“Over and over”: The Beatles song Joni Mitchell used to busk with
Before Joni Mitchell was a world-famous star, she was busy busking and trying to make things work. Playing shows but rarely getting paid for them, she was taking any second she could get up on stage or singing of petty change. Through it all, this one Beatles song was a firm fixture in her set, inspiring her and keeping her spirits high.
Mitchell’s story is one of resilience. First, her family deterred her from playing guitar, associating it with country bumpkin music – but she taught herself. Honing her own passion and bettering her own skills, she spent her late teens playing anywhere she could. During the weekends, she’d be found singing at clubs, hotel bars, and especially at her local cafe, The Depression Coffee House.
It’s an aptly titled venue, given that Mitchell said she was there “singing long tragic songs in a minor key”, but it was on this stage that she got in the most practice before deciding, at 20, that she was going to make this work.
There were several artists that inspired her to make the move. Bob Dylan was a major one as she said, “There came a point when I heard a Dylan song called ‘Positively Fourth Street’ and I thought ‘oh my God, you can write about anything in songs’. It was like a revelation to me.” But The Beatles were another, especially one Beatles song that was undeniably inspired by Dylan.
‘Norwegian Wood’ was always part of her set list during those early shows, and especially once she’d finally made the move to the US. “I used to sing this one in my coffeehouse days in Detroit before I started writing for myself,” she said, “The whole scenario has this whimsical, charmingly wry quality with a bit of a dark undertone. I’d sing it to put some levity in my set. I got a kick out of throwing it in there amongst all these tragic English folk ballads. Besides, I have Norwegian blood!”
The entire album that ‘Norwegian Wood’ sat on was a key one for that period in Mitchell’s life. “Rubber Soul was the Beatles album I played over and over,” she told Lava Magazine, “I think they were discovering Dylan, and the songs often had an acoustic feel.”
Mitchell’s love for Dylan and her love for this track make perfect sense because she’s right, they were discovering him at the time. “What is this? It’s me, Bob. [John’s] doing me! Even Sonny & Cher are doing me, but, fucking hell, I invented it,” Dylan said after hearing the album, sparking a complex tension between him and The Beatles, who once deemed him their “idol.”
But that was all besides the point to Mitchell. To her, this was simply a great song and a deeply inspiring song that was a staple in her live shows before she’d figured out her own songwriting sound and penned the classic folk hits that would inspire many others.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.