The whole internet, and the singer-songwriter herself, was shocked at the winner of the coveted Song of the Year category. Bonnie Raitt won the Grammy award for her song “Just Like That”, from her album of the same name which was released on April 22nd, 2022.

73-Year-Old Bonnie is a veteran of the industry, an American blues singer and guitarist, entered the music scene with her debut self-titled album in 1971 when she was 22 years old and has won 14 Grammies since (including 2023). She has 17 other Grammy nominations, an Americana Music Honors and Awards’ Lifetime Achievement award for Performance, and she also has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So this win for this songwriting giant should not really be a surprise – although the surprise is understandable considering the younger Grammy audience. Some popular songs she is known for are “I can’t make you love me,” “Angel From Montgomery”, and “The Thing Called Love.”

Just Like That – Song Meaning

In 2018, Bonnie was watching a news segment about a mother who was about to meet the person to who her late child’s heart was donated, and it strongly moved her. She immediately decided she wanted to write a song and capture the essence and emotions of a situation like that. “Every time I hear about a family donating organs when their child has been killed, or there’s some sort of sudden death—as if you’re not in grief and shock enough—to have the view and the compassion and the love to be able to pay it forward like that is so incredible,” says Raitt, “and the kindness of the recipient, and what that must feel like for them.”

“Just Like That” starts with a man who knocked on a lady’s door, asking for her (Olivia Zand). Olivia does not know who the man is, and there asks what does she have that he’s looking for?

I watched him circle ’round the block
Finally stopped at mine
Took a while before he knocked
Like all he had was time
Excuse me, ma’am, maybe you can help
The directions weren’t so clear
I’m looking for Olivia Zand
They said I might find her here

Well I looked real hard and asked him
What she’s got he’s looking for?

In the next verse, the narrator says that there’s something about him and his eyes that seemed trustworthy – and so she let him in much quicker than she would have any other stranger.

Said there’s somethin’ I think she’d want to know
And I let him in the door
It’s not like me to trust so quick
Caught me by surprise
But somethin’ about him gave me ease
Right there in his eyes

The next few lines take you into the narrator’s thoughts as she expresses her deep sadness and regret for the loss of her young son, who would have been 25 now if he had been alive. It’s a pain that she can’t get rid of, no matter what she does. She hints that her carelessness might have something to do with his loss, and this may be the reason why she still has not been able to find solace even through religion.

And just like that, your life can change
If I hadn’t looked away
My boy might still be with me now
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

In the next verse, we now learn the full story about the strange man who had just come in through her door. In short, her son’s heart was donated to this man, who was able to live because of it. He had been searching far and wide for the donor’s mother, who had seemed to disappear without a trace. He says that she inadvertently had given life to two people – her son, and him! This verse has a beautiful sense of tenderness to it.

He sat down and took a deeper breath
Then looked right in my face
I heard about the son you lost
How you left without a trace
I’ve spent years just trying to find you
So I could finally let you know
It was your son’s heart that saved me
And a life you gave us both

In the final verse, Olivia is amazed at the “gift” the angels had seemed to send her, a different way of reuniting with her son. When she listened to her son’s heart beating in this man’s chest, she finds grace, and she seemed to let Jesus/God in – just like she had let the strange man in through her home. She also must have been able to find peace in the fact that her son’s death may not have fully been in vain. This brings the story full circle and to a gracious close.

And just like that your life can change
Look what the angels send
I lay my head upon his chest
And I was with my boy again
Well I spent so long in darkness
I never thought the night would end
But somehow grace has found me
And I had to let him in

My guess is that the song most likely won the Grammy due to the heavy topic the song deals with, the delicate way the lyrics were spun to draw on the sensitive emotions, the slow and melancholic accompanying music, as well as Bonnie’s own crooning and evocative style of singing. What do you think?

By Nethmie Dehigama

Cover image: Marina Chavez