I'd Rather Be With You

Album: Stretchin' Out in Bootsy's Rubber Band (1976)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Bootsy Collins goes low and slow on "I'd Rather Be With You," a funk ballad from 1976 that has been widely sampled and interpolated, most famously by Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) on his 2016 track "Redbone." It also shows up in the 1995 Adina Howard song "Freak Like Me" and was borrowed by Beyoncé for her 2003 song "Be With You."
  • Bootsy Collins was part of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective when he released this song on his debut album, Stretchin' Out in Bootsy's Rubber Band. Clinton helped him secure a record deal and worked with him on the album, which included many Parliament-Funkadelic players as well. Clinton didn't make romantic songs with P-Funk, so Bootsy's Rubber Band was a good outlet for a song like "I'd Rather Be With You," where Bootsy wants nothing more than to spend time with his lady.
  • Collins wrote the song with George Clinton and Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, a P-Funk mainstay who sings on the track along with Robert "Peanut" Johnson. Bootsy's vocals are peppered in throughout the song, and then at the end he delivers a spoken-word section.
  • That squiggly sound is a wah-wah guitar played by Bootsy, who played the bass on the track as well. The other musicians were members of the P-Funk family:

    Bernie Worrell: melodica, keyboards
    Garry Shider: guitar
    Cordell "Boogie" Mosson: drums
  • Bootsy had some wild times in the '70s and '80s on the road with P-Funk, but he settled down in 1996 when he married his wife Patti. In a Songfacts interview, he talked about how he'd rather be with her: "Music is why you're out there, but what you're chasing is totally different."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Album Cover Inspirations

Album Cover InspirationsSong Writing

Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Weezer

WeezerFact or Fiction

Did Rivers Cuomo grow up on a commune? Why did they name their albums after colors? See how well you know your Weezer in this Fact or Fiction.

Wedding Bell Blues

Wedding Bell BluesSong Writing

When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors Examined

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors ExaminedSong Writing

Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.