“I Can’t Make You Love Me / Nick of Time”
from the single Calgary
2011
iTunes
Written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin and originally recorded by Bonnie Raitt in 1991, “I Can’t Make You Love Me” has since been covered by the likes of George Michael and Peter Andre, becoming a staple of heartbreak anthem compilations. The idea for the song came to Reid after he read an article about a man who drunkenly shot at his girlfriend’s car and when asked in court if he’d learned anything, replied: “I learned, your honor, that you can’t make a woman love you if she don’t.” It’s hardly surprising that Bon Iver (as the B-side to single “Calgary”) has managed to inject a song saturated in helpless desperation with even more sadness, Justin Vernon’s creaking falsetto supported by lonesome piano chords. In the last minute the song bleeds into a version of Raitt’s “Nick of Time,” offering up some semblance of hope as he croons, “I found love darling, love in the nick of time.”