Nobody's Girl by Bonnie Raitt

Album: Nick Of Time (1989)

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There are lots of songs about desperados who can't be tied down, but not so many about girls who feel the same way. Bonnie Raitt's "Nobody's Girl" is one, telling the story of a beautiful girl whose charms have a guy enraptured. He knows she'll never commit to him, but can't help falling for her.

The song was written by Larry John McNally, who had a minor hit with "Just Like Paradise" in 1981 but is better known for the songs he wrote for other artists, including "Long Drag Off A Cigarette" by Joe Cocker.

"When I wrote that song I felt that it was much too personal and would likely remain one of my more obscure songs," he told Songfacts. "Now I know that the more personal, the more universal. You are touching on the matters of the heart that we all experience. I still hear from people all the time about how that song has touched them. People either are 'Nobody's Girl' or know her well."
"Nobody's Girl" is part of Bonnie Raitt's highly acclaimed album Nick Of Time, which got her lots of attention outside the world of blues, her bread and butter. It won the Album Of The Year Grammy and went to #1 in America, selling over 5 million copies in that country alone. Her previous album, Nine Lives, was released in 1986 and sold so poorly, her label, Warners, dropped her. Capitol Records picked her up and teamed her with producer Don Was. Raitt was also making some positive lifestyle changes around this time, including getting treatment for alcoholism.
Larry John McNally, who wrote the song, got a thrill when he heard Raitt perform it. "When Nick Of Time came out I was studying harmony at Berklee School of Music in Boston," he told Songfacts. "Rolling Stone gave it a bad review. Her fans felt otherwise, and after winning five or six Grammys, she had gained six million new followers. I saw her play a show in Portland, Maine at that time and she sang my song 'Nobody's Girl.' Hearing it echo through the crowd, I felt I could quit writing songs right then and there. What a feeling, hearing my personal thoughts coming back to me through her voice and guitar and the crowd, and of course, Bonnie acknowledging me to the audience."

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