joni mitchell - blue - poll

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.

^loved that book. all the stuff about joni was fascinating

I still have to read Hotel California! But I recently read Girls Like Us, about Joni Carole and Carly. That was great.

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.

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.

Also, 'Hotel California' WFT??? at the topless pic of Judee Sill.

post (mellow) n00dz

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!

was just looking at this book -- new, I think: http://www.amazon.com/Will-You-Take-Me-Mitchells/dp/1416559299
my 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!"

Really want to read that book, but it's always been too expensive, considering it's pretty slim.

Do you think 'For The Roses' is a little sidelined?

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.

"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.

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"

"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...?

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.

Yeah that's the other interpretation. Or maybe it's Carole King?

do yall think the fact that Joni Mitchell name drops kids reading Rolling Stone & other hippie-era icons in "California" dates the song?

Nah. I love those name-drops.

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."

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.

It's gotta be "River" for me but under the right circumstances I could be tempted by "A Case of You" too.

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.

i always thought River was a bit of a throwaway

California might be my favorite

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 chance
That 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

"Little Green", obviously

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.

wtf @ My Old Man hate.

― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Monday, December 7, 2009 5:56 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

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.

The only part of the song I don't like is how she sings "hall."

ha, i always thought that was

"we don't need no piece of paper from the city, aww"

(i obviously don't ever look at lyric sheets)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

huh?

that is the only song i do not like on the album!

huh? indeed. strange victory.

i like Ricard a lot, but i totally forgot how much i love ALL I WANT

definitel should've voted for that

i like those results, but then again they are all incredible

I voted California btw

They're all worthy -- it's a shame that My Old Man got no votes.

Classic choice, slow-burner gets its due. Much more surprised by "River" placing second tbh

missed this thread but would have voted "this flight tonight" or "california."

great winner - what i voted for in the end. if there's a surprise here it's the title track coming in so low.

this is just such a fucking amazing record

i sorta love every song on this in a way that deprives them of much individuality but i think i like 'california' the most its so spry and lovely but deeply sad, 'the streets are full of strangers' part, where her voice lifts up on 'strung out on another man'... its just so perfect

this is just such a fucking amazing record

cannot be said enough

"---well, surely you touched mine"

― lex pretend, Monday, December 7, 2009 6:15 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this post made me tear up. this record has held me for two decades.

another line I love:

"he gave me back my smile / but he took my camera cell..."

actually it's "my camera to sell" isn't it.

It's the way she says it that is so effective.

i have listened to so much joni tonite

the line 'it's just that now you're romanticizing some pain that's in your head' is sorta killing me rn

ohhhh the way the tone of her voice changes on "i'm gonna blow this damn candle out"

It's so good to hear Hunter properly at last, it has always been tagged on at the end of the Hissing demos.

woah, never thought the second Archives box would come so fast! thats a nice surprise.