‘For The Roses’: Joni Mitchell’s farewell to music
In a candid 1996 interview, Joni Mitchell reflected on writing the titular track from her fifth studio album, For The Roses, calling it her “first farewell to show business”. At the time, she had retreated to the peaceful sanctuary of Canada, a place she still returns to this day, and it was here that she made the pivotal decision to “escape the pressures” of an industry she described as a “crooked business with little to do with real talent”.
At her lowest point, despite being one of music’s most trailblazing figures, Mitchell was ready to walk away. Believing it might be her final act, she picked up her pen and poured herself into the album’s hauntingly beautiful title track—a final artistic flourish before stepping back from a world that had both celebrated and drained her.
After spending nearly a year in Canada’s solitude and natural beauty, Mitchell reflected on her time away, saying, “I guess it strengthened my nervous system a little”. This retreat was a necessary pause, allowing her to return to the music scene with renewed clarity, ready to face whatever came next. It’s as if, by magic, she knew what would.
Her album For The Roses, named after the iconic Kentucky Derby, captures the bittersweet imagery of triumph and fleeting glory. Mitchell introduced the poignant title track during a 1972 concert, explaining, “That comes from the expression ‘To run for the roses.’”
Further detailing, “You know what that’s all about—you take this horse, and he comes charging into the finish line. They throw a wreath of flowers around his neck. Then, one day, they take him out and shoot him.” A sharp metaphor for the brutal highs and lows of fame encapsulated in the tension between victory and the inevitable fall.
For a composition surrounded by so much unease and difficulty, it’s remarkable how beautiful it is to listen to, yet still tainted with the kind of cynicism that’s become Mitchell’s own brand of realism. She explores what it feels like to chase unattainable highs that deep down you still believe are attainable, simply through words and music.
Amongst it all, love remains the main contender and motif throughout, with lyrics jousting at your most vulnerable wounds, only to be hypnotised by soothing rhythms of piano and strings. It just goes to show how much a break away from the everyday can tackle the mind, watching from afar the extraordinary lengths people will go to, losing themselves along the way, and realising nothing is worth losing yourself over.
The album would mark her first release on David Geffen’s Asylum Records, with whom Mitchell was close friends at the time and would often stay with on her return trips to Los Angeles after moving to British Columbia.
Even after everything, it just goes to show that you can’t keep anyone away from their true calling, even Joni Mitchell. And selfishly, we’re thankful for that, for we wouldn’t get to experience this form of purity in the way we have today, setting a new tone for speaking your mind. You’re hit with the full force of Woman Truth—quiet but blunt, delivered with a fierce elegance only Mitchell can muster.
