The Genius of Joni Mitchell

what lessons do you learn in a lifetime what does it mean to grow old what does life teach you along the way if you're a singer lucky enough to have a career that numbs in the decades you might look back at the songs you wrote in your 20s as immature naive even or they can gain a new power finding a new and more poignant meaning as you grow alongside them Joni Mitchell was just 23 when she wrote both sides now gifted a copy of Saul Bellows novel Henderson the Rain King by her first husband Chuck Mitchell Joni was on a plane when she read the lines we are the first generation to see clouds from both sides what a privilege first people dreamed upward now they dream both upward and downward upon Landing she picked up a guitar and began writing first adding the line I've looked at life that way ever so quickly if you do like what I do then please consider subscribing it really helps both sides now is written in F sharp major Joni used a guitar tuning of d a d f sharp a d with a Kappa at the fourth fret and the song uses a modified 145 wave chord progression the lyrics were built around a repeated Trope that morphs and shifts throughout the song becoming emotionally deeper each time I've looked at clouds from both sides now I've Looked at Love from both sides now I've looked at life from both sides now life's learned lessons are then upended by its closing couplet its Life Solutions I recall I really don't know life at all introducing the song to an audience at the white swan in Leicester England in 1967. Joni said that this is a song that talks about sides to things in most cases there are both sides to things in a lot of cases there are more than just both his and hers his and theirs but in this song there are only two sides to things there's reality and I guess what you might call fantasy there's enchantment and disenchantment what we're taught to believe things are and what they really are by her early twenties Joni Mitchell had already learned some of life's hard lessons a childhood bout of polio left her bedridden and isolated for months fearful she would never walk again a terrible Prospect for an enthusiastic talented dancer then single and penniless at 21 she gave her baby daughter up for adoption because she felt she couldn't provide for her it would be a decision that would haunt Joanie's work for decades to come she kept it hidden from everyone including her parents weaving references and clues into much of her work as the grief and guilt provided a river of inspiration in Little Green from her seminal 1971 album Blue she wrote the lyrics child with the child pretending weary of Lies you were sending home so you sign all the papers in the family name you're sad and you're sorry but you're not ashamed by 23 she had already lived several lifetimes how else could you write a song as poignant as both sides now Joni said every bit of trouble I went through I'm grateful for bad fortune changed the course of my destiny I became a musician [Music] now I know in my guitar playing it's an acquired taste but if you like my finger style technique and want to learn my original songs then check out my guitar course fingerstyle guitar Mary's method first 1000 people to sign up using the link below get a 50 discount so check it out enter Al Cooper if you don't know the name you'll know his work a session musician with a gift for being in the right place at the right time he was in the studio when Bob Dylan was recording Like a Rolling Stone with the guitar parts being handled by the legendary blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield Al was ready to go home before he noticed an unoccupied organ he insisted the song needed a little something extra and in a matter of moments came up with the iconic opener fortune favors the bold and once again AL was very fortunate to be in Joni's New York apartment on 41 West 16th Street she played him both sides now and he immediately rushed to the phone and dialed a number ignoring the fact that it was 3am Judy Collins answered a well-established Talent Judy his career had moved from childhood piano Prodigy to folk icon and was in the midst of recording her sixth studio album wildflowers Al made Joni Play the song down the phone and Judy entranced rushed to meet Joni the next day to acquire the song for her record Joni unsigned and undiscovered accepted the opportunity fate had given her it would change the course of both their lives Collins won the 1969 Grammy for Best folk performance for the song but Joni disliked her version saying Judy Collins sounds like the Damsel in The Green Room the something La Dee Da about her despite the criticism she accepted Judy's invitation to perform at the Newport Folk Festival Judy introduced this promising young folk singer not just to the world but to another young troubadour one that would become one of the most defining people in Joni's life Leonard Cohen their romance was brief but their connection lasted until Cohen's death Joni said Leonard was a mirror to my work and with no verbal instructions he showed me how to plumb the depths of my experience the neck next Decades of Joni's life brought unimaginable success as albums like clouds Court and Spark and hajira catapulted her into the stratosphere restlessly experimental she moved in new circles collaborating with jazz musicians who understood how to play alongside and complement her Innovative chord patterns but 79's Mingus created with dying jazz legend Charles Mingus proved too challenging in a change of direction for some of Joni's audience and it received a critical mauling the 80s were her Wilderness years the obligatory synthesizers of the decade not suiting her Unique Style she bounced back with 1994's grammy-winning turbulent Indigo her most accessible album in years but her sales seemed in Decline her next record taming the tiger sold just 133 000 copies on release a pale imitation of her earlier records she suffered from ill health and found touring difficult to endure a custom guitar equipped with a Roland hexophonic pickup which connected to a Roland vg8 modeling processor helped to grade as she could play her many alternate tunings without having to take time to retune her guitar between songs to those who missed seeing her on an acoustic she said go sit on attack she's such a badass she has never cared what people think of her and that's what I love about Joni Mitchell she was disillusioned with touring and with the music industry in general a long-awaited reunion with her daughter initially joyous became troubled as feelings of Abandonment came to the surface convinced she had no more songs in her Joanie quipped that when the Muse went out of music all that was left was the ick but 2000's orchestral album of jazz standards titled both sides now showcased Joni's matured smoky voice and the enduring power of her song became clear the 23 year old who wrote the song and the 57 year old performing it were worlds apart yet the same it took the intervening years of love and loss and experience to make it truly sing the orchestra were reportedly so moved they cried during its recording Joni said I didn't expect that that was really shocking to me in a beautiful way it made me sing differently I mean it sparked me into a deeper performance that's why I think that's the definitive performance of that song it's how it should be 15 years later in 2015 tragedy struck Joni suffered a brain aneurysm at home lying helpless on the floor for three days before help arrived recovery looked uncertain but that same force of will that helped her through her childhood bout of polio six decades earlier led her to learn to walk and make music again with the help of her friends Joni's Jam is an ongoing series of friendly Jam sessions that take place in Joni's living room except the friends are superstars like Brandy Carlisle Chaka Khan Herbie Hancock and even Harry Styles among others they provided an intimate private space for Joni to reconnect with her talents after such a traumatic injury in a 2021 interview with Cameron Crowe for the LA Times celebrating 50 years since the release of blue she was asked if she felt like a different person to the one who wrote her records all those years ago Joni said I'm the same person it's all still very present for me I mean I've changed Styles and things but not the core of who I am ever my old friend friends see me as being the same as I was when I was a teenager and so do I she concluded the interview with the lines truth and Beauty that's what I hope to deliver and deliver she did during a hot afternoon at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival in a closing performance of the three-day event that had been billed as Randy Carlisle and Friends Joni Mitchell gifted us with a performance on stage once again Randy addressed the unsuspecting crowd angels of Newport Let's Make History together hold nothing back in this moment and please welcome back to the Newport stage for the first time since 1969 Joni Mitchell 56 years after it was written and countless lifetimes later Joni gave us the most moving rendition yet of both sides now the performance went viral and the internet erupted in an outpouring of Love Carlisle explained that she and the other musicians at the festival didn't know that Joni had plans to sing to the extent she did we thought it was just a jam we didn't know that she was going to sing all those leads on those songs she just started singing We had rehearsed the songs ourselves and we didn't know whether we should stop or what we should do you know so we just sang with her she always has a plan she knows what she wants to do even if she doesn't say it I was lucky enough to see Brandy talk about the performance at this year's Nam and you could hear a pin drop for those of us who've grown up with Joni's music it was truly one of the most iconic moments in recent music history and as for that song that enduring magical moving song that means so much to so many it grows and swells and becomes more than we ever could have possibly imagined but now old friends are acting strange they shake their heads they say I've changed well something's lost but something's gained in living every day how lucky we are to have lived in the same era as an artist of this caliber Joanie thank you for everything and thank you for watching remember to check out the offer on my fingerstyle guitar course there's a link in the description below but otherwise I'll be seeing you here very very soon but now I'm definitely going to go and play a journey record

Channel: Mary Spender

Views: 43,614

Keywords: joni mitchell, both sides now, brandi carlile, newport folk festival, leonard cohen, video essay, music history, joni, music theory, music production, education, music analysis, song analysis, joni mitchell reaction, joni mitchell songs, hejira joni mitchell, joni mitchell blue, folk music, joni mitchell court and spark, singer songwriter, Acoustic Guitar, Joni Mitchell Lyrics, Joni Mitchell Now, River, Joni Mitchell Blue, Blue, Both Sides Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now

Id: nUpq4IoXusk

Length: 10min 20sec (620 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 25 2023