The Joni Mitchell song that changed David Crosby’s life: “Takes you on a voyage”
“I like songs that take you someplace,” David Crosby said about music. Me too, David, me too. Which is exactly why his voice soundtracked large parts of my musical education. Crosby, Stills, and Nash were the sonic embodiment of Laurel Canyon, a place that housed one of the richest, most collaborative music communities in music history.
Nestled in the shaded depths of the Californian hills, Laurel Canyon gave way to some of classic rock’s finest moments. The sultry sounds of Carole King’s Tapestry quietly echoed through, while Joni Mitchell’s Ladies Of The Canyon showcased the unbridled joy and happiness that laced the neighbourhood’s friendships. While the idea of somewhere being “the place to be” is often overegged, in this case, it was absolutely true.
Every romanticised aspect of music in the late 1960s could be found in Laurel Canyon. The purity of songwriting and the free and easy societal attitudes coalesced together to make mighty fine music. Perhaps none better than the self-titled debut album from Crosby, Stills and Nash.
This transatlantic band of brothers came together on America’s West Coast to create a masterclass album. Part folk, part rock, and part America, its songwriting was undoubtedly beautiful, but the harmonies were purely transcendental. The very first track on the album, ‘Suite Judy Blue Eyes,’ tells you everything you need to know about the creativity of that community. Complex melodic and harmonic arrangements were seemingly effortless, and the end result was nothing but pure joy.
This is a song that does for me what Crosby looks for. It takes me someplace, and that place is Laurel Canyon. Not so much the specifics of its landscape but more a feeling I associate with it, a healthy sense of carelessness and perspective that in the chaos of normal life, slips me by.
So I imagine that Joni Mitchell, another graduate from the school of Laurel Canyon, can create an identical feeling within her listeners. But not just from Ladies Of The Canyon. No, her career spanned longer than that of Crosby, Stills and Nash, and further than the sundrenched realms of Hollywood’s hottest postcode.
Mitchell’s music has ebbed and flowed through the various stages of life, giving her listeners multiple avenues through which to escape. And even though Crosby lived a musical life we all envied, he too felt that sensation through one of her most iconic songs.
As he said, “I like songs that take you someplace”, before adding, “Joni’s a perfect example. Her song ‘River’ takes you on a voyage. It will expand your goddamn consciousness. It was a major event in my life. The ‘don’t you think I’m attractive’ kind of stuff that comes out now is on a different level—a very surface level—and it’s not the stuff that I care about.”
From her seminal album Blue, ‘River’ strikes to the very heart of shared emotion. Isolation and heartbreak are painstakingly conveyed through the image of a winding river that when paired with the tender voice of Mitchell, simply cannot transport you to anywhere else but a shared place of emotion.
