Day 13: Joni Mitchell – Blue

Album cover courtesy of Reprise Records

I’m not very well acquainted with Joni Mitchell, and it feels like I should be. When I think of Joni Mitchell, I associate her with sad lady music, and I love sad lady music. I should be much more knowledgeable about the OG. I also wanted to listen to something slightly autumnal, as I was going out for a little autumn drive here in Scotland to see the moment right before the leaves start to change. So I settled on Joni Mitchell’s Blue.

Released in 1971, Blue is considered to be Joni Mitchell’s masterpiece, and it’s pretty widely considered to be one of the best albums of all time. It’s easy to see why. The simplicity of her singing accompanied by a guitar or piano leaves space for her beautiful voice and her lyrics. It’s an interesting snapshot into where she was at the time, seemingly disillusioned by the end of the hippie movement of the sixties and in and out of turbulent-sounding relationships, traveling around and finding things to do.

The songs are raw, honest and slightly morose, but very beautiful. Her voice is just so stunning. And I love her as a songwriter. I mean, come on – "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." She’s reached some sort of a peak in writing heart-wrenchingly about break-ups and old relationships that I’m assuming the rest of us are still scrambling to reach. If I could write like that, you couldn’t tell me nothing.

I love Blue, but I’m maybe in too good of a headspace to enjoy it fully at the moment. It’s an 8.5/10 now, but if I was going through more, I’m assuming it would be higher. The next time I’m breaking up, I’m breaking out Blue – then, it’ll be a nine. Maybe even a nine and a half.