Joni Mitchell has taken ill this past week and since most only know her for her 1960’s folk tunes lets remember her for her fitting exploration of mortality and love in her now recognized masterpiece Hejira. Given her mind, music and ethereal beauty she is possibly one of the most mesmerizing yet original artists of this age, moving from folk to jazz with effortless grace; Something few have done – or will ever achieve.
She is a true Artist of uncompromising artistic achievements.
“We all come and go unknown
Each so deep and superficial
Between the forceps and the stoneWell I looked at the granite markers
Those tribute to finality to eternity
And then I looked at myself here
Chicken scratching for my immortality
In the church they light the candles
And the wax rolls down like tears”…
Hejira
I’m traveling in some vehicle
I’m sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
There’s comfort in melancholy
When there’s no need to explain
It’s just as natural as the weather
In this moody sky today
In our possessive coupling
So much could not be expressed
So now I’m returning to myself
These things that you and I suppressed
I see something of myself in everyone
Just at this moment of the world
As snow gathers like bolts of lace
Waltzing on a ballroom girlYou know it never has been easy
Whether you do or you do not resign
Whether you travel the breadth of extremities
Or stick to some straighter line
Now here’s a man and a woman sitting on a rock
They’re either going to thaw out or freeze
Listen
Strains of Benny Goodman *
Coming through the snow and the pinewood trees
I’m porous with travel fever
But you know I’m so glad to be on my own
Still somehow the slightest touch of a stranger
Can set up trembling in my bones *
I know no one’s going to show me everything
We all come and go unknown
Each so deep and superficial
Between the forceps and the stoneWell I looked at the granite markers
Those tribute to finality to eternity
And then I looked at myself here
Chicken scratching for my immortality
In the church they light the candles
And the wax rolls down like tears
There’s the hope and the hopelessness
I’ve witnessed thirty years
We’re only particles of change I know I know
Orbiting around the sun
But how can I have that point of view
When I’m always bound and tied to someone
White flags of winter chimneys
Waving truce against the moon
In the mirrors of a modern bank
From the window of a hotel roomI’m traveling in some vehicle
I’m sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
Until love sucks me back that way© 1976; Crazy Crow Music
Ok one old one (as she is just mesmerizing here…)
Music Break: Joni Mitchell Live
