Each Friday I pick a song–new, old, borrowed, blue–that’s been on my mind and in my ears, and write a short post about it.

This is “Nobody Wants You When You’re Down and Out” by Bobby Womack:

Bobby Womack died 27 June, aged 70. He was an outstanding guitarist, and a really good songwriter. “Across 110th Street” is probably his most famous song; “The Preacher” is the one that makes the least amount of sense, as the writer Mel Watkins pointed out to me last September. “Nobody Wants You When You’re Down and Out” has a title almost as long as the song, and that’s partly why it works: it doesn’t go on long enough to start wallowing in self-pity. Instead, Bobby states his theme, sounding very much like he knows what he’s talking about; then he lets you know he doesn’t want to take up your time, and fades away.