I Can't Make You Love Me

Last updated

"I Can't Make You Love Me"
I Can't Make You Love Me Bonnie Raitt sleeve.jpg
Single by Bonnie Raitt
from the album Luck of the Draw
ReleasedOctober 22, 1991 (1991-10-22)
Genre Pop
Length5:33
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Bonnie Raitt singles chronology
"Something to Talk About"
(1991)
"I Can't Make You Love Me"
(1991)
"Not the Only One"
(1992)
Music video
"I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt on YouTube

"I Can't Make You Love Me" is a song written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin and recorded by American singer Bonnie Raitt for her eleventh studio album, Luck of the Draw (1991). Released as the album's second single in 1991, "I Can't Make You Love Me" became one of Raitt's most successful singles, reaching the top-20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the top-10 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Contents

In August 2000, Mojo magazine voted "I Can't Make You Love Me" the eighth best track on its The 100 Greatest Songs of All Time list. [1] The song was ranked at number 339 on the Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, later placing at number 372 on the 2021 ranking. [2] [3] On November 27, 2016, the Grammy Hall of Fame announced its induction, along with that of another 24 songs. [4]

Writing and recording

"I Can't Make You Love Me" was written by Nashville writers Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin, who were well-noted for their successes in the country music arena. The song was rewritten many times before being finalized, months later. "We wrote, most every week, in Mike's basement," Shamblin told Peter Cooper in an interview with the Nashville Tennessean. "And we'd worked on this song for more than six months. One day, he said, 'Come up to the living room,' where his piano was. He sat down and started playing this melody, and it was one of the most moving pieces of music I'd heard. I mean, it hit me in a hard way ... Instantly, I knew it was the best thing I'd ever been a part of." [5] Reid and Shamblin were both country music songwriters, who according to some accounts originally wrote the song as a fast, bluegrass number. Upon slowing down the tempo considerably, they realized the song gained considerable power and thought about giving the song to one of three artists: Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler or Linda Ronstadt. Eventually, the song made its way to Bonnie Raitt, who recorded the track for her eleventh studio album, Luck of the Draw (1991). Raitt co-produced the song with Don Was, while Bruce Hornsby provided a piano accompaniment along with drummer Tony Braunagel and longtime Bonnie Raitt bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson. [6]

Composition and inspiration

According to Reid and Shamblin, the idea for the song came from an article about alcoholism in The Tennessean :

The way I remember what was said in the story, there was a guy living under a bridge, somewhere close to downtown Nashville, and in the story, he said his wife came to pick him up, under the bridge, and took him down to the courthouse to get a divorce. And he said, “We hugged, and we cried, and then we went through the divorce.” And he said, “You know, you just can’t make a woman love you.”

Shamblin, Interview in Stereogum (2016) [7]

The article actually attributes the quote to another homeless person, an unnamed Vietnam veteran, who hears the story and opines, “You can’t make a damn woman love you if she don’t.” [7]

Raitt recorded the vocal in just one take in the studio, later saying that it was so sad a song that she could not recapture the emotion: "We'd try to do it again and I just said, 'You know, this ain't going to happen.'" [8]

A pensive ballad, "I Can't Make You Love Me" was recorded against a quiet electric piano-based arrangement, with prominent piano fills and interpolations supplied by Bruce Hornsby.

Critical reception and accolades

"I Can't Make You Love Me" received acclaim from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised the track, calling it a "strong song" and picking it as one of the album's best tracks. [9] Steve Hochman of Los Angeles Times hailed the song as one of Raitt's most elegant tracks. [10] Elysa Gardner wrote for Rolling Stone that "Raitt's gorgeously understated rendering of 'I Can't Make You Love Me,' in which sentiments such as 'I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power/But you won't' are delivered with a quiet resignation that's worth a hundred glissandi in emotional weight." [11]

"I Can't Make You Love Me" entered many lists of the greatest songs of all time. In 2000, Mojo magazine placed it at number 8 on its "100 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. [6] The song is also ranked No. 339 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [2] The website "Ultimate Classic Rock" placed the song at number 24 on their "25 Saddest Songs Ever", praising Bonnie Raitt vocals, writing that "she sings in one of her most impassioned vocals ever. There's real ache in every word that drips from her pained lips." [12]

The song's popularity helped solidify her remarkable late-in-career commercial success that had begun two years before. In the time since, "I Can't Make You Love Me" has gone on to become a pop standard and a mainstay of adult contemporary radio formats. For Raitt, the song was notoriously difficult to sing, due to its required vocal range, difficult phrasing and breathing, and the emotional content involved. At the televised Grammy Awards of 1992 Raitt performed it in an even more austere setting than on record, with just her and Hornsby highlighted. As she negotiated the final vocal line, she let out a big audible and visible sigh of relief that she had successfully gotten through it. Her live performance of the song was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume III. [13] Raitt has continued to sing the song in all her concert tours:

I mean, 'I Can't Make You Love Me' is no picnic. I love that song, so does the audience. So it's almost a sacred moment when you share that, that depth of pain with your audience. Because they get really quiet, and I have to summon ... some other place in order to honor that space.

Raitt, 2002 NPR interview [14]

Music video

The video for this song uses the shorter single version of the song. Filmed in color, but transferred to video for black-and-white, with vibrant lighting effects, it features Raitt performing the song in front of a curtain with a silhouette of a pianist in the background (played by Bruce Hornsby, who actually plays piano on the record), while in other scenes, a scorching fire is taking place outdoors and many shadows of trees, branches, and even people at times are seen swaying to the song's rhythm. The music video was directed, photographed and edited by acclaimed director/photographer/illustrator Matt Mahurin, who has directed videos for artists including U2, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M. and Sting.

Chart performance

The song was a big hit for Raitt, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. [15] The song placed at number 100 on the Billboard Year-End chart of 1992. [16] In New Zealand, the song was Raitt's highest charting-single, reaching number 22, [17] while in Netherlands, the song charted moderately at number 43. [18]

Charts

George Michael version

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"I Can't Make You Love Me"
I cant make you love me by george michael promo single.jpg
British promo-only CD artwork
Single by George Michael
A-side "Older"
ReleasedJanuary 13, 1997 (1997-01-13) [27]
Length5:23
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) George Michael
George Michael singles chronology
"Spinning the Wheel"
(1996)
"Older" / "I Can't Make You Love Me"
(1997)
"Star People '97"
(1997)
Live video
"I Can't Make You Love Me" (live, MTV Unplugged) by George Michael on YouTube