white, that c
I'm behind the diner, selling marijuana to a minor minor
Elder fella, lookin' for that shine, I'll shine ya
My mind designa, you a dime, I dine ya
Madonna momma, body bottle, your fine, I'm finer
Time to climb her, climb behind vagina
Then I hime and grind her, 'til her mom remind her
Diamonds blind her, visions gone, kiss her palm
Turn her on, lift her arm, notice that her wrists is wrong
Gotta get it right ma, we gon' get along
Said how don't trip, but yo the trick is wrong
First visit warn, day job tick a tron
Night time, missed the mom, bootleg Chris and Don
Brother Chris and Don, and they sister calm
They sell yay, you'll say yay, this s***'s the bomb
I'm a hit my man, tell 'em you my bigga pawn
The rest, so yes, you'll be blessed to hit the intercom
You know kisses mom, she gave him wisdom charm
And they father come from a long lista dons
And I get it cheaper, I cop bricks like sneakers
And if the cops come, I just hit amnesia
But I give you an earful, it's tearful
Told my mother I hustle, and she said be careful
Why I feel like I'm losin' weight?
Why I ain't got no money if I'm movin' weight?
My life's based upon, what I'mma do this year
Cop a boat, Hop a layer, now the army suits cute with my chocolate Airs
You ain't gotta stare, go cop a pair
Still the sweet in me, nothing they can do to me
I made sure my mother and girl is smothered in pearls
When a nigga under the world
Everybody like Cam got the recipe now
Not them three girls I got to be Destiny's Child
Specially equities, wreckin' we smile
In the fear tech the tech and use the tech that we wile
The tech with the septa, Receptive affiles
Hectic, heckle a koch, helicopters on the set of my sales
Nah, I ain't gon' be imbedded in jail
Talking to a cell mate in a bed in a jail, dog
I broke bread with the wheel, fled from some seals
And the house, I was the head of the hills, s***
You get a dumb ho, and get dumb happy
Go to the gun show, get gun happy
Stuck, killed, mugged, milt
Tone flint sticks, bo, Chub's milk
Poochi, baba, butta got the hardest shells
We the Midwest gun cartel, nigga
Ya, well just clap up ya brains, snatch up ya chains
See dog? Rap is my aim
But I'm a hustla, in my heart, trapped is the game
A test of my frame, tapped to my brain, affects that remains
It wasn't rap, it was crack that got the racks on the Range
Look dog, don't be askin' for dames, see
Playboy, I don't own that man
In any way homeboy, you a grown ass man, s***
And when I rap, it ain't no punchlines
I be on the highway dirty, crunch time
N o timeouts homeboy, just one time
If they find that stash box, just one time
S***, they'll put the dogs in the trunk
Side of the road, holding you up, cold as a f***
They want that button, lunge it and push it
Soon as they lunge it and push it, I'll run in the bushes
That's how I play mine, jump over the grapevine
Take my chances, one on one with the K9
Stealin' a clip, for anyone squealin' they lips
F*** y'all if y'all ain't feeling the dips
Why I feel like I'm losin' weight?
Why I ain't got no money if I'm movin' weight?
My life's based upon, what I'mma do this year
Cop a boat, Hop a layer, now the army suits cute with my chocolate Airs
You ain't gotta stare, go cop a pair
Still the sweet in me, nothing they can do to me
I made sure my mother and girl is smothered in pearls
When a nigga under the world
7th Lennox and what about the east side
El Barrio we blowin' smoke while we G ride
Washington Heights dime lo tato you know
Todo bien tato capo uh oh
Shot out to Taft where them killas is made
We was out on the Ave. young dealin' that gay
Tryin' to get cash pumpin' crills to get payed
Alcohol in my glass blunt filled up with haze
We congregated infront them grocery stores
Sellin' crack held gats and conversate while we smoked the raw
And sit on crates like they lay-z boys
The strip we wait like the 80's boy
And whip up 8th in the latest toy
Like it's the only thing to do
You know the house parties you had to bring your crew
And you know we stay fly Pelle leather with the boots
And niggaz shake the dice and call you bet out 'fore you shoot
You lookin' scared money fall better to the deuce
We would set up on the stoop
Gettin' wet up on the stoop
And watch the dust fiends gettin' wet up off the juice
Tryin' to get up off that loot
So we could get up on the coupes
I wish Harlem Lee was still around
You know the jam packed traffic buggin out infront of Willie's Lounge
I been doing this since Nucleus was open
Coppin' they black well who knew what we was smokin'
Took a few pulls had you movin' slow motion
Walkin' pass the Carter now it's pokie still smokin'
And I could still picture the sports bar
Niggaz think they hot shit whippin' up in the sports car
State bulding jams
Remember Farraqan had that fake million man
Copped the fly jackets from Carlos at the mall
Or be in King Domes poppin' bottles in the park
Don't play on 40th cause they'll rob you after dark
Wolf pack gang don't jog central park
F.T.W fuck the world
Drinkin 40's got us fucked up till we earl
In this hustlers world
Somebody tell Cuda let me in this cherry lounge
This ain't Queens homie you surrounded by deadly grounds
And I was downtown just watchin' the caine flip
Heard a nigga from the west side was fuckin' my same bitch
But them bitches didn't care
Just tryin to get some cash buy some sneakers fix they hair
Ride up Lennox Ave. you smell the reffer in the air
3rd Ave. viva Puerto Rico the boricua fair
African parade every year the whole block is there
You want raw yay Broadway you go cop it there
Shit, and we can cruise autobahn
Go buy the rawest chron
Or around the clock baby even 4 in the morn'
The summer time we still illin' on them, God They clear the whole 7th
poppin' wheelies on them squads
Terror Squad still got the hottest team in the Rucker
Riding through Harlem
In my bulletproof car
Inside a glass shell you say
Keeps us from harm
My music's playing loudly
And people gather ?round
They wonder what we're doing
In their part of town
I try to reach out, reach out
And touch my brother's hand
Walls are too thick, Lord
It just makes him mad
Everybody's yelling
There must be something wrong
If we just listen closer
We might just get along
Wake me from my sleep now
Take me from my dream
Don't leave me here in Harlem
You made the streets so mean
This ain't no revolution
This ain't no civil war
Riding through Harlem
In my bulletproof car
An? how the signal's changing
They change from green to red
I see a confrontation
It's lying dead ahead
It all seems so familiar
Part of an endless scene
You find it so peculiar
When you're the one in need
Now you're talking, saying
Now it's me verses him
Well, I don't pick the sides
And I don't wanna win
So don't call my number
And ask to fall in line
When you don't have solutions
You've run out of time
Wake me from my sleep now
Take me from my dream
I?ll take you down to Harlem
You?ll see just what I mean
This ain't no revolution
This ain't no civil war
Riding through Harlem
In my bulletproof car
Wake me from my sleep now
Take me from my dream
Don't leave me here in Harlem
You made the streets so mean
This ain't no revolution
This ain't no civil war
Riding through Harlem
Riding through in
Riding through in a bulletproof car
Wake me from my sleep now
Take me from my dream
I?ll take you down to Harlem
You?ll see just what I mean
This ain't no revolution
This ain't no civil war
Riding through Harlem
I just wanna see jay are you a fool
were cool they know theyre good
yeah its pretty hard getting sick of what-
ever youre going through
I know I know
I know I know
my basketball teams name is gay human bones
we win most of the games we play at home
oh yeah that idea yeah its a good one we just found out
youre going to get off and the ball is fucking ours
or so they tell me
I found a good shooter while I was on
oh lord I was stoned
water moccasins crawling through me
hell yeah I know Im all alone
I know I know
I know I know
my basketball teams name is gay human bones
we win most of the games we play at home
oh yeah that idea yeah its a good one we just fucked up
youre going to get off and the ball is fucking ours
my basketball teams name is gay human bones
we win most of the games we play at home
oh yeah that idea yeah its a good one we just fucked up
I've been looking for someone like you
You look cool and I like your walk
Well I had a pet before
I still got a lock of her hair in my pocket
I'm just fucking with your passenger
Could you keep your headlights out of my eyes
I think you're beautiful and very smart
I've been looking for someone like you
I think you're cool and I think we should talk
Well I had a pet before
I still got a lock of her hair in my pocket
I'm just fucking with your passenger
Could you keep your headlights out of my eyes
I just want to be your baby
I don't mean maybe
I just want to be your baby
If I could be your darlin'
You've gotta stop fallin'
For all the bullshit I give you
Drag it hard from A to B
Play guitar from G to C
Write a song about how much you hate me
Call me up
At the hotel
Me and the band
Gonna wish you well
I say hi there
You say we're through
Do I change your mind
Or do I change my tune?
I just wanna be your baby
I don't mean maybe
I just wanna be your baby
If I could be your darlin'
I just gotta start fallin'
You smell like a flower
That hasn't been invented
You gave me a camera
So I could take your picture
I met the girl of my dreams
Down in new orleans
You smell like a flower
That hasn't been invented
You gave me a camera
So I could take your picture
I met the girl of my dreams
She's down in new orleans
Someday soon you'll be on fire
And you'll ask me for a glass of water
And I say, No, you can just let that shit burn
And you'll say, Please, please, please put me out
I promise not to do it again whatever I did to you.
Oh please, please, please put me out.
I promise not to do it again whatever I did to you.
Oh please put me out!
I promise not to do it again!
Oh please put me out!
I promise not to do it again!
Dirty lies to get like to me
And even he cant tell that's a suitcase between your
knees
Oh I believe that somebody had to leave,
But God almighty it couldn't be me!
And you'll say, Please put me out!
I promise not to do it again!
Oh please put me out!
Stay up late
Then sleep in
Leaf blowing
Field trip today
Can't graduate
This college
Get a degree and
Complain, hey
Yeah these are the kids
That won't go to bed
Spray paint a peace sign
Or just go ahead
Little house
In the country
Let em guard it
Then watch it all burn
All his friends
Slash daughters
On the weekend
Slash black or red
Yeah these are the kids
That won't go to bead
Spray paint peace sign
I live in a graveyard
I wanna go out but it's too hot
Yeah, I'm just as see-through as Casper the Ghost
Oh, I hope you know I wanna get outta here
Help me get outta here
I can't stand it
I'm so possessive
The more you keep the closer you get to love (?)
I wanna disappear all the time
Help me disappear
Tonight!
You're only happy when you win
Whatever happened to me
Whatever happened to me, makin' you happy
I can't stand it
I'm so possessive
The more you keep the closer you get to love (?)
I wanna disappear all the time
Help me disappear
Tonight!
Did I do something bad
Cause you're in the worst mood I think you ever had
Did I do something wrong
Cause it's been a long long long time
I can't stand it
I'm so possessive
The more you keep the closer you get to love (?)
I wanna disappear all the time.
Help me disappear
Tonight!
You smell like a flower
That hasn't been invented
You gave me a camera
So I could take your picture
I met the girl of my dreams
Down in new orleans
You smell like a flower
That hasn't been invented
You gave me a camera
So I could take your picture
I met the girl of my dreams
She's down in new orleans
Do I look like some trick
No I don't care what you think
About me
Cuz I've been here since sunset
Tell me
Where were you
I won't look at you ever again
I won't look at you ever again
I won't look at you ever again
Drivin' in the south of France
And I'm blastin' Abba
Moroccan guy askin me
A sensual question
Lookin' at the beach
It's a shame
That it's a-rainin'
I wish I could take a swim
Instead I'm stuck in a cab with a stranger
Drank last night and I feel like shit
I hate every book I've ever read
Take back the words I never said
I need somewhere to rest my head
I'm lookin' for a big old, big old med
Two years later I'm back in the same town
This time I brought my girlfriend
We fought at the beach and slept at a ?
We told each other it was the end
All the girls on the beach all topless and tan
Real pretty bodies what would they taste like, man
I wish I was different
More like Duvall (?)
But every time I try I realize I can't
I hear a party and ?
I can hear all of them ?
Ever wait four years ?
I'm just gonna wait for the next day
Next day I wake up
I drink coffee
And I go for a walk around town
Buy some drugs off a street man
Go back hotel
Lie back down
I'm thinkin' there's a gas leak in my room
I'm on drugs
I'm freakin' out
Do I call the ? and tell him
Or do I just go back to sleep
I hate every book I've ever read
Take back the words you never said
I need somewhere to rest my head
I'm gonna watch the sun
Watch until I go blind
It's gonna burn my skin too
But not quite like you do
I know there's something evil under your pretty face
I know that you're keepin' lies under your wicked tongue, too
And I heard from one of your girls
You're gettin' rid of me anyway
I hope it's not today
Cuz I'm comin' down to see ya
Why do you torture me girl?
Why do you torture me?
Why do you torture me girl?
Why do you torture me?
My friends say I'm a fool and that my head's full of shit
I know that it's not true
Ain't got a thing to do with it
You locked my heart in shackles
Hid the keys in your cat food
Now I'm sick as a dog
I don't think that we're gonna make it
Why do you torture me girl?
Why do you torture me?
Why do you torture me girl?
Why do you torture me?
Why do you torture me girl?
Why do you torture me girl?
Why do you torture me girl?
It was the middle of June me and my grand mama
Had some free time flew to Panama
I was playin' the bar sippin' a Margarita
When this chick from Argentina her name Armenita
She told me you could make some fast cash
You help me change my name from Vasquez to your name
Take me to your domain
Trick you must be out yo' brain
She said it's no game my pops got tons of cocaine
And you could have some if you get me on your plane
I said here the dealie, you sound silly
Think hard, there gotta be another way to get you a green card
Hey ma, you wanna go wit' me?
I promise you, we gon' see the world
Seasons are changin'
Seasons are changin'
How are you feelin'?
I can't get excited
I can't get excited
No one can help me
Darlin'
Darlin'
Please
Well I miss you already
I miss you already
I hate to watch you leave
Gave you all of my love
You said, "I can't love you"
I'm gonna take it all back
I didn't mean to scare you
Seasons are changin'
Seasons are changin'
How are you feelin'?
I got bedbugs
I got bedbugs
All over me
Darlin'
Darlin'
Please
Well you got a new man
Now you got a new man
Now I'm kickin' and screamin'
Gave you all of my love
You said, "I can't love you"
I'm gonna take it all back
I didn't mean to scare you
Gave you all of my love
You said, "I can't love you"
I'm gonna take it all back
I had my heart broken
It was broken in two
And if I had my heart broken
I bet it was broken by you.
I wrote you a letter
But I didn't have a stamp
Threw it in the garbage can
Address the tram.
And I lost my heart
I lost my heart
I had my heart broken
It was broken in two
And if I had my heart broken
I bet it was broken by you.
I went to your wedding
When I fumed off there
Said "Is something wrong?"
Now I'm in jail.
And I lost my heart
I lost my heart
I love all the people
Most of all I love you
I love all the people
Most of all I love you
I love all the people
Most of all I love you
I love all the people
Most of all I love you
But I don't know how you can be so dumb
I had my heart broken
It was broken in two
I had my heart broken
It was broken in two
And I'm glad
I'm glad
Somewhere there's a town
Where the roads are covered in red and violet roses
And the people sleep through a thousand years of sadness
Lord you couldn't wake them if you wanted to
An Indian told me
I am older then the road I am on
I asked him a question
He said no you tell me where you come from
Then I turned to Julie
In a casino built in restaurant
She says I'm lucky because I've always had a home
A woman to hold me
When I get stoned
I may feel lonely
But I don't know what its like to be alone
Until I see the bottom
Somewhere there's a town
Where the roads are covered in red and violet roses
And the people sleep through a thousand years of sadness
Lord you couldn't wake them if you wanted to
I hope I'm not there when you do
I hope I'm in some other life
Because I don't want to see their faces
Looking so displaced
So close your eyes and say goodnight
An Indian told me
I am older then the road I am on
So I went back to New York
The city where I come from
Where the people look at me
Like I'm somebody else's problem