Melissa Etheridge wrote the song after the initial version of her debut album was rejected by the recording company, which left her only four days to provide new material and a modified edition of the album. At the time, she was residing in
Los Angeles while her girlfriend, Kathleen, lived elsewhere, so Etheridge had reluctantly agreed to make theirs a non-monogamous relationship. The song tells about the pain and jealousy arising from thoughts of her lover being intimate with someone else. There are many metaphors in the lyrics describing her emotional state, principally the chorus line: "Somebody bring me some water – can't you see I'm burning alive." Many other songs on the album deal with the same subject. Musically, "Bring Me Some Water" is a classic rock song with some blues themes. During an interview featured on the bonus DVD of
Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled, Etheridge says: Furthermore, she states that, of all the songs she has written, "Bring Me Some Water" is the one with the highest recognition value and that wherever she plays the song in the world, everybody at her concerts knows the song after the first seconds of the intro. Etheridge has collaborated with contemporary pop musicians on two notable recorded-live television performances of this song:
Joan Osborne, who appeared as one of several guest artists on the inaugural November 22, 1995, episode of the
VH1 Duets series; and
Kelly Clarkson on the September 17, 2009
VH1 Divas concert special. "Bring Me Some Water" was remade by American blues artist
Koko Taylor and recorded on her 2000 album,
Royal Blue. ==Track listings==