{"id":228824,"date":"2023-02-06T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T12:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=228824"},"modified":"2023-02-06T13:25:58","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T13:25:58","slug":"why-bonnie-raitts-just-like-that-is-a-song-for-the-ages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/02\/why-bonnie-raitts-just-like-that-is-a-song-for-the-ages\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” Is a Song for the Ages"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Bonnie Raitt (photo: Discotech)<\/p><\/div>\n

4 Feb 2023 – <\/em>In an era when cruelty and greed run rampant, human kindness is at an ultimate premium.<\/p>\n

Of all the emotions our species finds in desperately short supply, compassion and empathy top the list.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s among the reasons why Bonnie Raitt\u2019s Grammy-nominated \u201cJust Like That\u201d is a Song for the Ages.<\/p>\n

Ms. Raitt has already won ten Grammys. This year (the show is Sunday night) she\u2019s nominated for four. The \u201cSong of the Year\u201d nomination is her first in that category as a writer. Her \u201cDown the Hall\u201d is nominated in the \u201cAmerican Roots\u201d column.<\/p>\n

A pillar of popular music since the 1970s, Bonnie is among the precious few who can memorably perform rock, folk, blues and traditional popular music. She\u2019s made classics of John Prine\u2019s \u201cAngel From Montgomery\u201d and Del Shannon\u2019s \u201cRunaway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The list of modern masters with whom she\u2019s done duets is a Who\u2019s Who of our very greatest musical artists\u2026.including her own father, John Raitt, long a mainstay of such Broadway standards as \u201cOklahoma\u201d and \u201cCarousel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long a campaigner for human and environmental rights, Bonnie makes clear in a bellwether feature on the front page of the New York Times that she rarely does overtly political songs.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s made exceptions of her own hard-hitting \u201cThe Comin\u2019 Round is Goin\u2019 Through\u201d and \u201cHell to Pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

But \u201cJust Like That\u201d and \u201cDown the Hall\u201d are hauntingly understated odes to the core of what makes us human. They are welcome antidotes to an era in which our human connections have become dangerously frayed.<\/p>\n

In \u201cJust Like That,\u201d Bonnie takes the role of a mother trapped in mourning for a child who has died\u2026.a death for which she takes personal responsibility.<\/p>\n

But with amazing grace, his heart was donated. Now she\u2019s visited by the recipient, who wants to thank her\u2026and to let her heal by hearing its life-giving beat.<\/p>\n

In less skilled hands, the pathos of such an elegy could easily sail off the tracks. But Bonnie somehow balances cosmic sentiment with musical mastery. This is a perfect song with the ultimate message: do the right thing, however deep it may cut, and the universe will take notice.<\/p>\n

Likewise, \u201cDown the Hall\u201d takes us to the deepest depths of the human condition\u2014-a prison hospice. A volunteer has stepped forward to help those about to die.<\/p>\n

There are misgivings to start. But\u2026<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know \u2018bout religion<\/i>
\nI only know what I see<\/i>
\nAnd in the end when I hold their hand<\/i>
\nIt\u2019s both of us set free.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No mere Grammy can do justice to such spiritual realization.<\/p>\n

Amidst the alienated madness that threatens our existence, a surrender to generosity seems the only hope for our endangered species\u2026which needs to be reminded that the payback can transcend all else.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Bonnie, for putting this most vital lesson to such gorgeous music. It does<\/i> make a difference.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/p>\n

Listen to the song HERE<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Harvey Wasserman\u2019s <\/em>People\u2019s Spiral of US History is available via solartopia@me.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – rsn.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4 Feb 2023 – In an era when cruelty and greed run rampant, human kindness is at an ultimate premium. Of all the emotions our species finds in desperately short supply, compassion and empathy top the list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":228825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[141],"tags":[1879,744,926,307,129,444,1243,1779,868],"class_list":["post-228824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-compassion","tag-empathy","tag-humanitarianism","tag-humanity","tag-music","tag-nonviolence","tag-nonviolent-action","tag-nonviolent-communication","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}