Bonnie Raitt: 2022

It's a big season for one of my favorite artists, Bonnie Raitt. Her tenth album, "Nick of Time," was just inducted into the National Recording Registry. Also, Raitt is releasing a *new* album, her first in over six years. (The Wall Street Journal compliments Raitt's "stunning" voice.)

My favorite Raitt song is everyone's favorite, and its opening lines are inscribed on my brain:

Turn down the lights.

Turn down the bed.

Turn down these voices--inside my head.

Lay down with me.

Tell me no lies.

Just hold me close--

Don't patronize.

Don't patronize me.

I can't make you love me if you don't.

You can't make your heart feel something it won't.

Here in the dark,

In these final hours,

I will lay down my heart,

And I'll feel the power.

But you won't.

No, you won't.

I love that Raitt is not presenting herself as strong or admirable; she is quite sad and weak, and this seems like a picture of universal human experience. The "ask" is undignified: Stay with me tonight, although I know you're uninterested. But, also, there *is* some dignity in calling a spade a spade.

I've just always admired these intelligent, plainspoken words.

It's great to see that Raitt is still working.

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