Bonnie Raitt: “Fearless Love” (1998)
Funnily enough, I was just recently thinking (and feeling a little guilty for) how little use I have for Bonnie Raitt’s particular brand of roots rock. I always feel a twinge of guilt when I’m not partial to a critical favorite–like there must be something I’m missing or am too uncouth to appreciate. But no, I’m pretty comfortable with the idea of not loving “Love Sneakin’ Up on You”, and can live quite happily without Raitt’s slide guitar-infused covers of “Right Down the Line”, “You Got It” and “Thing Called Love”–I prefer the original in each case.
However…
I’ve been exposed to a most non-Raitt sounding Raitt song continually over a period of months via the loop of easy listening pop that plays where I work. And one day it finally hit me what a beautiful song I was listening to. To be honest, I was pretty sure it wasn’t Bonnie Raitt but k.d. lang I was listening to. To me at least, “Fearless Love” sounds exactly like something from lang’s excellent Ingenue album. The quietly affecting melody, the unusual chorus harmonies, most definitely the arrangement–even Raitt’s singing all mimic lang on this song. It’s uncanny actually.
It’s nice to be wrong once in a while. Doesn’t make me love the rest of Bonnie’s catalogue any more than I already don’t. But for these four minutes, the lady has surprised and delighted me.
Come my love
Come bravely to me
Let your heart be still
For our time
Has come my tender one
To be free of will
And fly
Blind on fearless love
Let them wild winds blow
We’ll shine
On all we’re fearful of
Then we’ll let it go
Skippin’ stones
Across the great unknown
Safe at water’s edge
Don’t look down, baby
We’re gonna leave this losin’ town
Leap out from the ledge
And fly
Blind on fearless love
Let them wild winds blow
We’ll shine
On all we’re fearful of
Then we’ll let it go
Fly
Blind on fearless love
Let them wild winds blow
We’ll shine
On all we’re fearful of
Then we’ll let it go
Let it go
Every Moment Has A Song 