Joni Mitchell Turns 62 Today!
 

Happy Birthday to Joni!

An incredible woman, an influential artist in every sense of the word and truly a poet beyond measure. :xoxo:

rbs

100% agreed!! Happy Birthday Joni!!!:woohoo:

Happy Birthday Joni. I have the deepest respect for her, some of her songs stay with me.

Romy

A case of you

Just before our love got lost you said
I am as constant as a northern star
And I said, constant in the darkness
Where’s that at?
If you want me I’ll be in the bar

On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue tv screen light
I drew a map of canada
Oh canada
And your face sketched on it twice

Oh you are in my blood like holy wine
Oh and you taste so bitter but you taste so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you
I could drink a case of you darling
And I would still be on my feet
Oh I’d still be on my feet

Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I’m frightened by the devil
And I’m drawn to those ones that ain’t afraid
I remember that time that 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

Oh you are in my blood like holy wine
And you taste so bitter but you taste so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you
I could drink a case of you darling
Still I’d be on my feet
And still be on my feet

I met a woman
She had a mouth like yours
She knew your life
She knew your devils and your deeds
And she said
Color go to him, stay with him if you can
Oh but be prepared to bleed
Oh but you are in my blood you’re my holy wine
Oh and you taste so bitter, bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I’d be on my feet
I’d still be on my feet

Happy Birthday, Joni!! :woohoo:

TODAY?! Sweet. I love Joni.

Happy b-day. I lurves me some Joni. :D

:blob1: :blob2: :blob1:

My all-time favorite, with my favorite line:

THE LAST TIME I SAW RICHARD
("Miles of Aisles" live version)

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 cafe

"You laugh," he said to me, "You think you're immune,
Go look at your eyes, they're full of moon.
You like roses and kisses and pretty men to tell you
All those pretty lies, pretty lies.
When you gonna realise they're only pretty lies?
Only pretty lies, they're just pretty lies."

He put a quarter in the Wurlitzer, and he pushed
Three buttons and the thing began to whirr
And a bar maid came by in fishnet stockings and a bow tie
And she said, "Drink up now it's gettin' on time to close."

"Richard, you haven't really changed," I said
It's just that now you're romanticizing some pain that's in your head.
You got tombs in your eyes, but the songs
You punched are dreaming.
Listen, they sing of love so sweet, love so sweet.
When you gonna get yourself back on your feet?
Oh and love can be so sweet.
Don't you know that love can be so sweet?"

Richard got married to a figure skater
And he bought her a dishwasher and a coffee percolator
And he drinks at home now most nights with the TV on
And all the house lights left up bright

I'm gonna blow this damn candle out
I don't want Nobody comin' over to my table
I got nothing to talk to anybody about
All good dreamers pass this way some day
Hidin' behind bottles in dark cafes

Dark cafes
Only a dark cocoon before I get my gorgeous wings
And fly away
Only a phase, these dark cafe days

That and Refuge of the Roads (and Trouble Child) are my favorite Joni Mitchell songs. :D

:xoxo:

I have all the early ones, and the '80s-present ones. I'm missing the '70s transitional ones before Mingus (which I LOVE). Which should I get next: "Hissing of Summer Lawns" or "Don Juan's Restless Daughter"?

Hissing of Summer Lawns, for sure. I don't care for Don Juan too much. You don't have Court & Spark or Hejira??

I've never heard Mingus, but I've heard very mixed things. She wrote lyrics to "Goodbye Porkpie Hat," right? I can't even imagine...

I have everything up until "Miles of Aisles", then everything from "Mingus" - oh, except "Dog Eat Dog", forgot about that one. I'm just missing those three inbetween. And I won't be buying Hejira soon (which we already discussed in the book thread).

Do I have Court & Spark? :rolleyes: Are you high? :laugh: ;)

*singing loudly, wishing I had an army of saxophonists in my room*
He was sittin in the lounge of the Empire Hotel
He was drinking for diversion, he was thinking for himself...

You *have* to get Hejira...it's f*cking beautiful.

The only one of her '80s albums I had was Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm, which I didn't care for. I think I sold it at a used CD place. I'm thinking of getting Wild Things Run Fast, though...it sounds good, from what I've heard of it.

I only got "Mingus" a few years ago, because I heard "The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey" and "The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines" on one of her compilation discs, "Misses" I think... I like it. It includes lots of dialog, and the effect is that you're sitting in the studio with them as they record.

Here are the GPPH lyrics from jonimitchell.com - a certain naughty bird ate the booklet.

GOODBYE PORK PIE HAT
words by Joni Mitchell
music by Charles Mingus

When Charlie speaks of Lester
You know someone great has gone
The sweetest swinging music man
Had a Porkie Pig hat on
A bright star
In a dark age
When the bandstands had a thousand ways
Of refusing a black man admission
Black musician
In those days they put him in an
Underdog position
Cellars and chittlins'

When Lester took him a wife
Arm and arm went black and white
And some saw red
And drove them from their hotel bed
Love is never easy
It's short of the hope we have for happiness
Bright and sweet
Love is never easy street!
Now we are black and white
Embracing out in the lunatic New York night
It's very unlikely we'll be driven out of town
Or be hung in a tree
That's unlikely!

Tonight these crowds
Are happy and loud
Children are up dancing in the streets
In the sticky middle of the night
Summer serenade
Of taxi horns and fun arcades
Where right or wrong
Under neon
Every feeling goes on!
For you and me
The sidewalk is a history book
And a circus
Dangerous clowns
Balancing dreadful and wonderful perceptions
They have been handed
Day by day
Generations on down

We came up from the subway
On the music midnight makes
To Charlie's bass and Lester's saxophone
In taxi horns and brakes
Now Charlie's down in Mexico
With the healers
So the sidewalk leads us with music
To two little dancers
Dancing outside a black bar
There's a sign up on the awning
It says "Pork Pie Hat Bar"
And there's black babies dancing...
Tonight!

Chalk Mark was my first Joni album ever. I saw the "My Secret Place" video on VH1 one morning, and bought the LP that afternoon. So it holds a special place in my heart. It's a little cheesy in places *cough*BillyIdol*cough*, but in a good way. And "Cool Water" is one of my faves.

And I'm sure Hejira is fantabulous, but I just can't right now. Maybe I'll type in the David Sedaris chapter & you'll understand.

Eesh. Well I like this verse (a lot, actually), but I gotta say, the rest of it seems really awful and trite and doesn't look like it adds much of anything that wasn't already embedded in the notes of the song.

How does she even sing along to this song? Is it really sped up and rearranged?

I love Mingus and I love Joni, but I've been afraid to pick up this album because I think it might - just a little bit - destroy my perceptions of them both.

HEJIRA literally saved my life. It's a gorgeous album, right on par with TUSK to me. It's that good.

I've been a huge fan of Joni's since I was about 13 (I just turned 41), so she has always been a constant source of light for me...especially in the darkest of times...her lyrics, her wit, her music...have become a part of the soundtrack to my life. I just adore the woman!! :nod:

rbs

I've always liked it. And no, she doesn't really alter the music at all.

:shrug:

Have you tried listening to any of the Amazon clips?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...music&n=507846

Definitely rearranged - much slower & smokier. I always liked Joni's addition, but have only heard the whole original a few times. But it's just the main theme/chords without the brass horn parts (if that makes any sense - not sure how to describe the elements).

:shrug:[/QUOTE]
I'm confused now:

This is the Pork Pie Hat I'm familiar with:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=music

So, I'm guessing it's not the original. Joni's version sounds almost exactly like the one on this CD:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=music

(Obviouly not up on my Mingus...)

I'll give those a listen tomorrow, but I've grown to really hate Amazon clips. There's just no way you can get a good sense of a song in 30 seconds.

Slower?! How much slower can "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" possibly get?! It's a dirge!

I'm confused now:

This is the Pork Pie Hat I'm familiar with:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=music

So, I'm guessing it's not the original. Joni's version sounds almost exactly like the one on this CD:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=music

(Obviouly not up on my Mingus...)[/QUOTE]

Mingus Ah Um (the second link) is the original appearance of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." I just can't imagine Joni singing over that.

Could one of you throw up an mp3 on YouSendIt or something? Suddenly I really want to hear this now.

Sorry, I can't tonight - diaulp. :o I might have time tomorrow, though, if someone else doesn't beat me to it.

This is one of my favorite songs of all time. Just gorgeous. Joni is the best.

I picture Nicole kidman riding in a car singing this song everytime I hear it!!!

Practical Magic is my drunk movie! I always seem to watch when I'm wasted!

I wouldn't be able to tolerate that movie drunk OR sober.

OMG! Really? I just have a lot of great memories with that movie...

Sound file: Sweet Bird
 

I wore out each of her records one by one. I don't think I could even begin to count all of the ways she has inspired me, saved me, and sustained me. I stood next to her once, backstage and couldn't say a thing, just watched her with my peripheral vision.

Here is "Sweet Bird" from the Hissing of Summer Lawns Acoustic Demos collection. It is an aiff file (which should play in Quicktime, or Windows Media Player, Itunes, etc. I didn't encode it to MP3, because I think there was some agreement in the original download of the the Torrent. It is about 50 megs, but beautiful, and worth it.

http://s23.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2...209FBBA5J2AVK0

Nothing compares to Joni at the height of her powers - and you can pull something off any record from any era that is the pinnacle. She has always aimed for perfection. Nothing and no one comes close.

She's my deepest respect, so Congratulations to Joni!

And when you're all quoting songlyrics, here's one of my favorites (from Miles of Aisles (live) and Court & Spark) :o

People's Parties

All the people at this party
They’ve got a lot of style
They’ve got stamps of many countries
They’ve got passport smiles
Some are friendly
Some are cutting
Some are watching it from the wings
Some are standing in the centre
Giving to get something

Photo beauty gets attention
Then her eye paint’s running down
She’s got a rose in her teeth
And a iampshade crown
One minute she’s so happy
Then she’s crying on someone’s knee
Saying laughing and crying
You know it’s the same release

I told you when I met you
I was crazy
Cry for us all beauty
Cry for eddie in the corner
Thinking he’s nobody
And jack behind his joker
And stone-cold grace behind her fan
And me in my frightened silence
Thinking I don’t understand

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
And coming to peoples parties
Fumbling deaf dumb and blind

I wish I had more sense ot humor
Keeping the sadness at bay
Throwing the lightness on these things
Laughing it all away
Laughing it all away
Laughing it all away

Thank you so much for this song. It may be one of the most beautiful things I have heard in my 39 years on this earth.


On edit - this song could be an hour and not be long enough.

That makes me happy!

she is sooooooo awesome, happy birthday joni!!!~ "big yelloe taxi" has always been 1 of my FAVS!!!~

Ah, Joni......

She is the most lyrically expressive songwriter ever. No one will ever be able to match her. There are so many different examples of her expansive imagery. She really brings you into her space- her world.

Here's an example of her raw, heart-breaking honesty ("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've made her
Little green, be a gypsy dancer...

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

Just a little green
Like the color when the spring is born
There'll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow
Just a little green
Like the nights when the Northern lights perform
There'll be icicles and birthday clothes
And sometimes there'll be sorrow...

Child with a child pretending
Weary of lies you are sending home
So you sign all the papers in the family name
You're sad and you're sorry, but you're not ashamed
Little green, have a happy ending

Just a little green
Like the color when the spring is born
There'll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow
Just a little green
Like the nights when the Northern lights perform
There'll be icicles and birthday clothes
And sometimes there'll be sorrow..."

And then my favorite, most biting bitterness- "For The Roses". James Taylor dumps her, so she leaves town and lives in a cabin in remote British Columbia with no electricity for a year and writes the ultimate kiss-off song (the entire song is a complete masterpiece, but I've highlighted my favorite "knife sticklers" in bold).

"I heard it in the wind last night
It sounded like applause
Did you get a round resounding for you
Way up here
It seems like many dim years ago
Since I heard that face to face
Or seen you face to face
Though tonight I can feel you here
I get these notes
On butterflies and lilac sprays
From girls who just have to tell me
They saw you somewhere

In some office sits a poet
And he trembles as he sings
And he asks some guy
To circulate his soul around
On your mark red ribbon runner
The caressing rev of motors
Finely tuned like fancy women
In thirties evening gowns
Up the charts
Off to the airport-
Your name's in the news
Everything's first class-
The lights go down-
And it's just you up there
Getting them to feel like that...

Remember the days when you used to sit
And make up your tunes for love
And pour your simple sorrow
To the soundhole and your knee
And now you're seen
On giant screens
And at parties for the press
And for people who have slices of you
From the company
They toss around your latest golden egg
Speculation-well, who's to know
If the next one in the nest
Will glitter for them so

I guess I seem ungrateful
With my teeth sunk in the hand
That brings me things
I really can't give up just yet
Now I sit up here
The critic!
And they introduce some band
But they seem so much confetti
Looking at them on my TV set
Oh the power and the glory
Just when you're getting a taste for worship
They start bringing out the hammers
And the boards
And the nails

I heard it in the wind last night
It sounded like applause
Chilly now-
End of summer
No more shiny hot nights
It was just the arbutus rustling
And the bumping of the logs
And the moon swept down black water
Like an empty spotlight..."

Marky already mentioned it, but "Refuge of the Roads" is just sublime. The entire album Hejira is jam-packed with imagery and mood. Here's my favorite snippet from this song.

"I met a friend of spirit
He drank and womanized
And I sat before his sanity
I was holding back from crying...
He saw my complications
And he mirrored me back simplified
And we laughed how our perfection
Would always be denied
'Heart and humor and humility'
He said, 'Will lighten up your heavy load'
I left him for the refuge of the roads..."

Happy Belated Birthday, Joni! I'm proud to share my birthday with you. :woohoo: My favorite Joni album is Blue, not a bad song on it.

Here is "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" from the Mingus album:

http://rapidshare.de/files/7364182/J...ieHat.mp3.html

I hope it works OK - I've never RapidShare(d) before...

And, one last thing:

http://users4.ev1.net/~iansnana/starrynightbanner.jpg

Thanks for posting it, it worked fine!

But oh my. I mean, I guess it's not absolutely terrible. But I just keep asking myself, why? Why the uninspired, flat singing? Why the obvious, belabored race relations lyrics? Why that awful synth bass line on a cover of a Mingus song? What's the point of this cover? The original is just heartbreakingly beautiful, and this version not only doesn't add anything to it, it seems to take away from the force of the song.

It's all right, Joni. I'll forgive you this one. And Charlie? Well, you weren't really in your right mind at the time anyway; it's not your fault.

Yeah, Mingus was not a high point in Joni's career.... But at least it wasn't as bad as Dog Eat Dog! Poor Joni. She really was a fish outta water in the early 80's.