# Any Joni Mitchell fans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516 "2007-09-17T18:11:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/41 "2007-09-21T17:21:22Z")
Joni fan here. Have all her early (pre 1975) stuff. I love _ **Carey** _, _ **Car on Hill** _, and _ **Free Man in Paris** _. Of the lesser known ones, I really like _ **Electricity** _, _ **Night in the City** _, and _ **Michael From Mountains** _. IMO, she is one of the best song writers of the folk genre. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/42 "2007-09-21T20:16:13Z")
Court and Spark is one of the all time great albums- Help Me, Free Man in Paris, Car on a Hill, Just like this Train, etc. are all classics. Case of You (from Blue) is a brilliant song, but I hate the way she sings it. After about Hejira I sort of lose interest, but her stuff up until then is all pretty solid. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/43 "2007-09-21T23:55:33Z")
Circle Game and Court and Spark are my favourites. She’s a hometown girl (says she’s from Saskatoon but she’s really from my little hometown in Alberta) so I know friends of hers. Never did meet her, though. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/44 "2007-09-22T07:59:13Z")
Another great performance on YouTube: [Cactus Tree](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLNF32bKed0) from the first album. IMO this is an example of her poetic best. The lyrics quite accurately describe the girl who broke my heart. _**She will love them when she sees them They will lose her if they follow And she only means to please them And her heart is full and hollow** Like a cactus tree While she’s so busy being free_ The bolded lines always stop me in my tracks. Similarly, _Tin Angel_, _That Song about the Midway_ and _The Gallery_ show a poet at the peak of her abilities. Stunning lyricist. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/45 "2007-09-22T15:59:42Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Stunning lyricist. [/QUOTE] Great poetry. How many pop songs have lyrics that actually make you stop and think? Here’s a bit of trivia, that adds to the enjoyment: On the original LP album of _cactus tree_, there was a simple statement: “This album is dedicated to Mr. Kratzman, who taught me to love words”. I’ve always assumed that Mr. K must have been Joni’s English teacher in high school. And he must have felt some real pride seeing his student produce those lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/46 "2007-09-22T20:42:37Z")
Due to copyright concerns, I removed the full set of lyrics, **jjimm** , but I left the bolded ones in place (so the rest of your post made sense). ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/47 "2007-09-23T00:58:27Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] **ambushed** , Pat Metheny when to high school with my first husband’s little sister. He used to practice in their basement. [/QUOTE] That is so cool! I am intensely jealous of your first husband’s little sister… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/48 "2007-09-23T15:55:45Z")
[QUOTE=SkipMagic] Due to copyright concerns, I removed the full set of lyrics, **jjimm** , but I left the bolded ones in place (so the rest of your post made sense). [/QUOTE] Understood, but that was actually less than 50% of the lyrics, which I thought constituted ‘fair use’. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516/49 "2007-09-23T20:02:07Z")
Mitchell’s 2000 recording of _Both Sides Now_ with an orchestra nearly moves me to tears. That is the voice of experience singing. And it sounds like a collaboration with Debussy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-joni-mitchell-fans/419516.md?page=2)