"Just the Two of Us" is a 1980 song written by

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

, William Salter, and

Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was an American percussionist, steelpan virtuoso, songwriter, musical arranger, and record producer. His compositions include " Where Is the Love", a Grammy Award winner for the due ...

, and recorded by

Grover Washington Jr. Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist and Grammy Award winner. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders and le ...

with Withers on vocals.

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

released it in Washington's 1980 album '' Winelight'' and as a February 1981 single. The song propelled ''Winelight'' success, often credited for leading to the 1980s

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

explosion.

Background

"Just the Two of Us" was written by Bill Withers, Ralph MacDonald and William Salter. Originally an instrumental track written by MacDonald and Salter, MacDonald contacted Withers and he wrote the lyrics.

Composition

Harmony

"Just the Two of Us" is in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...

. The

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

D – C – Fm – EmA of its

intro Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

and

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse (poetry), a line or lines in a poetic composition * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict meter or rhyme, but still re ...

can be thought of as a

double-time Double-Time Records (a.k.a. Double-Time Jazz) is a jazz record company and label founded by Jamey D. Aebersold in New Albany, Indiana in 1995. Its catalogue includes albums by John Abercrombie, Bruce Barth, Jerry Bergonzi, Conrad Herwig, And ...

modified reordering of the first four bars of the "Sunny" chord progression. "Just the Two of Us" restarts this progression but settles on the minor tonic: D – C – Fm. Its

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

inserts an additional Em chord to chromatically descend from the first Fm to Em chord.

Chart performance

The song reached number 2 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

, staying there for three weeks, behind "

Morning Train (9 to 5) "9 to 5" (or "Morning Train") is a song by Scottish singer Sheena Easton from her 1981 album '' Take My Time''. It was written by Florrie Palmer and recorded and released as a single in 1980, becoming Easton's biggest hit. It peaked at number th ...

" by

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series ''The Big Time (TV series), The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to gain a ...

and "

Bette Davis Eyes "Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was recorded by DeShannon that year but made popular by Kim Carnes in 1981 when it spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard ...

" by

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. A veteran writer of many of her own hits, as well as those for numerous other artists, she began her career in 1966 as ...

. It was Washington's only Top 40 hit. The song won a

Grammy Award for Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record five times, while Bab ...

. Withers included the edited version on the 1981 compilation ''

Bill Withers' Greatest Hits ''Bill Withers' Greatest Hits'' is a compilation album featuring a selection of early hits by Bill Withers, released in 1981. Track listing # "Just the Two of Us (Grover Washington Jr. song), Just the Two of Us" - 3:56 # "Use Me (Bill Withers ...

'' and many subsequent greatest hits collections.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Toshinobu Kubota version

"Just the Two of Us" was covered by Japanese singer

Toshinobu Kubota is a Japanese singer, songwriter, musician, music producer, and radio personality. He has produced six million-seller records and thirty-three Top 40 singles during his career. Kubota is currently part of Sony Music Japan. In addition, he has co ...

as a duet with

Caron Wheeler Caron Melina Wheeler (born 19 January 1963) is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and musician. Born and raised in London, she performed in various singing competitions as a teenager and began her recording career as one of the found ...

in 1991, for his album '' Kubojah: Parallel World I''. The song was listed as "Just the 2 of Us", featuring a reggae-style beat. In 1995, Kubota re-recorded the song with a more R&B-style beat for his album '' Sunshine, Moonlight''. In 1996, he released the song as the second single from the album. The song charted at number 30 on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart and remained on the charts for five weeks. It was included in the setlist during the Oyeees! Tour. During the tour,

Joi Cardwell Joi Cardwell (born October 8, 1967) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she performed in various singing competitions as a child and rose to fame in the early 1990s as a guest vocalist for Lil Louis on the num ...

, who sang backing vocals during the tour, performed the song as a duet with Kubota. In 2007,

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

performed the song on the MTV Japan Icons Special; during the performance, Kubota walked onto the stage to complete the song with her. In 2012, Kubota performed the song with Japanese singer Yuri, who was also a background vocalist during his "Party Ain't A Party Tour". The performance was included on his concert DVD "Party Ain't A Party", which was released in May 2012.

Music video

In 1996, Toshi Kubota and Caron Wheeler shot a music video for the song. The video is set at night, at a party in Kubota's apartment. Wheeler watches the party from the fire escape of the next apartment building. The single version was used for the audio format of the video. There are also shots of other musicians playing their instruments during the party, a group of elderly men playing cards outside the apartment on the sidewalk, and a couple dancing in another room of the apartment.

Formats and track listing

*CD single #"Just the Two of Us" (Butcher Bros. LP remix) (duet with

) *Maxi single #"Just the Two of Us" (Butcher Bros. LP remix) #"Just the Two of Us" (Smooth R&B mix) #"Just the Two of Us" (So So Def remix) #"Just the Two of Us" (club mix radio edit) #"Just the Two of Us" (Street mix) (featuring Fat Man Scoop and E. Bros.)

Other cover versions

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

did a parody version, "Just the Slew of Us", as the theme music for his movie '' Bill Cosby: Himself''. Ralph MacDonald was the writer/producer. *In 1992, the New York City R&B vocal trio Around the Way sampled the song in "Really Into You". They reached No. 89 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. * Theory of a Deadman did a parody version of the song entitled "Two Of Us (Stuck)" for their 2023 album, ''

Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

''.

Appearances in media

Movies and series

The song appeared in the opening sequence of the 2022 film '' Hotel Transylvania: Transformania''. It was also featured in the ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' season 7 episode, " Fry and Leela's Big Fling" and ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

season 15 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

episode, "

My Big Fat Geek Wedding "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" is the seventeenth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 18, 2004. The episode was written by Kev ...

" and season 34 episode, " One Angry Lisa". It also appeared in the King of Queens, episode 8, season 9. The song also appeared during the ending and closing credits of the 2024 film '' Wolfs''.

The title was popularized in France to be the main music for advertising campaigns for Caprice des Dieux cheese since 2009. It was later used on an ad for Marvel Studios' ''

Deadpool & Wolverine ''Deadpool & Wolverine'' is a 2024 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Deadpool and Wolverine (character), Wolverine. Produced by Marvel Studios, Maximum Effort, and 21 Laps Entertainment, and distributed ...

'' which featured Heineken Silver.

TikTok

In late 2020, "Just the Two of Us" started trending on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, which prompted Salters' granddaughter, Jada Salter, to upload a video to the platform commemorating his work.

References

External links

* AllMusic Guide link* {{authority control 1980 songs 1981 singles 1996 singles 2015 singles Bill Withers songs Male vocal duets Songs written by Bill Withers Toshinobu Kubota songs Songs written by Ralph MacDonald Elektra Records singles Margaret (singer) songs Magic Records singles Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Music videos directed by David Dobkin