When I'm feeling particularly down about my life, I pop in Blue and just bawl. That album is so cathartic. If only more musicians felt free enough to be THAT disarmed on a recording.
I like both Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan very much. Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison (if you haven't heard "Something", you really should. But I'm a Johnny Cash girl, all the way. They're simple and heartfelt.
@AllieCaulfield: @BicSharpie: First, have you ever listened to Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name" ? and second, Nick Drake was better than Dylan and/or Donovan..but if we are comparing era to era, I'd agree with your Donovan opinon :)
@AllieCaulfield: not kidding at all and while I don't like David Crosby he wasn't some total wanker (I'm a Stills and Young fan myself) and Joni's musical ability is highly underrated.
Nick Drake is a personal favorite for lyrics and amazing guitar work.
So, nope, not kidding.....but you MUST have known that right? Seeing as you apparently KNOW it ALL?
David Crosby spent most of the 1960s in a drug induced stupor, so his judgement can't be entirely trusted. And everyone knows that the most talented singer/songwriter of that era is Donovan.
Once got in trouble with WB when interviewing her - went WAY over the alloted time because we were having so much fun. We both are crazy for our cats and not so crazy for the record industry. She's a strong woman and one of the most talented guitar players - very unique tuning.
@KristaJulieva: well I do have other reasons, the number 1 being that he ROCKS, but I think the fact that his lyrics justify an entire semester being devoted to studying them says a lot about their quality, depth, and importance.
@CrossWord: My parents did this to me with Zeppelin, and my mom did her best to ruin me for Fleetwood Mac as well. I used to hate Joni, but then I started listening to the earlier albums on my own and really loved them.
And "Magdalene Laundries" is one of the greatest songs ever written, and it's more recent so her voice is much, much lower.
Before we bonded over Mad Men, my mom and I bonded over a love for Joni Mitchell. "A Case of You" has been my most-played iTunes song for like 5 years. I love, love this woman.
@tell Dolly Parton again: I absolutely love A Case of You. It's such a beautiful song and it shows off her voice so well. I don't think anyone else could sing it and do it justice.
Second favorite song is probably River. Then California.
@EdnasEdibles: oh, 'river' makes me cry like a baby. i love that it has now become somewhat of a christmas song and yet it's incredibly sad and melancholy and not about lovers and sledding and joy....and still beautiful.
as overdone as it is, 'both sides now' is just about as real as it gets as far as lyrics and music. it's POV has nothing to do with being a woman or a singer or whatever...it's just about being human and admitting you don't know it all.
@tell Dolly Parton again: You know those songs that just get you, right where it hurts the most? "A Case of You" is like that. That song is probably my favourite song of all time. I tear up every time I listen to it. She is amazing.
@J.D.Regent: Song to a Seagull has my favorite song, "Cactus Tree," and also some really crazy shit, including a song about pirates told in alternating voices. My vote goes there.
@J.D.Regent: Blue. It is totally, as my boyfriend kindly pointed out, Period Music, but that's no bad thing.
(I'd like to add, he didn't mean that in a derogatory way, merely as a tool to point out why he was frustrated at not quite 'getting' Ms. Mitchell's POVs on the record)
@scullymurphy: Oh, of course that statement doesn't apply to all her sentiments throughout the record, just some, and perhaps his overlook of it therefore. Never go out with a reviewer, girls... nothing you like will go unanalysed!
@scullymurphy: I think I od'ed on Blue in Middle School. I also really like Hejira and the Hissing of Summer Lawns, but anything jazzier than that and I crap out. Still have a soft spot for good old Clouds too.
@Khrushchev: Oh, I am listening to "Cactus Tree" right now. I haven't heard that song in ages, and it was the first Joni song I really and truly loved.
But Court and Spark gets my album vote too. It's just so... complete. And funny too! He thought that I was crazy when I refused to ride on those double decker buses, all because there was no driver on the top.
@J.D.Regent: I picked up Blue on my own, but I grew up listening to my parents play their vinyl copy of Hejira on repeat. So those are my two favorites. I probably lean towards Blue more because it represents such a singular time in my life- just moved out on my own, heartbroken, trying to figure out what to do.
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Singing along to Joni Mitchell
As his face went through the windshield
of his '67 Chevrolet
He was driving on the wrong side
Just a wee bit on the drunk side
When the ditch became a shallow grave
Just when he found what he liked
It was taken away
In his Chevy he did perish
To 'a free man in Paris'
The song played loudly away
Taken away on a stretcher
He was buried in the cornfield
Along with his Joni tapes
Just when he found what he liked
It was taken away
You can't separate a man and his Joni tapes ...
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Joni. Is. My. Heroine.
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Oh God.
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You kidding me with this?
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Nick Drake is a personal favorite for lyrics and amazing guitar work.
So, nope, not kidding.....but you MUST have known that right? Seeing as you apparently KNOW it ALL?
rhetorical
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My favorite song, and top 5 favorite songs on the planet: You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio
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And "Magdalene Laundries" is one of the greatest songs ever written, and it's more recent so her voice is much, much lower.
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Second favorite song is probably River. Then California.
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as overdone as it is, 'both sides now' is just about as real as it gets as far as lyrics and music. it's POV has nothing to do with being a woman or a singer or whatever...it's just about being human and admitting you don't know it all.
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Court and Spark
You go --
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(I'd like to add, he didn't mean that in a derogatory way, merely as a tool to point out why he was frustrated at not quite 'getting' Ms. Mitchell's POVs on the record)
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Sittin in a park in Paris, France. Readin the news and it sure looks bad. They won't give peace a chance. That was just a dream some of us had.
I felt this way over the Iraq war even though it was written about Vietnam.
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But Court and Spark gets my album vote too. It's just so... complete. And funny too! He thought that I was crazy when I refused to ride on those double decker buses, all because there was no driver on the top.
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