Grade the Dealer

[blinker12]

I'm giving it an A. I love the songwriting (it's always been one of my favorite demos). What about that lyric "I'll just almost hold you / You'll just almost stay"? That is heartbreakingly brilliant! Musically, I love the blue-note chord toward the end of the chorus -- very unusual for a Stevie song.
I also love the production and arrangement of this version. For the first time since The Dance, the production doesn't sound like it's trying REALLY HARD to make her sound "current." It's real, and I think that's part of why the more general audience seems excited by it. That classic rootsy sound.
I still don't like that "and myyyy wiiiiine" screech, but otherwise the vocal has grown on me, especially warming up (as others have noted) in the second half.
That's a minor quibble though. I'm already listening to this more than any other Stevie single since I started being a fan in 1990!