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Bonnie Raitt

 Bonnie Raitt has won many Grammy Awards but now--this year--she is making her debut in the songwriter category. She is in her seventies, and she could be on the verge of winning her first songwriter prize.


After a few fallow years, Raitt was inspired to make a new recording in the early days of Covid. People were dying. Moved by a particular news item, Raitt wrote a kind of short story, a song called "Just Like That."

In this song, a woman observes a stranger circling the block. He pauses before knocking, "like all he has is time." (The woman is older, and maybe she is thinking about her own mortality; she is gently making fun of the young man at the door.)

The young man apologizes and says "the directions weren't too clear." (And, in life, the directions are rarely clear!) The woman is surprised to find herself admitting the guy into her house--but "something gives me ease."

Here, the song makes an extraordinary jump. The woman gives us access to her thoughts: "Just like that, your life can change--if I hadn't looked away, my boy would still be with me. He'd be 25 today. No knife can carve away the stain. No drink can drown regret. They say Jesus brings you peace and grace; well, he ain't found me yet." It's clear that the woman's guest has reminded her of her dead son--and she is spiraling. With efficient lines, Raitt suggests that the speaker has tried suicide and heavy drinking; this is a startling, compact bit of scene-setting.

The third act isn't hard to predict. The young man reveals that he was once the recipient of a heart transplant. He thanks the speaker--and the speaker is reminded that she has agency in the world. She is shaken; at least for the length of a visit, she forgets her despair.

I haven't seen Raitt mentioning Raymond Carver in interviews, but her writing makes me think of "Cathedral" and "A Small, Good Thing." She tells a story about a bitter speaker who meets someone unusual and "snaps out of it." The speaker once "left without a trace"; now (maybe) she can return to the world.

I don't really care about Taylor and Beyonce this year--but my eyes (and ears) will be on Bonnie Raitt.

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