So yes, Joni Mitchell. I hadn’t listened to anything but “Big Yellow Taxi” before now. Then I decided to give her album “Blue” a try. I am glad that I did. One thing about her music is that it seemed poignant to me given that the divorce was going on. Particularly “A Case of You” worked well for me.
Joni Mitchell is describing a very bad relationship. Her line about “be prepared to bleed…” explains the story. I can identify a lot with the lyrics, though the only painting I can do is the wall.
I do have a lot of memories of Analie which I have a hard time putting in context with the pure awfulness of how she treated me and my daughters. Her narcissism and the realization that she didn’t care about me at all are hard to juxtapose with certain positive memories I have of her. On the one hand, I was completely in love with her at one point.
Then again, sometimes she would say things like “When I used to care about your health…”, which is something you wouldn’t say to your worst enemy. But she’d happily say that to someone who supported her financially and emotionally for 14 years. So it’s not easy to think positively of her at all. The songs help a bit.
I involved myself in the relationship with Analie for at least one bad reason. Her singing and guitar playing impressed me. I would not have been quite so impressed if I had heard Joni first. Though to be fair, Joni is playing the dulcimer in both of these songs.
Some Joni Songs Worth Knowing
“Case of You” grew on me later after I listened to the whole album a bit.
I warmed up to “California” first. It’s a catchy tune.
Anywho, much better than the Matchbox 20 that was the soundtrack of my first divorce. Also a lot better than the twangy shit I had to listen to for 15 years. With that said, I do miss the rendition of “Midnight Special”. Unless I ever find someone who does it that way, it’ll have to be a pleasure in memory alone.
