Tag: Luck of the Draw

Bonnie Raitt hit really big 1989 and the early nineties. She is an excellent slide guitar player. I was happy to see her so popular. She had been working since the early seventies and had some minor success in 1977 with a remake of Runaway.

In 1989 she released Nick of Time and had success with “Thing Called Love.” In 1990 she released the album Luck of the Draw which “Something To Talk About” was on.

The song peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #33 in New Zealand 1991.

This was written by the Canadian singer Shirley Eckhard, who had recorded in the Jazz and Country genres but has had her most success as a songwriter, with songs recorded by Chet Atkins, Cher, Anne Murray, and Rita Coolidge.

Raitt was looking for songs for her next album after the success of Nick of Time. She said that the tape by Eckhard could have been sitting on her shelf for two years. She loved Shirley’s songs. Raitt waited to call her until she recorded the song. When she did she called Shirley and played the recording on Eckhard’s answering service.

This won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

From Songfacts

This song is about small-town gossip and the effect it has on the singer and the guy she’s secretly in love with. It turns out that they’re rumored to be having an affair, and since the rumor-spreaders already think that the two people are involved, the song asks, why not have an affair anyway, thus giving them “something to talk about.” 

According to Anne Murray’s 2009 book All of Me, Anne wanted to record this song in 1986, but her producers didn’t think it would be a hit. She called her 1986 album “Something to Talk About” even though it did not include this song. Anne said she was happy that Bonnie Raitt made it a big hit five years later. >>

For Raitt, this was by far her biggest chart hit in the United States.

This is a very popular Karaoke song, and is often performed by American Idol contestants. Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino performed the song on the show, as did Idol notables Kellie Pickler and Sanjaya Malakar.

Something To Talk About

People are talkin’, talkin’ ’bout people
I hear them whisper, you won’t believe it
They think we’re lovers kept under covers
I just ignore it, but they keep saying
We laugh just a little too loud
We stand just a little too close
We stare just a little too long
Maybe they’re seeing something we don’t, darlin’

Let’s give them something to talk about
Let’s give them something to talk about
Let’s give them something to talk about
How about love?

I feel so foolish, I never noticed
You’d act so nervous
Could you be falling for me?
It took a rumor to make me wonder
Now I’m convinced I’m going under
Thinking ’bout you every day
Dreaming ’bout you every night
Hoping that you feel the same way
Now that we know it, let’s really show it, darlin’

Let’s give them something to talk about
A little mystery to figure out
Let’s give them something to talk about
How about love, love, love, love?

Let’s give them something to talk about, baby
A little mystery to figure out
Let’s give them something to talk about
How about love, love, love, love?

(Something to talk about)
(Something to talk about)
How about love, love, love, love?

How about love, love, love, love?