The Joni Mitchell song that Elton John could “never get fed up” with
As much as many have attempted to replicate her signature style over the decades, nobody has come close to imitating the magnificence of Joni Mitchell, who remains a true one-off and an original.
The songbook that Mitchell has carved out since establishing herself as the Queen of Greenwich Village in the 1960s will live on for centuries. There are few more respected artists to have ever graced contemporary music, with everyone from Lana Del Rey to Elton John worshipping the ground that she walks upon.
For a dark few years, it felt like the final chapter of Mitchell’s career had already been written. After suffering a stroke in 2015, Mitchell confirmed she’d never be able to perform again.
Miraculously, she made a gradual recovery, and she was able to grace the stage again in 2022 for a surprise performance at the Newport Folk Festival. Since then, she has played at the Grammys, the Hollywood Bowl and is back doing what she does best.
After announcing her comeback at Newport, Mitchell reflected on the songs that matter most to her during a conversation with Elton John on his Apple Music radio programme. Not only did this give her an opportunity to wax lyrical about her love of Edith Piaf and Chuck Berry, but it also allowed Elton to thank Joni for her impact upon him.
While there are plentiful of songs in Mitchell’s repertoire that have been by Elton’s side through thick and thin over the years, there’s a particularly special place in his heart for ‘A Case Of You’. The track, which originally appeared on the seminal Blue, exemplifies her magnificence and acts as the perfect entry point into her sublime songwriting, with each line filled with bone-chilling depth.
“‘A Case Of You’ is probably one of your most famous songs, without question,” Elton said to Joni. He then explained why it’s a personal favourite of his, which he could happily listen to all day, every day, adding, “It’s been very good to you that song, it’s had so many cover versions, you never get fed up with hearing this song.”
He then distilled the key reason why ‘A Case Of You’ is so unique, continuing, “Every time I hear this song, I hear something different, and the version on the Newport Folk Festival is quite amazing.”
Mitchell has previously opened up about the inspiration for the song, telling Rolling Stone in 1979: “At that period of my life, I had no personal defences. I felt like a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes. I felt like I had absolutely no secrets from the world, and I couldn’t pretend in my life to be strong. Or to be happy. But the advantage of it in the music was that there were no defences there either.”
Mitchell penned the track as she knowingly hurtled towards the end of her relationship with Graham Nash. On ‘A Case Of You’, she accepted her portion of the blame for the inevitable conclusion.
Speaking to Robert Hilburn in 1994, she said this was a conscious decision and claimed that “men write very dishonestly about breakups.”
Mitchell continued: “I wanted to be capable of being responsible for my own errors. If there was friction between me and another person, I wanted to be able to see my participation in it so I could see what could be changed and what could not. That is part of the pursuit of happiness. You have to pull the weeds in your soul when you are young, when they are sprouting, otherwise they will choke you.”
Her songwriting superpower has always been her ability to tug on the heartstrings of listeners by producing relatable, while wholly personal, material that was bullshit free. For that reason, the honesty that Mitchell bottled up into ‘A Case of You’ made it a heartbreak song with a difference.
