Exploring the life of Joni Mitchell through her 10 best lyrics
Defining an artist of the calibre of Joni Mitchell is a challenging task. She inhabits a unique and enigmatic place within the music industry and is a timeless, virtuoso composer, crafting songs that will resonate throughout the ages with their profound themes and relatable narratives. Simultaneously, she embodies a relentless innovator, refusing to stagnate and continually driving herself to bring her vision of universal truths to life with unparalleled creativity.
This has rightfully positioned the singer as one of the pioneers of contemporary pop music. Often regarded as a folk music monarch, Mitchell’s rise to fame can be attributed to her remarkable talent for seamlessly weaving together diverse genres, styles, and emotions into a captivating musical tapestry that promises to nourish the soul for all time.
Perhaps what sets Mitchell apart as an artist is her remarkable capacity to merge vulnerability with boundless creativity. Her songs offer a window into her life, enabling us to navigate the depths of raw emotion and explore the complexities of life’s most profound lessons. Through her lyrical expressions, we gain insights into her perspective, immersing ourselves in her artistry and the intricacies of her existence.
When discussing her choice to openly showcase her personal experiences, Mitchell once explained: “I started scraping my own soul more and more and got more humanity in it. It scared the singer-songwriters around me; the men seemed to be nervous about it, almost like [Bob] Dylan plugging in and going electric. Like, ‘Does this mean we have to do this now?’ But over time, I think it did make an influence. It encouraged people to write more from their own experience.”
Throughout her illustrious career, Mitchell consistently produced songs of exceptional quality, resulting in a catalogue that is as rich and intricate as those of her contemporaries who thrived in the 1960s and 1970s. While many of her peers may have faded from the spotlight over the years, Mitchell has steadfastly upheld her artistic integrity, leaving little room for anyone to question it.
Ultimately, Mitchell consistently embodied the ideal fusion of tradition and innovation throughout her extensive career. She crafted songs that resonated with a wide audience, drawing from the deepest, most personal recesses of her soul. Let’s delve into ten standout moments from her remarkable body of work.
Joni Mitchell’s 10 best lyrics:
‘A Case of You’
“Just before our love got lost you said
I am as constant as a northern star
And I said, ‘Constantly in the darkness,
Where’s that at?
If you want me, I’ll be in the bar’.”
Mitchell wrote Blue during a time when had essentially fled from flailing relationships to live free in Europe, but evidently, letters were still passed back and forth. ‘A Case of You’ is one of many songs that are said to be penned about Mitchell’s relationship with Graham Nash, but some have also said that it’s about Leonard Cohen.
In any case, the song exhibits the sort of wit that makes you pity whoever was on the receiving end of such cutting jibes, and yet, as ever with Mitchell, it retains a strong air of dignity and wisdom.
‘Carey’
“The wind is in from Africa
Last night I couldn’t sleep
Oh, you know it sure is hard to leave here, Carey
But it’s really not my home
My fingernails are filthy
I got beach tar on my feet
And I miss my clean white linen
And my fancy French cologne”.
In early 1970, following her breakup with Nash, Mitchell embarked on a journey to Greece with a friend, seeking respite from her burgeoning music career in the hippie community. During their stay in Athens, the pair eventually made their way to Crete, particularly the town of Matala on the island’s southern coast. It was there that Mitchell crossed paths with a red-haired American named Cary Raditz, who worked as a cook at the Mermaid café. In honour of Raditz’s 24th birthday, Mitchell penned the initial version of ‘Carey’ while staying in Matala.
After spending approximately two months together, Mitchell and Raditz journeyed to Athens. However, she continued her travels alone, heading to Paris, where she composed ‘California’, humorously referring to Raditz as a “red, red rogue”.
‘Little Green’
“Child with a child pretending
Weary of lies you are sending home
So you sign all the papers in the family name
You’re sad and you’re sorry, but you’re not ashamed
Little green, have a happy ending.”
Mitchell composed ‘Little Green’ shortly after she had signed the adoption papers for her daughter the previous year. At that time, she was a struggling folk singer living in Toronto. The existence of her daughter, Kelly Dale, remained a relatively private matter until 1993.
It was then that a former roommate from Mitchell’s art school days in the 1960s decided to sell the story of the adoption to a tabloid magazine, bringing this aspect of her life into the public eye. However, during at least one early live performance at the Café Au Go Go in New York in 1967, Mitchell had made a reference to her daughter’s given first name. In the middle of the song, there was a noticeable emotional husk in her voice as she tenderly mentioned “Kelly Green”.
‘That Song About The Midway’
“So lately you’ve been hidin’, it was somewhere in the news
And I’m still at these races with my ticket stubs and my blues
And a voice calls out the numbers and it sometimes mentions mine
And I feel like I’ve been workin’ overtime
Over time, I’ve lost my fire, over time”.
Crosby and Mitchell were romantically involved in 1967, a year during which he took on the role of producing her inaugural album, Song To A Seagull. Mitchell played ‘That Song About The Midway’ for David Crosby at a gathering taking place at Peter Tork of The Monkees’ residence. At this particular soirée, Mitchell used the song to tell Crosby that their relationship was over.
According to Crosby, his relationship with Mitchell became difficult mostly because he felt inadequate alongside her as a musician. Speaking to Howard Stern, he admitted: “Imagine if you wrote a really good song, you sang it to her when she came home, and then she sang you three better songs she wrote last night”.
‘The Fiddle and the Drum’
“And so I ask you please,
Can I help you find the peace and the star?
Oh, my friend,
What time is this?
To trade the handshake for the fist”.
Along with her personal endeavours, Mitchell also often wrote about her own political views. In the lyrics of the song, there’s a lament from an outsider’s perspective, expressing concern that America is “fighting us all” and has shifted its priorities from artistry to militarism (“[traded] the fiddle for the drum”).
Nevertheless, Mitchell still recalls the positive aspects of the nation, pondering whether they can assist in rediscovering peace and unity. Serving as an anti-war anthem, the song became linked to the opposition against the Iraq War, especially due to its 2004 rendition by A Perfect Circle.
‘Help Me’
“Help me, I think I’m fallin’ in love again
When I get that crazy feelin’, I know I’m in trouble again
I’m in trouble ’cause you’re a rambler and a gambler
And a sweet talkin’ ladies man
And you love your lovin’ (lovin’)
Not like you love your freedom”.
Since Mitchell has always been cagey about the meaning of her songs, the love interest in ‘Help Me’ is described as a “rambler and a gambler” who loves his freedom much more than he will probably ever love her. Although you could assume that this description may be about many different rock stars, you needn’t look further than Mitchell’s romantic company at the time.
In the 1970s, Mitchell had a short-lived romance with Jackson Browne, which came to an end when she penned this song. While both Browne and Mitchell were deeply passionate about their craft, it might appear somewhat conspicuous for Mitchell to include lines about people flirting in the song.
‘Amelia’
“A ghost of aviation
She was swallowed by the sky
Or by the sea, like me, she had a dream to fly
Like Icarus ascending
On beautiful foolish arms
Amelia, it was just a false alarm”.
In contrast to many of Mitchell’s previous songs, ‘Amelia’ doesn’t yearn for someone’s affection, anticipate a fresh start, or delve deeply into past love affairs. Instead, Mitchell adopts a tone of resignation, viewing the quest for love as a futile endeavour. She opts for the open road as a means to conceal her emotions.
As Mitchell said herself in 1996: “I wrote the album while travelling cross-country by myself, and there is this restless feeling throughout it… the sweet loneliness of solitary travel. In this song, I was thinking of Amelia Earhart and addressing it from one solo pilot to another, sort of reflecting on the cost of being a woman and having something you must do.”
‘See You Sometime’
“So when the hopes got so slim
I just resigned
But I’d still like to see you sometime”.
Among Mitchell’s lesser-known compositions dedicated to a famous former flame is ‘See You Sometime’, a beautiful piano ballad featured on 1972’s For the Roses. For a clue, consider which album by a California-based singer-songwriter from the early ’70s might be alluded to in the lines “pack your suspenders” or “when the hopes get so slim”. That album belongs to Mud Slide Slim himself, James Taylor.
“I don’t want business on the street regarding us,” Mitchell told Rolling Stone in 1988 when asked if she would be writing songs about her husband, Larry Klein. “I’m very happily married. With my early songs there was so much gossip concerning it! I wrote a song for James Taylor that mentioned his suspenders. And then on his next album he went and wore his bloody suspenders on the cover! Well, then the cat was completely out of the bag.”
‘Cactus Tree’
“There’s a man who’s been out sailing
In a decade full of dreams
And he takes her to a schooner
And he treats her like a queen”.
Despite comparisons between Mitchell and folk rock legend Bob Dylan, Mitchell once admitted to being a bit late to the party when it came to appreciating the work of Dylan. “Every single line, even if it’s not the same thing that he’s experiencing, at least I’m experiencing something from what I’m hearing,” she said. “Like, ‘Yeah, I know what that means to me; maybe it’s not what it means to him.’ So now, this late in the game, I think I’m Dylan influenced.”
Mitchell then admitted that she wrote ‘Cactus Tree’ which was influenced by Dylan “in its melody, even in its style”.
Elaborating further, she said: “I even lengthen my ‘A’s’ when I sing it because it sings better. It’s all sort of in monotone. I wrote that after I saw Don’t Look Back, which I think left a big impression on me.”
‘Both Sides Now’
“Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way”.
When Joni Mitchell penned ‘Both Sides Now’, she had already experienced a series of significant events. In 1965, she became a mother to a daughter, and the baby’s father, an old boyfriend, left upon learning of the pregnancy. That same year, she entered a marriage with Chuck Mitchell, but the union was short-lived. Ultimately, they chose to give the child up for adoption. Chuck departed, leaving Mitchell with little more than his last name.
The period of darkness that followed inspired Mitchell for her album Clouds. Recalling the moment ‘Both Sides Now’ came to her, Mitchell said: “I was reading Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King on a plane and early in the book Henderson the Rain King is also up in a plane. He’s on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds. I put down the book, looked out the window and saw clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song. I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did.”
