If you google Joni Mitchell the first things you'll find are obituaries. D-listed has a piece today about David Crosby and Joni, HERE, and he says she's alive, suffered an aneurysm and is in recovery. I hope she gets better, but, she's in her 70's now. It has to be tough. I wish her the best, she's an icon. Joni is a piece of that time in history that will never come again. She played Woodstock for cripes sakes!
Have you ever read her story? Do you know the the song 'Little Green" is about the baby daughter she gave up? (Her birth name was Kelly. Get it? Kelly Green.) Joni and her daughter met again when the daughter was grown up. As far as I know, they still have a relationship and Joni spends time with her grandkids. It's an interesting and sad story, you can look it up. I thought parts of it were pretty damn strange, personally. But, that's neither her nor there, I have a confession to make. I don't get Joni's music. There. I said it. I don't like it and I never have. And don't tell me to give it a chance because I've spend hours listening to about everything I could. She is an accomplished musician and songwriter. I just don't get her. What the fuck is wrong with me? Do you have a fav Joni song?
8 comments:
The only one I know is 'Big Yellow Taxi' and I like that one...I actually thought she did 'You're So Vain' but now I see I'm wrong when I googled it :/
I've never cared about her music at all.
Joni Mitchell was an excellent poet. The lyrics to "Judgement of the Moon and Stars," about Beethoven, his deafness and general weirdness, is a work of genius.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jonimitchell/judgementofthemoonandstarsludwigstune.html
She wrote the wonderful "That Song About the Midway," that Bonnie Raitt popularized, about Leonard Cohen. She also wrote "Both Sides Now," which anyone who was alive in the late sixties/early seventies knows was constantly on the radio, sung by Judi Collins. She actually stands as one of the great songwriters. The thing was, (IMO) she was somewhat navel-gazing, like fellow Scorp Neil Young, wrote about herself and her thoughts, feelings, relationships a lot, and she also wrote for her own rangy, contralto voice, which made it very difficult for other artists to reproduce her work.
"Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire," about heroin addiction, is another great song. In addition to her poetic abilities, she was also pretty good at scoring music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uikZv3PYd6I
I also like "You Turn Me on, I'm a Radio," "For Free," and I love the lyrics to "Woman of Heart and Mind." I've always thought that it typified perfectly the relationship many mothers have with their sons.
N.
I pretty much lost music in my life. Don't know why.
Joni has been sick/mentally ill for many years. Hermit. I am sorry for her illness. It's a fear that something awful like that will happen. Lucky she has money to continue on in her own home. I think carers did everything for her for years. If you are rich and odd, you're fortunate.
I love that bearded chubby angel voiced David Crosby! Joni - I like but not love.
I love her but didn't as much when some of her music came out. I worked close to a wonderful gay guy for several years in the 80s. He would make tapes of her songs for me so I wound up listening to more than I had. I had a few of her albums which I loved but he got me to listen to more of them.
She's all jazz underneath so if you're not a jazz person....
She's NOT been crazy. Not many years ago ( ? ) she was interviewed by the now infamous Jian Gomeshi at her home on the Sunshine Coast near Vancouver BC (I assume it was that home shown in the interview. Just after seeing that interview I talked to a guy who attended a tribute to her music on the Sunshine Coast. She didn't perform, but she attended and talked a lot about her life - he said it was awesome. It's known she's had a house there since she rose to fame and needed a retreat - late 60s. Plus, my husband worked on her home there about 8 years ago, and she was sane and fine then according to him.
She's had morgellons and a host of other illnesses - illness makes you different and you might seem crazy but it's just from coping.
Here are links to the interview and an article:
http://blip.tv/q-tv/joni-mitchell-on-q-part-1-6601514
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/joni-mitchell-reflects-on-her-life-and-legacy-1.1307145
She's incredibly brilliant - she had insights even as preteen that I'm just learning in middle age. I don't think I'd call myself a fan - I just love her because she's brilliant and talented.
Her house in the background looks just like ours - antiques, plants, ceramics, Persian or Indian wool carpets - rustic stuff. Maybe that's partly why I feel some affinity with her - and we have a place on the Sunshine Coast, which is a quiet, rustic place full of 'loners' or in any case, It's not a party place.
I love her and her music, too. I would find it hard to pick out a favorite, but there are many I like.
Many years ago, I saw her in concert with Crosby, Stills and Nash (I don't think Young toured with them, but I could be wrong). She was amazing, and I love her lyrics.
I was very sorry to hear of her collapse, and hospitalization, but wish her all the best. I hope she is able to speak again soon. My mother lost that ability, and it made her life so difficult and unhappy.
Christina
This Flight Tonight - Nazareth's cover. That's as close to JM as I'll ever get.
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