Song #12 // Ben Harper “Don’t Give Up On Me Now” [Give Till It’s Gone]
The term “ear worm” is used to describe a song that wiggles its way into one’s ear and lodges there for an extended period of time, housed in the thoughts and memory of the host, not just taking up occupancy, but in effect infecting all other sounds and ideas. It becomes the looped soundtrack to the movie of our lives, infiltrated with even the slightest invitation. It’s a great, fitting visual metaphor.
Ben Harper is successful and widely known. Yet there’s still a feeling that he’s nowhere near as appreciated as he could or should be. He’s a devil guitar player (including the most engrossing slide guitarist this side of AM radio) and has golden pipes on par with Marvin Gaye. A Ben Harper show is one part hard rock, two parts soul. He could be in the pit or the choir depending on the mood.
This song is deceptively plaintive. It’s resilient in a self-effacing way; taking off from Tom Petty’s sentiment in “I Won’t Back Down” but reaching out to an other, as if the unspoken “you” has the key to personal worth. Such a message is so ubiquitous and so clear: I’m strong, I can be strong, but without you, I’m doubt. Don’t take me away from me.
“Don’t Give Up On Me Now” is an ear worm. When I first heard this song in April and May of last year it was the one radio song that stuck with me long after the car was parked out back. Downloaded, its slow bass-driven build portends determination and triumph, but is cut by the pleading, the yearning.
This song may never be big. It might make its way onto a “Best Of” LP as a second-tier track somewhere down the road. But now that’s it been unleashed on the world, it won’t be penned in again. It’s either a blessing or a curse, revealing more about ourselves than we yet know.
Listen to the song HERE.
