Use Me

Bill Withers

My friends feel it's their appointed duty
They keep tryna tell me
All you want to do is use me
But my answer, yeah
Yeah, to all that use me stuff

I-i-i, and I wanna spread the news
That if it feels this good getting used
Oh, you just keep on using me
Until you use me up
Until you use me up

My brother
Sit me right down and he talked to me
Oh-oh, he told me, yeah
That I ought not to let you just walk on me
And I'm sure he meant well
Yeah, but when our talk was through

I-i-i said, brother
If you only knew you'd wish that you were in my shoes
You just keep on using me
Until you use me up
Until you use me up

Oh-oh, sometimes
It's true, you really do abuse me
Oh, you get me in a crowd of high-class people
And then you act real rude to me

Aah-ha, but, oh baby, baby, baby, baby
When you love me, I can't get enough
I, I, I wanna spread the news
That if it feels this good getting used
Girl, you just keep on using me
Until you use me up
Until you use me up

Talkin' 'bout you usin' people
It all depends on what you do
It ain't too bad the way you're usin' me
'Cause I sure am usin' you
To do the things you do
Ah, how to do the things you do


Lyrics submitted by Nelly

Use Me Lyrics as written by Bill Withers

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Use Me song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

11 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment
    Man.. this song is about being with a woman who treats you like garbage and everyone around is tellin you to get out. But, what they don't know is that the sweetness is so GOOD to you, that it don't matter how she treats you, as long as she keeps lettin you hit it! Great song!!
    joedrums8aon December 17, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    Man.. this song is about being with a woman who treats you like garbage and everyone around is tellin you to get out. But, what they don't know is that the sweetness is so GOOD to you, that it don't matter how she treats you, as long as she keeps lettin you hit it! Great song!!
    joedrums8aon December 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    To me it's a song about a guy that is dating a "user" but knows it. He's just making the most of it as it also benefits him in a physical (or emotional) sense. Raw Stylus did a good cover of this in the 90s BTW but nothing can beat the withmeister's version.
    Mulletinoon October 03, 2006   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning
    About the record industry? I love how people just read between the lines like a tenth grade English teacher, you have no evidence to back this up. Why would Withers call the record industry "baby baby baby baby?" lol. Check it: Huge principle in logic is "Occam's Razor," also known as the "law of economy:" it states: "all things being equal, the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one." IMPORTANT: Simplest not meaning least complex, rather, the one that makes the fewest assumptions and seems to accurately reflect the information available.
    mikeaurynon January 29, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation
    This is about a Man who loves those juices! He don't give a rats butt about how she's treating him in public or what other people see, it just does not matter, but what she does for him OUTWEIGHS it all. LOL! PEACE.
    genus2011on July 26, 2015   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation
    The song can be interpreted multiple ways, but the consistent theme is bilateral use. Person A uses Person B just as Person B is using person A. The last lines of the song make it clear. He clearly doesn't mind being used because he's also using the person to do the "things" they do. More interesting, just before saying this, he makes note that one needs to be aware as to how they use someone as whether the use is good or bad simply depends. Though I will say then when I was younger, I saw this song as a very underlined sexual song. In my young male mind, I envisioned a guy being used almost purely as a sexual object for a female, but in public she frequently belittled him for her personal enjoyment. In the guy's mind, he didn't care because he knew what was soon to come. Again, just another case of bilateral using.
    theonlybusteron April 17, 2021   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    The last three lines. The last three lines of the song is what it is about. What a great ending.
    xGmanon June 22, 2021   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Clearly Bill had a big humiliation fetish.. For those of you who don’t know what that is.. erotic humiliation is basically when people get off on (sometimes paying for) consensual humiliation (being disrespect in public, being treated like a slave etc.) in order to be sexually aroused. It’s a whole thing
    janayben1on December 23, 2021   Link
  • -1
    General Comment
    I heard this song on a GMC commercial the other day. A person will talk to to you and be interested in what you say...untill someone better comes along, then they'll act like you don't exist. This song has a simple vibe that I love, but it's also depressing...this guy in this song's relationship will probably never be out in the open.
    emugirlon October 02, 2005   Link
  • -1
    General Comment
    It's about Bill's relationship with the record industry. The leeches at the top are getting rich off of Bill's success, and his friends are trying to tell him not to let the record company/industry walk all over him. But Bill's saying, "Man, I'm getting rich off of these guys; let them use me all they want. At least I'm making a lot of money from my hits."
    NorthWriteron August 14, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!