Raitt began playing guitar at an early age, something not a lot of her high school girlfriends did. "I had played a little at school and at camp," she later recalled in a July 2002 interview. "My parents would drag me out to perform for my family, like all parents do, but it was a hobby—nothing more...I think people must wonder how a white girl like me became a blues guitarist. The truth is, I never intended to do this for a living. I grew up...in a Quaker family, and for me being Quaker was a political calling rather than a religious one."
In 1967 Raitt continued her pursuit in that path when she entered Harvard's Radcliffe College as a freshman, majoring in African Studies. "My plan was to travel to Tanzania, where President Julius Nyerere was creating a government based on democracy and socialism," Raitt recalled. "I wanted to help undo the damage that Western colonialism had done to native cultures around the world. Cambridge was a hotbed of this kind of thinking, and I was thrilled."
One day, Raitt was notified by a friend that blues promoter Dick Waterman was giving an interview at WHRB, Harvard's college radio station. An important figure in the blues revival of the 1960s, Waterman was also a resident of Cambridge. Raitt went to see Waterman, and the two soon became friends, "much to the chagrin of my parents, who didn't expect their freshman daughter to be running around with 65-year-old bluesmen," recalled Raitt. "I was amazed by his passion for the music and the integrity with which he managed the musicians."
During Raitt's sophomore year, Waterman relocated to Philadelphia, and a number of local musicians he counted among his friends went with him. Raitt had become a strong part of that community, recalling that "these people had become my friends, my mentors, and though I had every intention of graduating, I decided to take the semester off and move to Philadelphia...It was an opportunity that young white girls just don't get, and as it turns out, an opportunity that changed everything."
Raitt eventually went back to school, but her time performing in Philadelphia had encouraged her to pursue music as a career. When Waterman contacted her and invited her to tour with The Rolling Stones, she made a second trip to the admissions office at Radcliffe and told them, "I'm going to take a leave of absence, but this is only going to last a year." As Raitt would later recall, "Imagine being 20 in 1970—wouldn't you have gone on tour with the Rolling Stones?"
By now, Raitt was also playing both folk as well as rhythm and blues clubs in the Boston area, performing alongside established blues legends like Howlin' Wolf, Sippie Wallace, and Mississippi Fred McDowell, all of whom she met through Waterman. In the fall of 1970, while opening for Fred McDowell at the Gaslight Cafe in New York, a reporter from Newsweek Magazine saw her and began to spread word of her performance. Scouts from major record companies were soon attending her shows to watch her play. She eventually accepted an offer with Warner Bros. who soon released her eponymously titled debut in 1971. The album was warmly received by the music press, many of which praised her skills as an interpreter and as a bottleneck guitarist; at the time, very few women in popular music had strong reputations as guitarists.
While admired by those who saw her perform, and respected by her peers, Raitt gained little public acclaim for her work. Her critical stature continued to grow but record sales remained modest. Her second album, Give It Up, was released in 1972 to universal acclaim, and though many critics still regard it as her best work, it did not change her commercial fortunes. 1973's Takin' My Time was also met with critical acclaim, but these notices were not matched by the sales.
Raitt was beginning to receive greater press coverage, including a 1975 cover story for Rolling Stone Magazine, but with 1974's Streetlights, reviews for her work were becoming increasingly mixed. By now, Raitt was already experimenting with different producers and different styles, and she began to adopt a more mainstream sound that continued through 1975's Home Plate.
In 1976, Raitt made a notable appearance on Warren Zevon's self-titled album with Warren Zevon's friend Jackson Browne and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
1977's Sweet Forgiveness gave Raitt her first commercial breakthrough when it yielded a hit single in her cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway." Recast as a heavy r&b recording based on a rhythmic groove inspired by Al Green, Raitt's version of "Runaway" was disparaged by many critics, but its commercial success prompted a bidding war between Warner Bros. and Columbia Records. "There was this big Columbia – Warner war going on at the time," recalled Raitt in a 1990 interview. "James Taylor had just left Warner Bros. and made a big album for Columbia...And then, Warners signed Paul Simon away from Columbia, and they didn't want me to have a hit record for Columbia — no matter what! So, I renegotiated my contract, and they basically matched Columbia's offer. Frankly the deal was a really big deal."
Warner Bros. held higher expectations for Raitt's next album, 1979's The Glow, but it was released to poor reviews as well as modest sales. Raitt would have one commercial success in 1979 when she helped organize the five MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) concerts at Madison Square Garden. The shows spawned a three-record gold album as well as a Warner Bros. feature film, No Nukes. The shows featured co-founders Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, John Hall, and Raitt as well as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Gil Scott-Heron, and numerous others.
For her next record, 1982's Green Light, Raitt made a conscious attempt to revisit the sound of her earlier records, but to her surprise, many of her peers and members of the press would compare her new sound to the burgeoning New Wave movement. The album received her strongest reviews in years, but her sales did not improve and this would have a severe impact on her relationship with Warner Bros.
In 1983, as Raitt was finishing work on her follow-up album, titled Tongue & Groove, Warner Bros. cleaned house, dropping a number of major artists from their roster. Van Morrison and Arlo Guthrie were two of the most high-profile cases, and the day after mastering was completed on Tongue & Groove, Raitt was notified that she was to be dropped too. The album was shelved indefinitely, and Raitt was left without a label. By now, Raitt was also struggling with alcohol and drug abuse.
Despite her personal and professional problems, Raitt continued to tour and participate in political activism. In 1985, she sang and appeared in the video of "Sun City," the anti-apartheid record written a produced by Steven Van Zandt. Along with her participation in Farm Aid and Amnesty International concerts, Raitt would later travel to Moscow in 1987 as part of the first joint Soviet/American Peace Concert later shown on Showtime television. Also in 1987, Raitt would organize a benefit in Los Angeles, for Countdown '87 to Stop Contra Aid, featuring herself, Don Henley, Herbie Hancock, Holly Near and others.
Two years after dropping her from their label, Warner Bros. notified Raitt of their plans to release Tongue & Groove. "I said it wasn't really fair," recalled Raitt. "I think at this point they felt kind of bad. I mean, I was out there touring on my savings to keep my name up, and my ablility to draw was less and less. So they agreed to let me go in and recut half of it, and that's when it came out as Nine Lives." A critical and commercial disappointment, 1986's Nine Lives would be Raitt's last new recording for Warner Bros.
In late 1987 she joined k.d. lang and Jennifer Warnes as female background vocals for Roy Orbison's television special, Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. By now, Raitt was clean and sober, having broken her substance abuse — for which she would credit Stevie Ray Vaughan in a Minnesota State Fair concert[1] the night after Vaughan's 1990 death. Following this highly acclaimed broadcast, she began working on new material. During this time, Raitt considered signing with Prince's own label, Paisley Park, but negotiations would ultimately fall through. Instead she began recording a bluesy mix of pop and rock under the production guidance of Don Was at Capitol Records.
Raitt had met Was through Hal Wilner, who was putting together Stay Awake, a tribute album to Disney music for A&M. Was and Wilner both wanted Raitt to sing lead on an adult-contemporary arrangement created by Was for "Baby Mine," the lullaby from Dumbo. Raitt was very pleased with the sessions, and she asked Don to produce her next album.
After more than twenty years of singing and recording popular music, Bonnie Raitt achieved immense success with her 10th album. Released in 1989, Nick of Time went to the top of the U.S. charts and won three Grammy Awards. At the same time, she walked away with a fourth Grammy Award for her duet "In the Mood" with John Lee Hooker on his album "The Healer".
She followed up this success with three more Grammy Awards for her 1991 album, Luck of the Draw, then, in 1994 she added two more Grammy's with her album Longing in Their Hearts. Both of these albums were multiplatinum successes. Raitt's collaboration with Was would amicably come to an end with 1995's live release, Road Tested. Released to solid reviews, it sold well enough to be certified gold.
For her next studio album, Raitt hired Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake as her producers. "I loved working with Don Was but I wanted to give myself and my fans a stretch and do something different," Raitt said. Her work with Froom and Blake was released on Fundamental in 1998.
In March of 2000, Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Silver Lining was released in 2002 while Souls Alike was released in September of 2005.
You've Changed My Mind
Bonnie Raitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The pains of the day
And the strain of my eyes to see
The grain of my skin
At the start of the end
Of all I once thought I could be
The page has been bent
Like an ear, and I've spent
But you've waited as still
As the stone of my will
And I know you've changed my mind
The beast in this room
Paces and moons
He's restless and needs to be fed
He moves in for keeps
At the first sign of sleep
He groans and nuzzles my head
I gave nearly all
To building the wall
That could hide me forever behind
But now even my doubt
Seems to know a way out
And I know you've changed my mind
How little I knew
Three that I grew
Was not just to root me down
But might stand to wave
When the passing of days
Begged for a view off the ground
My faith had grown cold
And all I'd been told
Convinced me that just comes with time
But a page has been turned
Some old fears unlearned
And I know you've changed my mind
The lyrics in Bonnie Raitt's "You've Changed My Mind" speak about a personal transformation brought upon by someone special. The beginning lines describe how the singer had hidden away the pain of the day, the strains of his/her eyes and skin, and the feeling of lacking control. The metaphor of a page being bent and straightened conveys the singer's feeling of being strained to align with a certain expectation. However, the person mentioned, who had been waiting for the singer in stillness, has come to change the singer's mind. The change is complemented with the metaphor of a restless beast that makes the singer restless but has now grown calm because the person mentioned has changed his/her mind, and their doubt and fears have been unlearned.
Moreover, the singer was oblivious to the significance of the things that had grown around him/her, such as roots that enabled one to stand to see the view off the ground. The singer's faith has grown cold and has been compounded by societal expectations. Ultimately, the person mentioned has induced a transformation that the singer now acknowledges. The joy underlying the song is in a self-epiphany that the singer experiences, which inspires them to celebrate what they are turning into due to this person's influence.
Line by Line Meaning
I'd hidden away
I had buried my emotional pain deep inside.
The pains of the day
The struggles and challenges of everyday life.
And the strain of my eyes to see
The effort it takes to see through the difficulties and problems that arise.
The grain of my skin
My true self, hidden beneath the surface.
At the start of the end
When I was starting to lose hope and give up on my dreams.
Of all I once thought I could be
The potential that I once believed I possessed.
The page has been bent
My life has taken an unexpected turn.
Like an ear, and I've spent
I have expended a great deal of energy and effort.
Too much just to straighten a line
Without making much progress or achieving my goals.
But you've waited as still
Despite my struggles, you have stayed by my side and supported me.
As the stone of my will
You have been a steadfast force in my life, helping me to stay strong and committed.
And I know you've changed my mind
Your love and support have helped me to see things differently and find new hope.
The beast in this room
My inner demons and fears.
Paces and moons
They are restless and ever-present, haunting me in the background of my life.
He's restless and needs to be fed
My fears and doubts thrive on attention and negative energy.
He moves in for keeps
When I let my guard down, my fears take over and control my life.
At the first sign of sleep
When I am most vulnerable and least able to resist their influence.
He groans and nuzzles my head
My fears and doubts overwhelm me, filling my mind with negativity and self-doubt.
I gave nearly all
I invested a great deal of time and energy in building walls around myself to protect against my fears and doubts.
To building the wall
I put up barriers that prevented others from seeing the true me or getting close to me emotionally.
That could hide me forever behind
I built these walls so high and so thick that I was effectively hiding from the world.
But now even my doubt
Even my doubts and fears are beginning to see the possibility of hope and change.
Seems to know a way out
They are starting to recognize that there may be a way forward, a way to break free from their grip.
And I know you've changed my mind
Your love and support have helped me to see a new path forward and find the strength to take it.
How little I knew
I had no idea how much potential I truly had.
Three that I grew
The three aspects of my being - mind, body, and spirit - that I am learning to nurture and grow.
Was not just to root me down
They were not simply to anchor me to one place or state of being.
But might stand to wave
They might grow strong enough to lift me up and propel me forward, allowing me to truly live and thrive.
When the passing of days
Over time, as I grow and change.
Begged for a view off the ground
I will begin to see things from a new perspective, with an eye towards hope and optimism.
My faith had grown cold
My belief in myself and my potential had begun to falter.
And all I'd been told
The negative messages and doubts that I had internalized from others.
Convinced me that just comes with time
I had begun to believe that growth and change were impossible, that I was doomed to remain stuck in a cycle of negativity and self-doubt.
But a page has been turned
Something inside me has shifted, and I am beginning to see things differently.
Some old fears unlearned
I am shedding old fears and doubts, letting go of the things that have held me back in the past.
And I know you've changed my mind
Thanks to your support and love, I am finding a new way forward - one that is filled with hope, potential, and possibility.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JOSEPH LEE HENRY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind