Song #161: "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me"--Linda Ronstadt (1976)

Today, it's the fifth of eight songs from Linda Ronstadt in our Top 500 countdown, truly one of the most gifted singers of the Twentieth Century. We've talked about her ability to sing so many different genres of music with ease.

But today's song shows Ronstadt's uncanny ability to bring out the very raw emotion of a song's content. In this case, it's the story of someone who seems almost broken to the point of no return, hoping for at least some attention, some affection, thinking that's all she's ever going to be able to find in this life.

Linda's vocal performance brings out every reality of the song, written by the highly talented and underrated Karla Bonoff. This song is from Linda's fantastic 1976 "Hasten Down The Wind" LP, which also contained her rendition of "Rivers of Babylon" and the hidden gem "Try Me Again".

Linda returns three more times, and two of them (hint, hint) won't be for awhile.  :)