The railway line that shaped Joni Mitchell’s career
The sheer spontaneity and rhythmic freedom of Joni Mitchell give the air that her musical quirks are a skill learned from the life lessons of someone who has seen a lot of the world.
And certainly, that all came in time. Yet the reality was, at the beginning of her career, when Mitchell had just moved to bigger cities across Calgary, and then California, all she had to back her up was the knowledge of the rural life she held back home, which was a far cry from the massive heights she would go on to achieve.
But nevertheless, the vast, expansive plains of Saskatchewan were still just as pivotal as what any heaving metropolis could offer her in terms of artistic muses. Contrary to what many might believe, it was actually the lack of action and happenings that inspired Mitchell to be her most creative, idiosyncratic self, because her imagination had to do the heavy lifting.
In this sense, a city spoon-feeds all the answers for you – interesting places and people are right there before your very eyes, and because of this, songs can almost write themselves. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that, and Mitchell leaned on it plenty of times, but at least when starting out, she could never conceive of such songwriting visions.
Instead, it was the open road and a railway line that ran past her family home in Maidstone, literally in the back of beyond. They were a whole two hours away from the closest city, so the only sense of life that would keep the budding songwriter company was the steady presence of the trains that would chug by.
Although mundane, that image was enough to captivate a fire in Mitchell’s imagination: it was the stories of the people that were onboard, but also the concept of journeying as a whole, with where the trains were going, and where they had come from. It allowed her to envisage far-flung places, but also embedded an inherent sense of freedom into the heart of everything she did.
Taking that view throughout the rest of the singer’s career, it’s easy to argue that this idea of travelling and movement was the most essential thing in sustaining her songbook. The song ‘Day After Day’ is the prime example, with the very same “miles and miles of railroad track” providing the vital muse.
It would be naive to say that those railway lines stayed as the front and central vision to everything Mitchell has ever done. Her career has now taken her to enough places that the image will have somewhat faded, if never completely dying out. Yet you can bet that all she has to do is think back to those early days in Saskatchewan, and she’s right at that railroad again.
In many ways, Mitchell’s story is a hugely significant lesson in learning to make the most of what is around you. Many artists will dream of getting out of their dreary hometowns, and while she was no different, she was also resourceful enough to use what she had around her as a springboard. From there, she never looked back.
