The classic Joni Mitchell calls “a summary of all the songs I’ve ever written”
Any attempt to neatly summarise the career of Joni Mitchell would be fruitless. The gifted singer-songwriter has produced a wealth of incredible material over the years, often exploring different styles and genre conventions in the process. While her later material never lost that intangible Mitchell genius, she is perhaps best known for the work she created in her early years, among the singer-songwriter boom of the 1960s. After all, it was this early period which first set her on a path to musical greatness.
From her humble beginnings in Calgary, Mitchell was a devotee of folk music, often performing at local venues and on radio stations around the Canadian city. By 1964, however, the wider world was calling, and Mitchell would embark upon a journey to Toronto, when her journey would really take flight. It was also during this time that Mitchell discovered she was pregnant, via a boyfriend in Calgary who had since deserted her. The singer was left with no other option but to place the child up for adoption, an event which she would later cite as the beginning of her songwriting inspiration.
In spite of the countless pivotal moments Mitchell experienced during this early period, it would not be until years later that she exposed her talents to the wider world. In 1968, the folk star released her debut album, Song to a Seagull. Although the record was quickly eclipsed by her later work, the likes of Blue and The Hissing of Summer Lawns blowing it out of the water, her debut was effective in encapsulating those early years.
If you look at early recordings of Mitchell, prior to the release of her debut, you will find that many of her songs use the recurring iconography of seagulls. The seagull is a very spiritually significant bird, often used to portray emotional intelligence and intuition. In some areas, seagulls are also said to be the souls of dead seamen. So, for her first record, Mitchell chose to develop that recurring theme. During an interview with Broadside in 1968, she revealed, “My new album will be called Song To A Seagull and I’ve used that as continuity,” adding, “I found that [the title track] ‘Song To A Seagull’ is a summary of all the songs I’ve ever written”.
Although, in the decades that have followed that interview, Mitchell’s discography can no longer be summarised in a three-minute folk track, ‘Song To A Seagull’ is an excellent culmination of her early compositions. Despite the continued imagery of seagulls, the singer claimed that the symbolism was, “subconscious,” comparing it to how “a songwriter steals from his own melody”.
Continuing in her explanation of the album’s composition, Mitchell said, “I use dreams a lot, I thought I could say certain things in dream images that I couldn’t say in factual things. So now I’m writing more as a narrator, I’m writing more matter-of-factly”. Of course, she would continue this “matter-of-factly” style of songwriting, eventually developing into her signature sound.
Unfortunately, Song To A Seagull is often overlooked within Mitchell’s discography, largely as a result of the terrible production techniques used by David Crosby which rendered the captivating voice of Joni Mitchell largely flat and uninteresting. Nevertheless, its titular track remains an important summation of the legendary singer-songwriter’s early songwriting, predicting her later change in style and perhaps foreshadowing a career that few would have imagined in 1968.
