Condolences Through Music: For Susanna Hoffs, “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers

 A personal reflection on music, memory, and emotional connection.

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Expressing condolences has never been my strength. In fact, I don’t think it ever has been—especially not through phrases like “my deepest sympathies.” Still, I don’t shy away from the responsibility, particularly when those grieving hold a special place in my life, as is the case with singer-songwriter Susanna Hoffs and her family.

Yes… last month, I learned that Susanna Hoffs’ father had taken his flight to the heavens.

I found out through a Facebook post shared on her official account—weeks after it had been published. And I must admit, I deeply regretted that… both the loss itself and how late I was in catching up with the news.

At that moment, I should have left a message of condolence among the sea of comments on that post. But I couldn’t. Partly for a very personal reason, but also because I found myself suspended in a kind of emotional standstill… wrapped in a quiet, heavy melancholy.

“Oh no…” my inner voice whispered.

For Susanna Hoffs: “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers

If by now you’re wondering about all this “drama” and what it has to do with the title of this piece, let me begin by saying this: Susanna Hoffs is very important to me. And as I’ve shared before, not because she is an artist—but because of who she is as a human being.

It may sound irrational—I know—but it’s true.

As for the title, it comes from the fact that, after not leaving a comment on that Facebook post, I decided to send Susanna a message on Instagram. But honestly… it didn’t feel like enough.

So I chose to express my solidarity through music—just as she once did for me, unknowingly, after my mother took her own flight to the heavens in 2020.

Lean on me
When you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
Till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on

With that beautiful excerpt from “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, I dedicated an audiovisual piece to Susanna Hoffs (as I shared on Instagram and YouTube), “to thank her and give back to her—from the bottom of my heart, with endless love and respect—for the wonderful impact this song had on me since the moment I pressed #nowplaying that year.”

Back in 2020, one of the playlists shared by Susanna Hoffs on Spotify included that very song by Withers—one that, as I described on Instagram and YouTube, “became yet another timely embrace through music that I received after my mom’s passing.”

In the description of the audiovisual piece I dedicated to Susanna—the one you’ve just experienced—I also wrote: 

And even though the chances of her ever reading or seeing this are almost none:

@susannahoffsofficial, across the distance, I send you and your family a deeply heartfelt embrace of solidarity.
God bless you all—today and always.

 

A young Susanna Hoffs, alongside her father, mother, and siblings.