In 1991, Bonnie Raitt released “Something To Talk About”. The song, on Raitt’s Luck Of The Draw record, became Raitt’s second Top 5 single of her career. Written by Shirley Eikhard, Raitt isn’t the first artist to have a chance to record the uptempo tune.
Before Raitt was pitched “Something To Talk About”, it was pitched to Anne Murray. Murray was very interested in recording the song, but Murray’s producers did not think it was a hit. Murray liked “Something To Talk About” so much that her 22nd album is Something To Talk About, even though the song doesn’t appear on the project.
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“Something To Talk About” begins with, “People are talking, talking ’bout people, / I hear them whisper, you won’t believe it / They think we’re lovers kept under cover / I just ignore it, but they keep sayin’ we / Laugh just a little too loud / 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 ’em something to talk about.”
The Story Behind “Something To Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt
Murray isn’t the only artist whom Eikhard pitched “Something To Talk About”. It’s Eikhard who sent the song to Raitt, along with three others, but it went unnoticed by Raitt for likely a couple of years. Raitt had some boxes of cassette tapes of songs in her house. She listened to the one that had “Something To Talk About”, and instantly fell in love.
“All four of the songs just knocked me out,” Raitt later recalls. “I loved her voice, and I thought it was so far and above anybody else’s tape.”
Still, Eikhard didn’t find out Raitt liked “Something To Talk About” until after the song was finished.
“I waited until I recorded the song, to call up the number on the cassette,” Raitt shares. “I said, ‘Hey Shirley. It’s Bonnie Raitt. Listen to this.’ I pushed play and played her own song back, and hung up the phone. It went over to voice messaging. She called us back and couldn’t have been more delighted. The rest is history. The song is the gift that keeps on giving.”
Eikhard, a fan of Raitt since she was a teenager, says she was “numb” when she heard Raitt’s voice on her answering machine.
Raitt earned a Grammy Award for “Something To Talk About”. The song is included on Raitt’s 2003 The Best Of Bonnie Raitt record.
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