Mitchell fan that I am, I hadn’t listened to this in ages, a decade probably.
The lyrics are clever beyond belief, the melodies are complex but satisfying and it’s easy to be so blinded by her musicality and poetry you don’t notice that her basic tools of the trade - her voice and guitar - are simply outstanding.
Damn is it good.
I let my wife listen to more than 10 versions by different artists on youtube. She shortlisted them as follows:
Actually I was meaning the whole album, not the song. Oops.
I think that Clouds the song is one of the weakest on the album.
I always associate the song Clouds with Judy Collins. TBH didn’t know Joni Mitchell even sang it but she is a fine singer for any song.
40 years later she blows the doors off Both Sides Now - 4 decades of smokin’ and drinkin’ I guess. Fantastic.
One of my all time favorite albums.
The Gallery is among her best songs, IMO. Just beautiful.
One of my favorite songs of all time.
She might be the best songwriter of the 20th century. If she was a guy people would have no problem in saying it.
Before the movie Love Actually I would have said I preferred / was more familiar with Judy Collins’s version but now it’s Joni all the way, mostly because of *that *scene but also because it really is gorgeous. And not to kick sand in up_the_junction’s face, but when I saw Joni perform it several years ago on some award show, it broke my heart, and not in a good way 
“The Gallery” is on that, right? Great song, great album. Among the many that show off Joni’s creative guitar tuning inventions, among all else that’s been mentioned.
One of my favourite albums ever. Been listening to it for forty years and I’ve never lost interest in it.
I absolutely agree: lyrically and musically almost perfect. Not just lyrics, poetry, with unusual, haunting music that fits it perfectly. A faultless communion.
She’s one of the greatest songwriters ever to have lived, without a doubt, especially for her first three or four albums.
On that album the Gallery stands out, as does That Song About the Midway. And Chelsea Morning. And Tin Angel.
In fact most of it sends shivers up my spine.
(A reminder that you can see Joni playing The Fiddle and the Drum live in the movie Alice’s Restaurant.)
Re. Judy Collins: I got given the record of her doing the song Clouds in the late 80s, and was so offended by it I threw it across the room and smashed it.
I’m more of a Blue fan, but any and all early Joni is excellent. She’s definitely under-appreciated, although I imagine that her reputation amongst musicians is way higher than with the general public.
Nitpick: the song in Alice’s Restaurant is “Songs to Aging Children Come” (another gorgeous one). Joni was supoosed to sing it in the film, but apparently her people and their people couldn’t come to terms. Can’t recall who the singer was, but it wasn’t Joni.)
Otherwise I agree on all points. 
I must correct myself: it’s Songs to Aging Children Come in Alice’s Restaurant. Here’s the clip.
Edit: and it wasn’t Joni. I’d forgotten that fact.
Oh I see I’ve been righly put in my place by koeeoaddi. Thanks.
Woody Guthrie
Bob Dylan
Leonard Cohen
Robert Hunter
Not even close.
I know it’s all a matter of taste to some extent, but…
Dylan I’ll agree with (and I can’t imagine very many wouldn’t), the other three are arguable. In a different vein, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin are 20th century songwriters of some note…
She is right there on that level.
Totally agree but I was trying to somewhat match genre.
I think Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell are pretty evenly matched.
And then there’s Cindy Walker, who was often called the greatest country music songwriter of all time. While she penned many country hits, she also wrote notable popular songs, including “In the Misty Moonlight,” “You Don’t Know Me,” and “Dream Baby.”
Joni is a remarkable talent to be sure, and deserves to be included in a discussion of who was the greatest. Still, given all the reasonable variables in taste and criteria, I’m not sure it’s possible to bestow the title on one person.