Why is this one of the most potent love songs?

Ain’t no Sunshine is the once-in-the-lifetime kind of tune most songwriters dream of crafting.
Ain’t no Sunshine, in my opinion, is one of the most potent loves songs ever committed to vinyl.
Ain’t no Sunshine is one of my favourite love songs… Here’s Bill Withers:

Why am I sharing this with you? Two reasons:

1. Listen again to Ain’t No Sunshine. It’s a rarity. It’s barely two minutes long. Ain’t no Sunshine is not just a potent love song but a very non-conventional love song. Love is a very powerful, inspiring emotion, right? Why is then that most love songs seem so similar? When I first heard Ain’t no Sunshine, I was so happy that I found a love song that wasn’t a rewrite.

2. I recently watched a new documentary about Bill titled Still Bill. It’s truly remarkable and I highly recommend it. Here’s a little taste of what Bill said about his early days in the music business:

“I saved-up some of my own money and recorder myself. I had never written any songs, I didn’t really know how to play anything, and I had never sung before…not really, you know in the shower or someplace. But, but I just decided that it would be awfully nice to get in the music business. And I just walked around and knocked on everybody’s door. A lot of times I would go in and somebody would say to me: ‘You are too old to be just beginning,’ and I was like 32 years old at the time…”

This was hardly the first time Bill Withers had faced adversity in his life.
For example, he had a serious stutter until he was 20.
At one point in the documentary, he recalls being taunted to “spit it out!”
What if that was the only story that Bill ever told?

“…Then when I went to this major, big mega label, you know, you walk in, you play something and somebody goes: ‘Where the horns, you gotta put some horns on it. How long is the intro?’ First hit record I had was Ain’t no Sunshine. No intro. Nothing…”
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Bill Withers is one of my all time favourite artists. Transcending most genres, I always thought that Bill could sing about most anything and make it good. His art is so simple yet so very unique, and so very deep when you look into it. Just listen how Zen is the advice and encouragement Bill offers to aspiring artists in his documentary: “On the way to wonderful, you’ll pass through all right. Stop and take a look around, because that’s where you may be staying.”

My 2¢: My challenge to you: Be like Bill Withers. Put You in Younique.