Donny Hathaway - A Song For You (Live)

[Night Senses]

I'm referring to the live version of this song, because I'm not sure if there's a studio version or not (sometimes it's hard to remember since he sings so well live or on record). I stole the 45 RPM from my Dad a while back because I just had to have this song in my collection. (That was, of course, before I bought most of Donny CDs.)

Anyway, this is one of Donny Hathaway's classics - just the ultimate Donny song, if you ask me. I can't think of one time where I've listened to this song and get all emotional. :'( The tone of his soulful voice, the lyrics, the way he's conveying that emotion in this song. Seriously, talent like that is so RARE in this day in age. If I was around back then, I probably would've spent my last dime just to experience him live. Whenever I really want to be moved and am in need for something special, I put in Donny. He really was something special.

This song is incredible!

[Me. I Am Justin...]

Donny was the man, no doubt! I think this is my favorite by him, too, but I also love "You Were Meant For Me" & "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know". There is a studio version of this on the "A Donny Hathaway Collection" cd.

[Night Senses]

jaykool77 said:

Donny was the man, no doubt! I think this is my favorite by him, too, but I also love "You Were Meant For Me" & "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know". There is a studio version of this on the "A Donny Hathaway Collection" cd.

Those are amazing, too. Giving Up is another amazing one.

I'll have to pick up that collection because the GH I have only includes the live version.

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#146 on Pitchfork's 200 Best Songs of the 1970's

“A Song for You,” written and performed by Leon Russell in 1970, went on to be covered by dozens of singers, some of the most important in popular music: Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Whitney Houston, Karen Carpenter, Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera, even Bizzy Bone (with help from DMX). It says a lot then that the song is most closely associated with Donny Hathaway. His 1971 version, part of his eponymous second record, is almost uncomfortable to listen to; it feels like something overheard in a corner booth after midnight. “But we’re alone now/And I’m singing this song to you.” With the exception of some well-placed strings, the arrangement is spare, mainly Hathaway at the piano, singing. Or is he confessing? (“I treated you unkindly…”). He may as well have sung it a cappella. He certainly had the voice—warm, well-practiced, with great range, as good or better than any in that already-breathtaking era of R&B and soul.

Hathaway, who struggled with depression through the ’70s, didn’t make it out of the decade. On January 13, 1979, at the age of 33, he was found dead outside the Essex House on Central Park South, below the window of his 15th floor room. It was ruled a suicide and makes this refrain in “A Song For You” all the more affecting: “And when my life is over/Remember when we were together/We were alone and I was singing this song to you.” –Michael J. Agovino

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RIP Leon Russell