Songfacts®:

• Bonnie Raitt doesn't write many songs, but when she does, they can be pretty intense. "All At Once" is one of those songs. It tells the story of woman who has gone through a divorce and is at odds with her teenage daughter. She's also in a romance with a married man who isn't likely to leave his wife. In the song, Raitt sings about how women are valued for the strength and resilience, but that's not how she's feeling.
  
  "I'm not interested in writing pop songs about how you look or about partying and dancing all night," she told the New York Times. "I want to be a strong role model for real women with real issues: adult issues. These are hard times for a lot of people emotionally."
• Like most songs Raitt writes and records, the story here is fictional: She never had any children.
• "All At Once" is the last song on Luck Of The Draw, which built on the momentum of her previous album, Nick Of Time from 1989. That one brought her back to the big-time after a decade in the hinterlands when her record company wasn't supporting her and she was dealing with a drinking problem. It won four Grammy Awards, including Album Of The Year. Luck Of The Draw picked up three awards but lost Album Of The Year to Natalie Cole's Unforgettable With Love. Luck Of The Draw outsold Nick Of Time though, thanks to the hit singles "Something To Talk About" and "I Can't Make You Love Me."
• For a Bonnie Raitt song, this one is very subdued, with no trace of the slide guitar she's famous for. It's led by a string section arranged by David Campbell and closes out with bagpipes by Aaron Shaw. Raitt plays electric piano on the song.