Blue - review

I first heard Joni's music when I was visiting my family in America. I couldn't sleep one night, turned on the television, skipping past all the usual crap that is on late-nights in the USA, endless repeats of new and old comedies, endless adverts, endless evangelical lectures that don't seem to really say anything to anyone. Then there was this one channel, a channel I always used to stay on, a channel that my cousin made fun of, and rightly so. The picture quality was awful, the sound was muffled, however there was something amazing about it. It usually consisted of performances, whether classical, ballet or whatever, but for whatever reason, it always stood out to me, and I always found it compelling. Then there was this lady, looking like any old folk singer, singing about the most strange things, the most interesting words coming, sliding out of her amazing mouth, "Non-conformer!" How could someone say that in a folk song? So the time came when, back in England, I looked at some notes I had scrapped down in my book, one of them read "Get Blue, by Joni Mitchell". I did, then I took her on holiday. Here is what I thought:

One of the ultimate travelling albums of all time, Joni Mitchell Blue is a piece of personal beauty that evokes smiles, tears and inspiration in it's listeners. It brings out the humanity in you, and it does so through its sheer simplicity. One guitar, a piano, a voice and a creative soul is all that she needed on this album, and from the very first track, All I want, it really shows. The beautiful melody that she creates with her voice will swirl around in your head for a long time- I found myself humming it whilst on holiday in Spain & Morocco, and it gave me so much pleasure to do so, even though there was no way I could ever sing it as perfectly as she does. I sung it to the people I met, humming it gently again and again until they asked what it was that I was singing. It's that amazing, it's that infectious!

As with all intensely personal music, it sits in a place that is incapable of being labelled, these are her thoughts, whether they fit in with what anyone may have thought of her or what she was "about", this is her soul, and there doesn't appear to be any compromises with her lyrics, it's all there for us to see, she's a human being for everyone to learn from, and for everyone to rejoice with. "I'm gonna make a lot of money, then I'm gonna quit this crazy scene." You might find yourself wanting to meet Joni Mitchell after hearing this album, it comes as absolutely no surprise to me now, doing my research, that she was one of Princes biggest inspirations.

I could say that until you've heard Little Green in the ferry in between Morocco and Spain, you couldn't really appreciate it, but then that would be arrogant and shortsighted. This music however, should be listened to in a new environment, in an unexpected environment, I don't know if I would have reacted to it so positively if I hadn't first heard it in the middle of the busy souk-markets of Tanger, but whatever happens, when you do listen to it, if you're into more modern music, please get over the fact that it may initially sound like a lot of folk/country music, get over it! It's infinitely more than that if you step into her world, sympathise with her soul, and live inside those lyrics,

"He went to California
Hearing that everything's warmer there
So you write him a letter and say, "Her eyes are blue."
He sends you a poem and she's lost to you
Little green, he's a non-conformer"

From that very involved lyrical example, you might do well to research the story behind this album, to make it short for you, the entire album, but especially the beautiful song Little Green was a sort of coded message to the child that Joni Mitchell gave up for adoption a long time before. In recent years Joni was apparently reunited with her child, all this is according to my friend, and nefisa member, Julia! That story wasn't always necessary for me to enjoy this record though, in fact I didn't even know it when I was really getting into it on holiday, at the same time, I literally just found out right now that more or less the whole album was written in Spain! All of these things fit perfectly into place for me now, and the album makes more sense, but for what it is, without all the exteriors, Blue is one of the most soulful records I have ever heard.

The references she makes to "the war" (presumably Vietnam) on the song California are really pertinent if you listen to them with today's politicians in mind, "Reading the news and it sure looks bad, they won't give peace a chance, that was just a dream some of us had." Tell me you haven't thought something similar with regards to the inevitability of this false & illegal war in Iraq. The album reaches it's most beautiful peak on A Case of You, where her warmth sends tingles down your spine and the despairing sincerity of her voice cannot help but infect and affect you. There is a track for everyone on this album, not a single moment of those 36 minutes is wasted on me, and nor would it be on anyone else who treasures meaningful, honest and poetic music like this. Joni did good, she left a legacy, I love her for that, we should all love her.

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi, 22 Nov 2003

-click here to read a brilliant interview with the lady herself. It's worth it if you're interested!