I have a long time love affair with Joni Mitchell and it all started when I was in grade school. Of course I didn’t come across her music on my own. Growing up my mother played music all the time, especially in the afternoons when she was cleaning or reading the New York Times. It varied of course; there was Bruce Springsteen (another favorite from my childhood), Jackson Browne, nameless piano music, sometimes the Beatles. But Joni Mitchell was the one musician she played consistently and always more than one CD. I don’t remember why but I didn’t like the music at first, not that I had any particular music I would have rather listened to, though maybe I was going through my Donna Lewis and Ricky Martin phases. But as I got older I fell in love with her beautiful lyrics and interesting voice; the songs were so beautiful, each in their own way. Before I went away to college, I burned all the Joni Mitchell CDs my Mom owned onto my laptop. Joni made me feel relaxed, reminded me of home, and I always found a new favorite song every time I listened.
This past year I didn’t listen to her at all really. There was one song on a playlist on my iPod, Car on a Hill, that reminded me of my exboyfriend when we were together. But I had stopped listening to her. No wonder my life had gotten so rough; I had forsaken the one person who, through no intention on her part, got me through things. Then last night my Mom played her Blue CD and I was reminded all over again why I love her, her voice and her lyrics. I decided since it’s Sunday and I’m feeling tired and sun-soaked after an afternoon at the beach that I would share some of my favorite lines from her songs. Just listen to Joni Mitchell, she’s absolutely amazing.
“I remember that time you told me, you said love is touching souls. Surely you touched mine ’cause part of you pours out of me in these lines from time to time.” -Case of You
“I am not some stone commission, like a statue in the park. I am flesh and blood and vision, I am howling in the dark.” -Come in from the Cold
“All good dreamers pass this way some day, hiding behind bottles in dark cafes. Dark cafes, only a cocoon before I get my gorgeous wings and fly away.” -The Last Time I Saw Richard
“Love came to my door, with a sleeping roll and a madman’s soul. He thought for sure I’d seen him dancing up a river in the dark, looking for a woman to court and spark.” -Court and Spark
“I feel like I’m sleeping, can you wake me? You seem to have a broader sensibility. I’m just living on nerves and feelings with a weak and a lazy mind.” -People’s Parties
“It always seems so righteous at the start, when there’s so much laughter, when there’s so much spark. When there’s so much sweetness in the dark.” -Car on a Hill
“But I know my needs, my sweet tumbleweed. I need more quiet times, by a river flowing, you and me, deep kisses, and the sun going down.” -Lesson in Survival
“It’s the nature of the race, it’s the unknown child, so sweet and wild, it’s youth, it’s too good to waste.” -Blonde in the Bleachers
“Young love was kissing under bridges, kissing in cars, kissing in cafes. And we were walking down main street, kisses like bright flags hung on holidays. In France they kiss on main street, amour, Mama, not some cheap display.” -In France They Kiss on Main Street
“Moons and Junes and ferris wheels, that dizzy dancing way you feel as every fairy tale comes real: I’ve looked at love that way. But now it’s just another show, you leave ‘em laughing when you go. And if you care, don’t let ‘em know, don’t give yourself away.” -Both Sides Now
“When you dig down deep, you lose good sleep and it makes you heavy company. I will always love you, hands alike, magnet and iron, the souls.” -Lesson in Survival
