close your eyes
| close your eyes
|
|
[music, albums] Thursday, 23. December 2004, 19:20 XIII: 1971 Joni Mitchell - Blue  It is only for the third time in this series after the banana album and Amnesiac that you and me have chosen the same album. Joni Mitchell’s terrific Blue. Ten confessional songs of a simple beauty and intense directness like few others in my discotheque. Where Joni does a strip-tease of her soul. On the dvd Woman of Heart and Mind she talks about her influences. The crooners of the 40’s who had gorgeous tunes but shallow lyrics and Bob Dylan who wrote poetic lyrics but whose songs often lacked in melody. She melded the good parts of these two. Singing from the perspective of a sensitive young woman with a soft spot for romance she created her own very personal style. A short song by song account with excerpts of her lyrics. All I Want Do you see – do you see – do you see how you hurt me baby So I hurt you too then we both get so blue From the beginning on Joni makes it clear that she is a woman who is going her own way. Already in the upbeat starter All I Want (what a revealing title) Joni sings about the two themes which have been dominant through most of her (early) records. Independence and love. She travels to find herself and falls in love to lose herself in the other. And vice versa. Most of her songs are about the difficult task to reconcile these two opposing movements. My Old Man But when he’s gone Me and them lonesome blues collide The bed’s too big The frying pan’s too wide A sweet love song praising her lover in tender words. This is a piano ballad encapsulating the melancholic mood of Blue. It is quite telling that her strongest and most impressive images in this song describe separation. Little Green Born with the moon in cancer Choose her a name she will answer to Call her green and the winters cannot fade her Call her green for the children who have made her One of the most touching songs on the album. It is the only one which Joni composed long before Blue in 1967. She sings about the daughter she had when still very young whom she didn’t raise herself. There was a happy-end when both met a couple of years ago via the internet. Joni found out that she was a grand-mother. Carey Come on down to the Mermaid Café and I will buy you a bottle of wine And we’ll laugh and toast to nothing and smash our empty glasses down Not my favourite song on Blue. Joni has got this high-pitch girl’s voice like on earlier records. When she reaches the high notes to my ears her singing is almost unbearable. The song is an account of a trip to Europe. She even has been to the famous Matala beach at the South coast of Crete where the hippies lived in a commune in the caves at the end of the 60’s. Blue You can make it through these waves Acid, booze and ass Needles, guns and grass Lots of laughs, lots of laughs The way she stretches the one syllable of the word blue probably is my favourite moment on the record: "Bloo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo". Really stressing the dark primal undertone of the vowel "u". The blues deep inside her emerges at the surface and the feeling is extended to a maximum time length. At the same time I also get the impression that Joni is expelling the mean bad spirits here. California Still a lot of lands to see But I wouldn’t want to stay here It’s too old and cold and settled in its ways here Immediately after the sombre Blue we have the bright and sunny California. What a great contrast. Joni is still traveling around Europe (Is she the mother of Rumsfeld's infamous "old Europe" remark?). But she is kind of homesick and dreams about coming back to her adopted home, the warm and easy-going California. Amazing how her enthusiasm about something far away can catalyse such a light groovy song. This Flight Tonight You got the touch so gentle and sweet But you’ve got that look so critical This song I first heard in the version of 70’s rockers Nazareth. Another upbeat tune which is quite untypical for Joni as it is rather hard-rocking. I somehow never really warmed up to this one. The lyrics are great as usual and speak of a flight which disconnects her physically from her lover but inspires her to think of him and to come close to him in mind. River I’m so hard to handle I’m selfish and I’m sad Now I’ve gone and lost the best baby That I ever had "The river to skate away on" is a typical image for Joni. As a Canadian she obviously skated a lot in her youth. The frozen river is like a road. A means to escape from lovesickness. On the other hand Joni is very honest and realistic here. She knows that she is not easy. Looking at her statements in interviews in the last couple of years where she is often extremely full of herself only confirms her difficult character. Music wise this ballad is at the border of schmaltz. I have difficulties appreciating it these days but that’s maybe because I have listened to it too many times. A Case of You Oh you are in my blood like holy wine You taste so bitter and so sweet Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling And I would still be on my feet One of the best songs of all time. A simple tune with a chorus which still knocks me down. The mystery of love condensed into four lines. Just a sip of this musical magic potion makes me dizzy. On the Woman of Heart and Mind dvd Joni performs the song on dulcimer. It sounds like an old Appalachian folk tune sung by an innocent and untouchable fairy queen. The Last Time I Saw Richard The last time I saw Richard was Detroit in ’68, and he told me all romantics meet the same fate someday cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark café This has always been my song on Blue. During my first year of English in the 5th class every pupil had to choose an English surname by which he/she was called in the English lessons. I chose Richard. But that is just a footnote. The disillusioning story of a dreamer called Richard Joni sings about here has always impressed me because of its psychological realism. Do I have to mention that I saw certain parallels to my student life and that this song seemed like a prophecy of my future? Further reading:
nonightsweats,
Friday, 24. December 2004, 22:15
great overview of the album - almost perfectly matches my track bytrack opinions (minus the personal details ofcourse). but i think that's par for the course with this record - everyone who loves it has quite similar feelings about it.
have a lovely yule and new year. ... link
alex63,
Saturday, 25. December 2004, 10:35
thank you so much for the nice words, phil. it is always the same thing with me whatever i write. i am never happy with it. it always seems to lack depth. and my command of the english language deteriorates from day to day.
all the best for 2005 and keep on blogging. i hope i will comment more often in your blog (which i very much enjoy) than this year. that's not the worst new year's resolution, is it? ... link ... comment |
|
last updated: 2008.09.06, 10:14 subscribers: 344 contact: alex63 at bigfoot dot com 40 years, 40 albums why this is called close your eyes some photos Youre not logged in ... Login
...
"ich möchte mich gern von mir trennen" ist ein lied von hildegard ... by codeine @ 2008.09.06, 10:14 ...
morgen spielt niels frevert im bett in sachsenhausen. sehr unschlüssig, ob ich ... by alex63 @ 2008.09.05, 23:28 six weeks
meine letzte zigarette habe ich in mansilla de las mulas geraucht. heute ... by alex63 @ 2008.09.05, 22:58 ...
stefan george war ja eher nicht so der jüngerinnen-typ konsequenterweise müsste ja auch ... by alms @ 2008.09.05, 17:53 stefan george und seine jüngerinnen
die einzigen vier deutschsprachigen kleinschreibblogs (1, 2, 3, 4), die mir gerade ... by alex63 @ 2008.09.05, 15:30 rhein-main live
06/09 NIELS FREVERT, F, Das Bett.......... 11/09 BLURT, F, Das Bett......................... 17/09 TOM LIWA, ... by alex63 @ 2008.09.03, 22:00 magic muezzin moment
Der Muezzin ist kein Geistlicher, sondern gehört zum Personal der Moschee. Häufig ... by alex63 @ 2008.09.03, 07:30
06/09 NIELS FREVERT, F, Das Bett..........
11/09 BLURT, F, Das Bett......................... 17/09 TOM LIWA, F, Das Bett................... 30/09 ROBERT FORSTER, F, Mousonturm 27/10 LAMBCHOP, F, Mousonturm........... 29/10 LEONARD COHEN, F, Festhalle...... .
XX/XX MY BLOODY VALENTINE-EP Box.
.
music (EN)
--------------- 20 jazz funk greats an aquarium drunkard aurgasm blog to comm the blue in the air NEW bradley's almanac cerysmatic factory destination out disquiet.com dissensus dj martian egg city radio eyes that can see in the dark fangirl fauni gena fingertips i love music an idiot's guide to dreaming k-punk kingblind largehearted boy leonard's lair marathonpacks misha4music moistworks motel de moka mp3blog.ch musikalia one faint deluded smile organissimo jazz forums le roi s'amuse said the gramophone silence is a rhythm too spoilt victorian child stereogum swens blog talkin' about my revolutions three hundred bars utopian turtletop vinyl mine warped reality wordsandmusic music (DE, FR) -------------------- la blogothèque mp3blog euroranch hinternet machtdose le musterkoffer musikstrom ohrzucker satt.org: musik schallplattenmann Überklang die zeit - musik other (EN) --------------- favorite things josh blog kuro5hin open chess diary orbis quintus wood s lot yo, ivanhoe other (DE) --------------- achnaja NEU daily ivy dichtheit und wahrung einschicht etc.pp. filmtagebuch gedankenträger goncourt's blog herdentrieb hotel mama ja zu aa jump cut ligne claire malorama meine kleine stadt mek wito NEU mosaikum passantin passe.par.tout pêle-mêle dans ma tête private collection radiohörer reisenotizen aus der realität schachblätter schachblog der schachneurotiker sofa. rites de passage with or without words... blog bardo --------------- the absintheur's journal brain farts buked & scorned church number nine dd denkt laut gesprächsfetzen the perfumed garden the pill box sound of the suburbs vain, selfish & lazy 
  powered by  |