"Grandma's Hands" is a song written by

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including " Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), " Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (197 ...

about his grandmother. It was included on his first album '' Just as I Am'' (1971), and was released as a single, reaching number 18 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart and 42 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In Canada it reached No. 37 in the

RPM Magazine ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''R ...

charts. The song was produced by

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known art ...

and also featured drummer Al Jackson Jr. and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn from Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

Lyrics

Withers' maternal grandfather, Gracchus Monroe Galloway (1855–1937), had been born into

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. In his youth, Withers attended church with his maternal grandmother, Lula (1868–1953), where she would sing and clap along with the hymns. He later said: "It was spontaneous singing, there was nothing programmed. People got up and sang and everybody would join in. It was my favorite kind of singing." A central theme of the song is the protective and nurturing force of the hands, as expressed in the last verse:

:"Grandma's hands used to hand me piece of candy. :Grandma's hands picked me up each time I fell. :Grandma's hands, boy they really came in handy :She'd say, "Mattie don't you whip that boy. :What you want to spank him for? :He didn't drop no apple core," :But I don't have Grandma anymore, :If I get to heaven I'll look for :Grandma's hands. :Um, mm, mm."

Cover versions

The song has since been covered by many other artists, including

Keb' Mo' Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician and five-time Grammy Award winner. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link ...

, Al Jarreau, Kristy Lee,

Meg Mac Megan Sullivan McInerney (born 6 July 1990 in Sydney), known by her stage name Meg Mac, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. She signed to littleBIGMAN records in 2014, locally, and 300 Entertainment in United States. Early career ...

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, Josh Garrels, Marti Pellow,

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, Starsailor, Gil Scott-Heron, Everlast,

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's Even Better Than The Real Thing and Ron Kenoly. It is also sampled for the hook of

Blackstreet Blackstreet (often stylized as BLACKstreet) is an American R&B group founded in 1991 by record producers Chauncey "Black" Hannibal, and Teddy "Street" Riley. The group has released four albums with Interscope Records until 2003. They achieved ...

's "

No Diggity "No Diggity" is a song by American R&B group Blackstreet as the first single for their second studio album, '' Another Level'' (1996), featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen. Released on July 29, 1996, the song reached number one on the US ''Billboard ...

" and " Shout" by Shout for England.

References

Songs written by Bill Withers 1971 singles Songs about old age Barbra Streisand songs Bill Withers songs Sussex Records singles 1971 songs Meg Mac songs {{1970s-single-stub