Did Bonnie Raitt lose a child? No, she didn’t. It was Olivia Zand who lost her child. She’s a fictional character made up by the I Can’t Make You Love Me singer whose point of view it is in the song Just Like That. Just Like That is a story of a mother who finally finds her peace with herself after a long time of being consumed with regret for her son’s death after she hears his heartbeat on another man’s chest. Bonnie Raitt was inspired to write this song after she watched a similar story on the news.
Bonnie Raitt took home two golden gongs after the 2023 Annual Grammy Awards. Her song Just Like That won the category of Best American Roots Song and the singer also won her other nomination in one of the Big Four categories and shockingly bagged the Song of the Year award beating other mainstream artists including Harry Styles, Beyonce, Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, and Taylor Swift. It was that win of hers that got everyone checking out her song Just Like That.
Sure enough, if people were not happy about her win, after hearing her song, even the hardcore stans of the other nominees didn’t begrudge her win because the song is just that great. It’s a powerful and emotional song with incredible storytelling. It’s about a mother who’s tormented by tragedy after the loss of her child. She feels guilt over the death of her child and regrets that small negligence cost her her son’s life. The story that the song tells raised the question, ‘Did Bonnie Raitt lose a child?’
Previously, we touched on the stories of Jenna Marbles leaving Youtube and Lea Michele’s illiteracy.
Did Bonnie Raitt Lose a Child?
Well, no. Bonnie Raitt (@bonnieraittofficial) did not lose a child. In fact, she never had a child to lose. She didn’t choose to have a baby because as she pointed out, “Having children is an incredible commitment. That’s why I chose not to. I feel that my job is to mother the causes that I’m involved in.” From what she said, it’s very obvious that she sees parenthood as a great responsibility and knows it is very demanding. She would need to devote her entire time and attention to her children if she had a child. Knowing that with her career, she didn’t have those in abundance, she simply chose not to have a child.
Now, Bonnie Raitt may not have her own biological children. But she does ‘mother some causes.’ For her, the charity organizations she works with are her kids. It was revealed in 1998 that she had several organizations she worked with that ranged from air and water pollution activists to guitar classes for young women and everything in between. Those causes are her children.
And no, she never lost them. Just Like That is about a woman stuck over the tragedy of the loss of her child but that song is not autobiographical. So, to those wondering ‘Did Bonnie Raitt lose a child?’ No, she didn’t. It was Olivia Zand who lost her child. Olivia Zand is a fictional character Bonnie made up as the main subject of Just Like That. The song is from her point of view.
She’s the one who lost her child and she feels she is at fault for the death of her baby. Now, in the absence of her child who is long gone, all she has is guilt and regret. She has not yet reached a point where she can forgive herself and be at peace with whatever happened. That incident in which Olivia Zand lost her child has consumed her life. That’s why she sings or Bonnie Raitt sings for her,
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 twenty-five 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
Olivia Zand only finds her peace when she hears her son’s heartbeat once again. A man comes knocking at her door and reveals that he has the heart of her son. He thanks her for saving his life by donating his son’s heart and allows her to lay her head on his chest to hear his heartbeat – the heartbeat of her son. That moment undoes all guilt and regret and she is finally at peace with herself.
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’ve 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
Just Like That is a moving story where the grief-stricken mother finally finds herself at peace after being consumed with the tragedy of the loss of her child. Though it was penned by Bonnie Raitt, it lacked the autobiographical aspect and was purely fictional. In reality, it was never her who lost her child. She was only inspired to write the song after she watched a human interest segment on the news in 2018 about a woman who was about to meet the person to whom she had donated her child’s heart, for the first time.
Bonnie Raitt found it very moving when the man asked the woman if she would like to put her head on his chest to hear her son’s heartbeat. She couldn’t pull away from that story and she wrote a song inspired by that emotional story.
I just lost it. It was the most moving and surprising thing. I wasn’t expecting it. I vowed right then that I wanted to write a song about what that would take.
Bonnie Raitt found it incredible how people find the strength and place in their hearts for the compassion to donate the organs of their lost loved ones while they themselves are going through such a tragedy.
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 and the kindness of the recipient, and what that must feel like for them.
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