Oh I Wish I Had a POLL, I Could Skate Away On: The Joni Mitchell Tracks/Albums Results Thread (ILM ARTIST POLL #26)

42. Let the Wind Carry Me (For the Roses): 113 points, 5 votes

Mama thinks she spoilt me
Papa knows somehow he set me free
Mama thinks she spoilt me rotten
She blames herself
But papa he blesses me

I didn't vote for it but I'm happy "Conversation" placed - though I sorta feel it should be "comfort and consolation".

"Let The Wind Carry Me" is amazing, that and "This Flight Tonight" were on my ballot.

41. Trouble Child (Court and Spark): 114 points, 6 votes

Up in a sterilized room
Where they let you be lazy

40. Down to You (Court and Spark): 116 points, 5 votes

Clutching the night to you like a fig leaf
You hurry
To the blackness
And the blankets
To lay down an impression
And your loneliness

39. Shades of Scarlet Conquering (The Hissing of Summer Lawns): 119 points, 4 votes, 1 1st place vote

Out in the wind in crinolines
Chasing the ghosts of Gable and Flynn
Through stand-in boys and extra players
Magnolias hopeful in her auburn hair

38. My Old Man (Blue): 127 points, 7 votes

But when he's gone
Me and them lonesome blues collide
The bed's too big
The frying pan's too wide

37. The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey (Mingus): 128 points, 4 votes

His grandpa loved an empire
His sister loved a thief
And Lindsey loved the ways of darkness
Beyond belief

You're going very fast Mordy!

36. Rainy Night House (Ladies of the Canyon): 128 points, 6 votes

You are a holy man
On the F.M. radio
I sat up all the night and watched thee
To see who in the world you might be

Sorry! That's the last one for today. I mentioned earlier in the thread that the rest of the list would be more staggered, but today (and yesterday) I'm short on time. Anyway, feel free to discuss. And if anyone checks out the Spotify list, please let me know that all the tracks listed so far are there. I'm a little worried that they aren't (since I have hard copies of all the tracks on my computer, so I'm not sure if it automatically synchs them to the Spotify library and what).

Rainy Night House has to be higher than that!

I love the "in the morning there are lovers in the street, they look so high, you brush against a stranger and you both apologise" bit in Down To You.

The provisional schedule for the rest of the week: 35-21 tomorrow, 20-11 Thursday, 10-1 on Friday.

Don't apologise, I just hope we do justice by talking about the choices enough.

I love the "in the morning there are lovers in the street, they look so high, you brush against a stranger and you both apologise" bit in Down To You.

^^^^

The use of "thee" on "Rainy Night House" is probably the only flaw in an otherwise perfect song.

Didn't vote for anything off Mingus but 'The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey' was on my shortlist so I'm glad it made it here.

Love 'Trouble Child' and 'This Flight Tonight' so much.

'Shades Of Scarlet Conquering' was my number one...probably one of fave musical moments evah is when the strings go all wonky behind her when she sings 'Given in the night to dark dreams'...fuck I love that song!

Blonde in the Bleachers was my number one

I inexplicably didn't vote for "Down To You" - I could have easily filled almost half my ballot with C&S tracks. This is a great lyric:

You go down to the pick up station
Craving warmth and beauty
You settle for less than fascination
A few drinks later you're not so choosy
When the closing lights strip off the shadows
On this strange new flesh you've found
Clutching the night to you like a fig leaf
You hurry
To the blackness
And the blankets
To lay down an impression
And your loneliness

omg this flight tonight is so low! did Nazareth kill it for everyone? it's such a beautiful song to me - the fear of meeting someone who is getting a second chance, who may still let you down.. the 'ooh baby, baby come by' song within a song..

holy many xps!

The frying pan line in My Old Man is A+. If I cook eggs for myself when my husband's not home I invariably get that stuck in my head. Pretty sure I took a photo of my spreading egg whites & sent it to him captioned with those lyrics once.

"Rainy Night House" is a jam, voted for it high; love when the voices all come rushing in about midway through

This Flight > My Old Man imo, but both are Blue's weakest afaic

Glad to see "Urge for Going"--it was the voting thread that introduced me to the original. The longest-serving staff member at my school retired two years ago, and I played "The Circle Game" over the P.A. for her during lunch (she was kind of hippieish). Perfect song for that sort of thing.

That IS the perfect song for a retiring hippieish (teacher)! :) Hope a sensitive, bookish kid heard it and ran with it.

It was great. She'd been at our school for almost 30 years--she said she sat in the room as it played, looking out the window and thinking about the all the kids that had passed through over the years. I didn't see any Joni Mitchell T-shirts at school the next fall, so I think it may have passed the sensitive, bookish kids by.

That's a pity! We'll get them in other ways. I couldn't "get" Joni until my 20s. My husband, lovable cliche that he is, played A Case of You on his guitar for me and it was game over.

Teacher looking out window could've been a great Circle Game video! <3 Love the imagery in my head right now.

My husband, lovable cliche that he is, played A Case of You on his guitar for me and it was game over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPsW2FYprfI

hahaha, yup. I'm thankful that wasn't actually ACOY because I was in cringe-ready position. I know I'm getting ahead of the poll here but
"I drew a map of Canada - oh Canada! - with your face sketched on it twice.."
Kills me. Every time.

I was the #1 vote for "I Don't Know Where I Stand". I was in the exact situation described in the song the first time I heard it, via Fairport Convention's cover, when I was a student. Still hits me hard every time I hear it....

Joni sings her own song quite well, but so does Sandy Denny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-1hH0rqeRA

I've never given it much of a chance. I really like that version!

I voted for Conversation. Very evocative storytelling, hippie but without the rough edges, love the guitar jangles. And her voice soars so lightly over it all. You can tell she's holding back. "She speaks in sorry sentences. Miraculous repentances"

In my shortlist...
This Flight Tonight - one of my last cuts - the best part about this is the Nick Drake-esque guitar
For the Roses - her voice has really dropped since Ladies of the Canyon. She sounds like a grizzled old lady.
Rainy Night House - "to SEE who in the world you might BE" and then "TO see who in the world you MIGHT be" - "tan/sand" - so many memorable rhymes - great church vocals coming from nowhere

Down to You is a really great track in the context of the album but the breakdown in the middle kept it off a list of the 20 Joni tracks I'd want to listen to in isolation.

"Conversation" is my biiiig favourite of her "I can sing!" period. It's like "yes! you can indeed!"

This Flight Tonight - one of my last cuts - the best part about this is the Nick Drake-esque guitar

I've long noted this resemblance in their guitar styles in general - the fingerpicking style, the funky open tunings, etc.

Mordy, there's three so far missing from the Spotify playlist on my side (and missing from Spotify at all, says a quick search):

urge for going
let the wind carry me
shades of scarlet conquering

"For the Roses" really reminds me of Nick Drake, at least the vocal melody.

^^^^^^^^^^^

not just the melody, but the descending guitar chords, the pastoral imagery, the butterflies and lilac sprays and the moon sweeping down the black water

Yay for "This Flight Tonight" and "Wolf that Lives in Lindsey" placing. Didn't vote for anything else so far, but it's all good. Nice that "Circle Game" made it too.

I figured that tracks from Blue wouldn't need my help, so cut most of the ones that were on on my longlist. I suspect every song from it will place.

the descending guitar chords

OTM

The Circle Game didn't make my shortlist but at the right moments it feels like the best song ever.

The Circle Game is low on my list of desired Joni tracks. She sounds like a kindergarten teacher.

All Canadians are part time kindergarten teachers.

Working with kids all day keeps us pleasant. And with everyone pitching in, we can ensure the younger generation keeps up on its "Zed"s. Damn you, Sesame Street and Alphabet Song.

Hm well it's not meant to be a shot at kindergarten teachers, who are the greatest, more that I'd rather not feel like a 5-year-old in a classroom after the emotional release of "Woodstock".

I didn't vote for "Circle Game" or "Big Yellow Taxi" or "Woodstock" either tbh. Prefer CSNY's "Woodstock" and am not partial to the other two. "Both Sides Now" was my #1, though, so maybe I'm perverse.

I'm just teasing :) well, the song is about leaving your childhood behind so it fits, I think. Not sure if you were on the Neil thread where clemenza told us this song was her response to Neil Young's Sugar Mountain?

(xp)

I did vote for Taxi, albeit at #20