All I Want - how could anyone turn down her persona in this song??
I love the plaintiveness of "I wanna have fun..." - you can almost here a bracketed "is that too much to ask?" afterwards.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 08:35 (fourteen years ago) link
it's less sentimental than "little green"
I don't think 'Little Green' is sentimental at all; the gap between the wishes expressed- 'there'll be icicles and birthday clothes and sometimes there'll be sorrow'- and the fact that the narrative voice knows fully the enormity of what is being done and size of the wound being consciously deliberately opened up for both mother and child, mocks the wish as it is expressed. It's an astonishing song because Joni accepts the size of what is being done and doesn't attempt to clothe it in sentiment: she explains the situation but doesn't excuse either herself or the father, but nor, in the strangest most devastating line, does she cloth herself in false guilt: 'you're sad and you're sorry, but you're not ashamed'.......
Even the way it ends, with the little riff repeated an uneven number of times, and the resolving chord coming in slightly off- time and too loud points to this lack of fit between the words said - between anything that words could say - and what is being done.
― sonofstan, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 09:05 (fourteen years ago) link
Could've sworn we did this already but "All I Want," Carey," and the title track are my shit. I went for "Blue" because I can never tell when it ends.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 09:23 (fourteen years ago) link
"River" is my shit too. And "Richard." And.........
― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 09:26 (fourteen years ago) link
i meant the melody not the lyrics of "my old man" being less sentimental than "little green's". the first chords of "little green" immediately stir up emotion in me, touch something deep inside whereas "my old man" has a more relaxed, more ripe, bluesy down-to-earth vibe.
― alex in mainhattan, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 21:09 (fourteen years ago) link
i didn't know until recently that this album was a result of being bummed out over james taylor. understandable though. he was one hot junkie.
http://blogs.sltrib.com/burger/uploaded_images/James-Taylor-69374-14-757585.jpg
― scott seward, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 21:24 (fourteen years ago) link
there's a recording of them playing live together at some point -- they sound great! Nice blend.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 21:26 (fourteen years ago) link
man that live youtube clip...wow....what a talent.
― eight woofers in the trunk sb'n down the block (M@tt He1ges0n), Tuesday, 8 December 2009 21:32 (fourteen years ago) link
He is pretty dreamy. I think only a couple of the very final songs written are about Taylor though - most of the album predates it. "My Old Man" is about Graham Nash for instance (as a side note, when I first got into this album at about 13, it didn't occur to me that "old man" might be used to describe yr boyfriend, i thought it must mean "father", and was kinda confused by the song as a result). There's also an argument that "A Case Of You" is about Leonard Cohen, though I find that unlikely.
Heaps of For The Roses is about Taylor as well - "See You Sometime", "The Blonde In The Bleachers", "Lessons In Survival".
― Tim F, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 21:51 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah i meant that the actual "blue" vibe of the album was cuzza james. not all the actual songs.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 21:57 (fourteen years ago) link
man, reading that hotel california book i was really tempted to start writing down whose songs were about who, but it was endless. joni in particular. but all those laurel canyon people really.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 21:59 (fourteen years ago) link
^loved that book. all the stuff about joni was fascinating
― an error has occurred (electricsound), Tuesday, 8 December 2009 22:13 (fourteen years ago) link
I still have to read Hotel California! But I recently read Girls Like Us, about Joni Carole and Carly. That was great.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 22:14 (fourteen years ago) link
i was gonna read girls like us, but someone bought it before i could make up my mind to read it. cuz i sell books. hotel california kinda depressed me. everyone got so gross.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 22:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Do you think 'For The Roses' is a little sidelined?
I love that album every bit as much as Blue, maybe more, but I wonder if it would provoke as much discussion.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 22:34 (fourteen years ago) link
Also, 'Hotel California' WFT??? at the topless pic of Judee Sill.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 22:35 (fourteen years ago) link
post (mellow) n00dz
― eight woofers in the trunk sb'n down the block (M@tt He1ges0n), Tuesday, 8 December 2009 22:40 (fourteen years ago) link
i meant the melody not the lyrics of "my old man" being less sentimental than "little green's".
Sorry, should have read your post more carefully.
Until that clip, I'd no idea so much of the record was her playing dulcimer!
― sonofstan, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 22:47 (fourteen years ago) link
was just looking at this book -- new, I think: http://www.amazon.com/Will-You-Take-Me-Mitchells/dp/1416559299my wife's old company published a Joni Mitchell bio a few years ago which was one of the worst things I have ever read. In the intro, the author describes meeting Joni as "like Gaguin meeting Van Gogh!"
― tylerw, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 22:59 (fourteen years ago) link
Really want to read that book, but it's always been too expensive, considering it's pretty slim.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 8 December 2009 23:04 (fourteen years ago) link
Yes. Sandwiched between two masterpieces, it's been overlooked, and the melodic/harmonic density is difficult to absorb in a casual listen (considering that most of these songs are just piano and guitar solo pieces, that's a lot to ask). But "Woman of Heart and Mind," "You Turn Me On," "Barandgrill," "Cold Blue Steel and Fire," and "Lesson in Survival" are just brilliant on first listen too.
― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 9 December 2009 00:00 (fourteen years ago) link
"will you take me as i am, STRUNG OUT ON ANOTHER MAN"
booming lyric imo
OTM.
It's definitely between California and Case of You, but Carey and This Flight Tonight are close behind.
― wrapped up, packed up, ribbon with a donk on it (Alex in Montreal), Wednesday, 9 December 2009 01:05 (fourteen years ago) link
MMmmm. BUT. The dulcimer on "All I Want" is also made of win.
"you said love is touching souls / ...surely you touched mine / cause part of you pours out of me / in these lines from time to time"
― wrapped up, packed up, ribbon with a donk on it (Alex in Montreal), Wednesday, 9 December 2009 01:07 (fourteen years ago) link
"I met a woman / she had a mouth like yours / she knew your devils and your deeds and she said..."
I love these lines, so subtle and evocative - did Joni meet his mother or his sister or...?
― Tim F, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 02:03 (fourteen years ago) link
I always assumed she met a former lover -- her mouth was like his, ie: his manner of speaking and words had rubbed off on her.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 02:23 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah that's the other interpretation. Or maybe it's Carole King?
― Tim F, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 02:29 (fourteen years ago) link
do yall think the fact that Joni Mitchell name drops kids reading Rolling Stone & other hippie-era icons in "California" dates the song?
― lukevalentine, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 02:56 (fourteen years ago) link
Nah. I love those name-drops.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 03:06 (fourteen years ago) link
The whole song goes out of its way to carbon-date itself, and not in a bad way - "readin' the news and it sure looks bad / seems they won't give peace a chance / that was just a dream some of us had."
― Tim F, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 03:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Almost gave River an automatic vote because it's December but I played it all over and the cocoon escape fantasy at the end of Richard blew me away.
― dad a, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 03:23 (fourteen years ago) link
It's gotta be "River" for me but under the right circumstances I could be tempted by "A Case of You" too.
― Sean Carruthers, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 04:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, I love those topical details on this record. To me this album really captures something about moving through young adulthood and growing up (among a lot of other things), and having those little details in there gives an idea of what world she was in while that was happening. Being a 27-year old woman in 1971 was very different than being 27 in 1961.
― Mark, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 04:40 (fourteen years ago) link
i always thought River was a bit of a throwaway
California might be my favorite
― Do you love me now? (surm), Wednesday, 9 December 2009 04:51 (fourteen years ago) link
The whole song goes out of its way to carbon-date itself, and not in a bad way
I like her whole stance on 60's idealism
"They won't give peace a chanceThat was just a dream some of us had"
after all that stuff about stardust and getting back to the garden, the opening lines of the song just kinda brush it off as "a dream some of us had," so, like, on with the 70's cause there are "lands to see"
which is actually clear-eyed & rational
― lukevalentine, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 07:10 (fourteen years ago) link
"Little Green", obviously
― Littlegreen, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 09:22 (fourteen years ago) link
I put this on tonight for the first time in a decade-and-a-half. I really wasn't ready for it - the starkness of the arrangements took me aback a lot. The first three tracks in particular are pretty uncompromising as a lead-in; I think it's 'Carey' before we get a backing vocal, and by then I was pathetically grateful for that little bit of colour.
I must have listening to ever-lusher music without realising it, as this initially felt very alien to me - as if it was from another time, like hearing ragtime or ye olde blues. A trick she pulls from time to time is to throw in a couple of odd notes or a strange harmony so that for a second or two I think the tune has gone off in another direction entirely, when it's actually returned to its original pattern straight away. I've grown quite unaccustomed to this sort of songwriting and it's not exactly pleasant, more unsettling.
On the basis of one listen, the best thing here is 'California' - beautiful rolling melody, it feels like the words are tripping over tumbling out of her mouth. So catchy and uplifting. Worst: 'My Old Man', I think her diction there is quite horrible.
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 11 December 2009 20:17 (fourteen years ago) link
wtf @ My Old Man hate.
― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Monday, December 7, 2009 5:56 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Friday, 11 December 2009 20:51 (fourteen years ago) link
I don't know, I think it's maybe too complex - it keeps taking these unexpected jazzy turns that break it up too much, and the song and arrangement aren't strong enough to hold it together. I'm not expecting a pub singalong exactly, but mentally I feel like I'm always a bit behind where she's going, without it being satisfying when you get back to the main thing (maybe not a very good example, but I've got 'Penny Lane' in my head as complexity where the tune is so good that you don't even notice). A bit of a dirge, in short.
I hate the 'we don't need no piece of paper from the city hall' line too, just the sound of it.
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 11 December 2009 22:00 (fourteen years ago) link
The only part of the song I don't like is how she sings "hall."
― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 11 December 2009 22:03 (fourteen years ago) link
ha, i always thought that was
"we don't need no piece of paper from the city, aww"
― jazzgasms (Mr. Que), Friday, 11 December 2009 22:04 (fourteen years ago) link
(i obviously don't ever look at lyric sheets)
― jazzgasms (Mr. Que), Friday, 11 December 2009 22:06 (fourteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Sunday, 13 December 2009 00:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Monday, 14 December 2009 00:01 (fourteen years ago) link
huh?
that is the only song i do not like on the album!
― plaxico (I know, right?), Monday, 14 December 2009 00:01 (fourteen years ago) link
huh? indeed. strange victory.
― wrapped up, packed up, ribbon with a donk on it (Alex in Montreal), Monday, 14 December 2009 00:10 (fourteen years ago) link
i like Ricard a lot, but i totally forgot how much i love ALL I WANT
definitel should've voted for that
― Do you love me now? (surm), Monday, 14 December 2009 00:16 (fourteen years ago) link
i like those results, but then again they are all incredible
― iago g., Monday, 14 December 2009 00:17 (fourteen years ago) link
I voted California btw
― plaxico (I know, right?), Monday, 14 December 2009 00:17 (fourteen years ago) link
They're all worthy -- it's a shame that My Old Man got no votes.
― Mordy, Monday, 14 December 2009 00:20 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/20/arts/music/joni-mitchell-blue.html
50 Reasons to Love Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’The singer-songwriter questioned everything on her fourth album. Twenty-five musicians speak about the LP’s enduring power on its 50th anniversary.
She produced it herself. There weren’t women producers then. And she didn’t try a lot of different musical arrangements. So it was very singular. There are few albums that change your life. “Blue” came out when I had just turned 16 and it came at this fulcrum of going out of childhood — feeling all the passion of what I wanted to do with my life, and the urgency and the fear and everything, and then “Blue.” This is a weird thing to be a revelation, given my childhood and my family, but I understood for the first time that a woman could be a songwriter. She just laid it out in these almost journalistic lines that were still so poetic, so dark, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do.” I probably would not be a songwriter had it not been for “Blue.” - Rosanne Cash
― Indexed, Sunday, 20 June 2021 12:39 (two years ago) link
This is even more impressive: https://www.npr.org/2021/06/20/1008271419/joni-mitchell-masterpiece-at-50-her-kind-of-blue
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 20 June 2021 13:32 (two years ago) link
^That Ann Powers is brilliant.
― that's not my post, Sunday, 20 June 2021 18:25 (two years ago) link
Subscriber exclusive: Joni Mitchell opens up to Cameron Crowe about singing again, lost loves and 50 years of ‘Blue’ https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-06-20/joni-mitchell-cameron-crowe-50th-anniversary-blue
― search term: buttrock (morrisp), Sunday, 20 June 2021 21:15 (two years ago) link
‘I wanna talk to you/I wanna shampoo you’ is one of my favourite lyrics of all time
― flopson, Monday, 21 June 2021 19:29 (two years ago) link
If you haven't already read it, this is a really great essay kind of tangled up in Blue, by the English poet Amy Key. I believe she's now working on a whole book about Joni etc
https://granta.com/a-bleed-of-blue/
― Piedie Gimbel, Monday, 21 June 2021 19:59 (two years ago) link
these are awesome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYyyf9rRurc
― tylerw, Monday, 21 June 2021 20:18 (two years ago) link
will this embed?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS1lzfDmKL4
― brimstead, Monday, 21 June 2021 23:34 (two years ago) link
^^the vocals are joni, gorgeous arrangement imo
― brimstead, Monday, 21 June 2021 23:35 (two years ago) link
Those demoes illustrate what a singular record Blue is in her career - "Hunter" sounds like Ladies of the Canyon, and "River", when the French horns come in, is a flash-forward to some of the orchestral overdubs on For the Roses. But neither of those outtakes would fit on Blue as we know it.
Joni was wise (or lucky) that she has kept such a tight grip on these sorts of outtakes over the last 35 years. It gives a real sense of occasion to the release of these Archives boxes that wouldn't be there if the albums had already been reissued two or three times with bonus tracks, demoes, live shows etc.
It's funny that that Paul Horn recording has more down votes than likes, do people think he kidnapped her and forced her to do a wordless version with his flute?
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 00:22 (two years ago) link
It's so good to hear Hunter properly at last, it has always been tagged on at the end of the Hissing demos.
― Maresn3st, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 10:56 (two years ago) link
woah, never thought the second Archives box would come so fast! thats a nice surprise.
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 11:15 (two years ago) link