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Bonnie Raitt — Thing Called Love
Album: Nick of Time
Avg rating:
6.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 703









Released: 1989
Length: 3:50
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Don't have to humble yourself to me
I ain't your judge or your king
Baby, you know I ain't no Queen of Sheba
We may not even have our dignity,
This could be just a powerful thing
Baby we can choose, you know we ain't no amoeba

Are you ready for the thing called love?
Don't come from me and you, it comes from up above
I ain't no porcupine, take off your kid gloves
Are you ready for the thing called love?

I ain't some icon carved out of soap
Sent here to clean up your reputation
Baby, you know you ain't no Prince Charming
We can live in fear or act out of hope
Some kind of peaceful situation
Baby, how come the cry of love is so alarming

Are you ready for the thing called love?
Don't come from me and you, it comes from up above
I ain't no porcupine, take off your kid gloves
Are you ready for the thing called love?

Ugly ducklings don't turn into swans
Glide off down the lake
Whether your sunglasses are off or on
You only see the world you make

Are you ready for the thing called love?
Don't come from me and you, it comes from up above
I ain't no porcupine, take off your kid gloves
Are you ready for it?

Are you ready for the thing called love?
Don't come from me and you, it comes from up above
I ain't no porcupine, take off your kid gloves
Are you ready for it

Are you ready for love, baby
Oooh, yeah babe
Are you ready for love
Comments (40)add comment
 Peter_Bradshaw wrote:
{#Cheers} ... nice version from Bonnie but I prefer John Hiatt's


Love the video though!
 Peter_Bradshaw wrote:
{#Cheers} ... nice version from Bonnie but I prefer John Hiatt's


yeah but I'll bet John didn't mind the royalties on this after she had the hit with it
 WannabeBanned wrote:

Used to be a fan, but not anymore.  



I'm sure she'll be turning in her guitar and bottleneck after that scathing review.
 Peter_Bradshaw wrote:
{#Cheers} ... nice version from Bonnie but I prefer John Hiatt's
 

I agree, no doubt the original wins.
 1wolfy wrote:
and lovely hair as well   nagsheadlocal wrote:
As others have noted, and underrated guitarist - and her slide work shows the touch of her friend and teacher, Lowell George.
 

 
Sheesh … and there was me just checking to see whether Lowell George might be in the credits. 
Used to be a fan, but not anymore.  
and lovely hair as well   nagsheadlocal wrote:
As others have noted, and underrated guitarist - and her slide work shows the touch of her friend and teacher, Lowell George.
 

As others have noted, and underrated guitarist - and her slide work shows the touch of her friend and teacher, Lowell George.
PERFECT, after such a passionate, dark song by John Hiatt... Hard to beat the sultry wail of Bonnie's voice and guitar! She rocks live!
Another great album!
 justin4kick wrote:
Shania Twain?

 
Um. No.
Shania Twain?
What an album! Not a single weak track on it. 
{#Bananajam}{#Bananajam}
Meh. Generic blues.
I'm lucky enough to have seen both Bonnie Raitt (at the old Wembley Stadium) and John Hiatt's Little Village project (at a much smaller stage at Crystal Palace Bowl)... now in the dim and distant past, not long after my 18th birthday.

I must say I prefer this song with Bonnie Raitt's absolutely brazen slide guitar work, but I prefer the proto-Little-Village version for its vocal work. 

So I am conflicted. 
 Baby_M wrote:
I have always been in awe of John Hiatt for being able to rhyme "Queen of Sheba" and "amoeba" and get away with it.

 
I like how he used the "soap" and "clean" play on words.  He did this in another song as well.

In Thing Called Love - "I ain't no icon carved out of soap, sent down here to clean up your reputation".

In Trudy and Dave - "They shot up an automatic teller machine / Took the money for the laundry and drove away clean"

 
 bam23 wrote:
I saw her for the second time at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Pretty amazing. The first time was with Randy Newman in Philadelphia (about 1973 or 1974) and based on her performance there, I had no sense of how good she is as a guitarist (recordings tend not to show things so clearly). Who are the other women who play sizzling lead guitar and also sing powerfully? Definitely worth seeing if the opportunity shows up. What struck me is that she seems to have 2 sides. One is a more or less traditional blues guitarist, where her skills really come through. Then she does the FM/AM radio type work. I much prefer the former, but she's the boss.

 
I have seen her with the wife a number of times, all good shows but very different and dependent on the venue.  Most surreal one was in Orange County in CA, don't remember the venue.  But I was one of the young folks in the crowd at the time and I was in my mid 40's at the time.   The other shows in the LA area I have seen I was about in the middle age wise, maybe trending toward the upper end.
 
 oldsaxon wrote:
she can play, she can sing, what's not to love?

 
Can't really think of anything. There may be someone out there who hates really cute dimples. Other than that, I got nothin...
{#Cheers} ... nice version from Bonnie but I prefer John Hiatt's
I have always been in awe of John Hiatt for being able to rhyme "Queen of Sheba" and "amoeba" and get away with it.
It's like we're sucker-puppies in a dog pen, and Master Bonnie has us at her total command,  aaaaooooohh-hooooooooo Sweet Bonnie!!! (lickie-lick slurp-slurp)
Rock on h8rhater!  
 WonderLizard wrote:

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've seen her and that sizzling slide guitar. We're the same age, and it's high time I simply gave her a ring and asked once and for all, "Are you ready for love?"

 

{#Roflol} 
I danced next to her in the late 70's in a bar in Mpls. Her brother was there. She sang a couple of songs with Willie and the Bees
 jimys wrote:
Bonnie Raitt rocks!!!

 

love the video for this with Dennis Q as the stud.
 jhorton wrote:
What a great big piece of SUCK after that beautiful song by BS&T!

 
Back to the trailer park with you!  You have wicked-poor taste.

Also, congratulations on being the only negative post in the thread. The hate is strong with you.
 bam23 wrote:
I saw her for the second time at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Pretty amazing. The first time was with Randy Newman in Philadelphia (about 1973 or 1974) and based on her performance there, I had no sense of how good she is as a guitarist (recordings tend not to show things so clearly). Who are the other women who play sizzling lead guitar and also sing powerfully? Definitely worth seeing if the opportunity shows up. What struck me is that she seems to have 2 sides. One is a more or less traditional blues guitarist, where her skills really come through. Then she does the FM/AM radio type work. I much prefer the former, but she's the boss.

 
I can't begin to tell you how many times I've seen her and that sizzling slide guitar. We're the same age, and it's high time I simply gave her a ring and asked once and for all, "Are you ready for love?"
What a great big piece of SUCK after that beautiful song by BS&T!
I saw her for the second time at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Pretty amazing. The first time was with Randy Newman in Philadelphia (about 1973 or 1974) and based on her performance there, I had no sense of how good she is as a guitarist (recordings tend not to show things so clearly). Who are the other women who play sizzling lead guitar and also sing powerfully? Definitely worth seeing if the opportunity shows up. What struck me is that she seems to have 2 sides. One is a more or less traditional blues guitarist, where her skills really come through. Then she does the FM/AM radio type work. I much prefer the former, but she's the boss.
Oh Sweet Ms. Raitt,  woooohooooo this is a 10 cuz this woman ROCKS
she can play, she can sing, what's not to love?
I like her version.  Hiatt's is a bit rougher so it has a different vibe.
Thankx for this set!
of course, i prefer the original, but this is great... love it.
Sheba/amoeba?

Did I spell that correctly? 
"We may not even have our dignity, it may be a powerful thing."

Honey, that's not making love, that's f**king, and there ain't nothing wrong with that. 
As another RP listener once said: I like her better pre-grammy.
Still, this song is great in that, yeah, it makes me want to turn it up and dance.
Bonnie Raitt rocks!!!
..how's this only have 2 comments?..guess Bonnie has panache..
 
This song just kicks, despite all the air play it's gotten. There are good reasons for that. Hiatt wrote a gem, and Raitt's an absolute treasure!

I get up whenever I hear it! 


Bonnie Raitt and John Hiat - "Thing Called Love" Live: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp1txht6SGM