It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over – Lenny Kravitz

I’ve been a casual Lenny Kravitz fan for a while; I think he’s a great proponent of art and music, but I’ve never really known more than a handful of his songs. He’s got some damn good ones, though! Believe it or not, I actually was introduced to “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over” when I was at an Incubus concert in college, and they performed a cover of it. I gotta be honest, that was one of the best covers I’ve ever heard live. I knew Brandon Boyd had a great voice, but I really have to give him his flowers for how well he did that one.

I love the style of music that “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over” is. It’s got such an old school soul vibe, Motown-esque perhaps? I love the use of strings in the intro and chorus. It really adds to the vintage feel of the track. About halfway through, there’s some really smooth guitar solo work by Lenny, followed by a tasty bass lick and… a sitar? How cool. I’d also like to point out that Lenny plays every instrument minus the strings on this track. I think Lenny is often overlooked as a guitar player, and I certainly had overlooked what an incredible musician he is in general.

Lyrically, the subject matter is fairly apparent, in my opinion. This one seems to be about a failing relationship, but giving at least one more go, or maybe asking for another chance? In doing some research on this one, it seems like Lenny wrote this during or towards the end of marriage to Lisa Bonet. Lenny, I get it man.

Link to song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hdBo5kxfGo

Link to live (Featuring one of my favorite musicians ever on bass, Gail Ann Dorsey) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8EZGmjxZH8

Link to Incubus cover (low quality, but from the show I was at) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF-O8tJF9I0