From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2000 #347 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/onlyjoni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Tuesday, August 29 2000 Volume 2000 : Number 347 The 'Official' Joni Mitchell Homepage, created by Wally Breese, can be found at http://www.jonimitchell.com. It contains the latest news, a detailed bio, Original Interviews, essays, lyrics and much much more. --- The JMDL website can be found at http://www.jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. --- Ashara has set up a "Wally Breese Memorial Fund" with all donations going directly towards the upkeep of the website. Wally kept the website going with his own funds. it is now up to US to help Jim continue. If you would like to donate to this fund, please make all checks payable to: Jim Johanson and send them to: Ashara Stansfield P.O. Box 215 Topsfield, MA. 01983 USA ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Firsts [IVPAUL42@aol.com] Re: hejira's cover sjc ["Helen M. Adcock" ] Re: (now Hejira) ["Kakki" ] first records [Matthew Snyder ] Re: Record Thread Poll [Siresorrow@aol.com] Re: hejira's cover sjc [Siresorrow@aol.com] Album thread...sjc ["Christopher J. Treacy" ] Re: Jonis influence ["P. Henry" ] Firsts ["william" ] Attention Labor Day Festers This Just In!! ["Michael Paz" ] Re: not getting through [Alison ] Re: Firsts [RandyRemote ] Re: Firsts [RandyRemote ] Re:ribbons [Gertus@aol.com] Crocuses to bring to school tomorrow... [JRMCo1@aol.com] My 8 Dinner Party Guests - vljc [Les Irvin ] Joni song in Rolling Stone movie [JRMCo1@aol.com] first record thread [Andy Stancliffe ] entranced by covers [B Merrill ] Re: ribbons (Talk to Me) [MGVal@aol.com] Lyric Thread ["kerry" ] Re: (now Hejira) [Scott Price ] Re: dinner guests ["Sue Cameron" ] Re: (now Hejira) [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Re: Lyric Thread ["Mark or Travis" ] Re: Lyric Thread [IVPAUL42@aol.com] recurring themes-stockings/nylons [RandyRemote ] Re: Lyric Thread ["Victor Johnson" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 03:53:54 EDT From: IVPAUL42@aol.com Subject: Re: Firsts Name the first record, 1. You owned. As a youngster I picked out the Chipmunks Christmas Album as a Hanukkah present, later the Smothers Brothers, but the first one I received as an adolescent was The Monkees. The girls who came to my 12th birthday party chipped in for that one. 2. You bought. Bookends and then Blue in fairly close succession the summer I turned 17 and graduated high school. 3. You remember parents or guardians playing. Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ella Fitzgerald and a lot of Broadway show tunes, such as Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Camelot, Fiddler, Carousel, Finian's Rainbow. My older sister was and is a singer, so when she was in high school she was lead or second lead in several high school and JCC productions of those musicals. 4. The cover art of which struck early interest for you. Revolver, Santana, Clouds, "If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears" (Mamas and Papas in the bathtub) 5. You played over and over. (not necessarily yours) My sister's Peter, Paul & Mary album till I could sing along with not only Puff the Magic Dragon but every song on Side 1. Also, that Monkees album. "Taste of Honey" by Herb Alpert. Dionne Warwick singing Bacharach. Ladies of the Canyon . And on the January 1972 night of my first LSD trip the 8-track played Quicksilver Messenger Service "Happy Trails" about 20 times. Paul I ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 20:49:38 +1200 From: "Helen M. Adcock" Subject: Re: hejira's cover sjc wallyk wrote: well, it's never sunny in buenos aires. in this city we all have an obsession with beaches and beach life. although summer is nightmarishly hot and humid, our beaches are cold and we have probably one solid month of sunshine in january to go to the beach and really enjoy it despite the ice cold water. all this to say THAT I TOOK CAROLE KING'S POSTER because it had palm trees and sand and i relinquished joni's!!!!!!! i'll have to live with this all my life. please forgive me brothers and sisters, and especially you, mom. Oh Wally, of course you're forgiven! I have a copy of Thoroughbred, and you're right, the cover photo is great - Carole bareback on a horse on a beach in the sun, cf. Joni on freezing cold ice! I absolutely love the cover etc. of Hejira, more so now I'm older and can appreciate the "art" of it, but when I was fifteen I would have gone for sun and sea as well - despite living in a sunny, (sometimes) warm climate! Hell - not feeling so warm tonight, and absolutely dreading having to start packing up my house tomorrow. How can one person accumulate so much crap in only two years (since the last shift, that is)!? _____________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman hell@ihug.co.nz Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 01:36:41 -0700 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: (now Hejira) Mark wrote: > And I would also say that a diminished pallate can produce >stunning results and with Hejira it certainly, unarguably, >unquestionably did. But I have never been comfortable with >saying it is Joni's greatest achievement. She's grown so >much since then and I just think it's a discredit to her to say >that everything she has done since that record is not as >good or better. What I'm still trying to understand is why so many think it is her supreme crowning achievement. But everyone's input on all the discussions about Hejira has been really helpful to me. There are only two Joni albums that I didn't "get" when they came out - Hejira and DJRD. With the brilliantly chaotic DJRD I could listen to it 100s of times to try to get it and finally did (although it took several years) but as I noted before, there was something in Hejira too sad for me to listen to it repeatedly. I could only take it in small doses. I really have to thank the list for helping me to "get" it on so many more levels than before - I appreciate it 1,000 times more now. It's not that there is anything wrong with the lyrics or the music or the concept, but for some reason I enjoy others covers of the songs more than hearing Joni's performance on the album. Like Lahm's and Catgirl's Coyote sounds happy and wonderful to me, Paz's Song For Sharon and Hejira is just pure sweet beauty, Bryan Thomas' Black Crow knocks me out. But I'm getting there - Joni's orchestrated Hejira on the last tour was like a new song to me and sounded like something out of the movie Fantasia. Maybe the subdued, pared-down musical palette doesn't reach me as much as a more colorful one. Although I agree that she brilliantly captured the mood of the car wheels endlessly turning along the road. Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 09:39:06 -0400 From: Matthew Snyder Subject: first records >Name the first record, >1. You owned. -- Sgt. Pepper >2. You bought. --Magical Mystery Tour >3. You remember parents or guardians playing. -- Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, operattas & opera, My Fair Lady, Bobby Short, Mel Torme, Simon & Garfunkel >4. The cover art of which struck early interest for you. Sgt. Pepper >5. You played over and over. (not necessarily yours)--Sgt. Pepper (at age 6) What can I say? I listened to the Beatles almost exclusively from age 6 to 13, after which it was Rush and The Police all through high school. Joni had to wait until college. Matt Snyder msnyder@dragonfire.net http://msnyder.dragonfire.net ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 09:40:07 EDT From: Siresorrow@aol.com Subject: Re: Record Thread Poll Name the first record, 1. You owned. The Purple People Eater 2. You bought. a 45 called 'Bimbo' - bimbo bimbo, where you gonna go-e-oo....going down the street to see a little girl-e-oo 3. You remember parents or guardians playing. I have never heard my parents playing music and they did not have a stereo. 4. The cover art of which struck early interest for you. Aqualung - J. Tull. because of the cool guy on the front and the cool Genesis story on the back. 5. You played over and over. (not necessarily yours) The Outlaws - Green Grass and High Tides - it was my anthem. patrick np. dire straights - private investigations - a very cool song ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 09:47:58 EDT From: Siresorrow@aol.com Subject: Re: hejira's cover sjc In a message dated 8/27/00 9:27:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, wallykai@interserver.com.ar writes: << i have been trying to postpone this confession but guilt is eating me alive. joni's ''hejira'' and carole king's ''thoroughbred'' came out more or less simultaneaously .... ....all this to say THAT I TOOK CAROLE KING'S POSTER because it had palm trees and sand and i relinquished joni's!!!!!!! i'll have to live with this all my life. please forgive me brothers and sisters, and especially you, mom. wallyK >> now bless you my son...i can certainly understand your desire to have a picture of palm trees and sand on your bedroom walls. but it was an impure desire at that and you acted upon that desire and hung that picture on your wall. but our god is a good god and forgives you today with a small pennance. you must play the new BSN album three times in succession and say to yourself during each play..i love this album and especially the string arrangements. and please, try to contain your impure thoughts....you may go blind or grow hair on your palms. patrick np. d.s. romeo and julliett ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 10:44:22 -0400 From: "Christopher J. Treacy" Subject: Album thread...sjc 1."Tapestry" - Carole King 2. "Let Me Be There" 45 -Olivia Newton-John; I can't remember for sure. It may have been Carpenters "Singles 69-73" or Bette Midler "Divine Miss M.". In any event, they were all purchased around the same time. 3. My parents listened to the pop music of the time, the end of the 60's and beginning of the 70's. Trini Lopez, Herb Alpert, The Lettermen, Bobbie Gentry, Righteous Bros., Friends of Distinction, Jackson 5. More credibly, James Taylor, Carole King, Santana, CSN. As we moved into the 70's, Neil Sedaka, Helen Reddy, Manilow, Barry White, Olivia. Mom had "Blue", and her copy was slightly warped. I remember the way the warped vinyl wiggled on the turntable scared the shit out of me as a little kid - - I thought it was alive or something. She used to play her Manilow 45 of "Mandy" over and over; God that tune depresses me! The she bought "Court & Spark", but seemed to enjoy playing "Help Me" and "FMIP" in succession over and over rather than going for the full LP. 4.It's A Beautiful Day's first LP cover holds a special magic for me. I found the painting intriguing as a kid, and now sometimes use it as wallpaper on my PC, tiled out of course. ;~>. Cream's "Disreali Gears" also. 5. Again, CK's "Tapestry". I couldn't get enough. My pursuit of popular music began when my mom's sister went to Peace Corps. in Africa, 1973 (I was 3 yrs old). She left all the records she gotten through college ('68-'72) stored at our home, and I was all over it. By the following summer of '74, I had my own turntable and a small collection of records that belonged to me (A few Joni in there!). I remember when I saw a TV ad announcing the release of Carole King's "Wrap Around Joy", I cried until my Dad took me to Caldor and bought it for me (same day service, if I recall). All of this said, I've been getting Joni's new releases hot off the press since I was 6, with "Hejira", which I didn't like at the time. Whatever the comfort value a child can adore in the sound of her voice seemed to be missing. Obviously, her art has continued to unfold itself to me in new ways over the years. Each phase of life passes, and Joni's there with a whole new way of seeing things each time. That's a sure sign of good art. Can't say Carole's remained as compelling, but I still collect her and listen often, at least to the Ode catalogue. Hope I didn't bore anyone. -Chris. ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 09:24:42 -0700 From: "P. Henry" Subject: Re: Jonis influence Kate wrote: >pat said, "someone I know could become what she has... a true original who's influence is so broad and deep that much of the musical landscape we have today in many ways is built on her music and without her, wouldn't be there at all!" Amen. When I signed up to sell my CD at CDBaby (very cool company btw) they ask you do choose a genre category. Under folk, one of the sub-genres is "Like Joni"!!!> way cool kate! folk is really a tricky concept and much broader than most people think of it in an antropological sense... blues, for example is a *type* of American music, though not the only one, and is most definitely folk in the truest sense as is appalachian bluegrass, motown and grunge just to name a few... I think it good that cdbaby gives artists a chance to identify with Joni directly and right off as it will certainly promote good things in the world at large, but I mean to say that Joni, in a class utterly and completely by herself, again, a TRUE original, has become such a huge influence at the very base of it all so as to be compared with the tide rather than the currents or the waves... Joni is not only 'in a class by herself' but her brushstrokes are influencing literally all of music at this point and the dividing lines and categories are all melting away... we are all evolving toward her! pat NP: phish on VH1 ps - so how has knowing Joni in my teens affected my musical tastes, you ask? well, I turned 51 friday and I'm falling hard for phish's jams... http://homepages.go.com/~badwolff/albums/album1/ Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 23:50:26 +0700 From: "william" Subject: Firsts First owned first bought - one and the same, 45s - Tears of a Clown, Band of Gold (same day) LP - Electric Warrior Parents - Green Island, Green Green Grass of Home, mother liked Rod Stewart during the Maggie May phase - I thought she was so-o-o cool. She still is. Album cover(s) - Fragile, Close to the Edge (I adored Roger Dean's work till Joni sorted me out with THOSL). Repetition - Mud Slide Slim, Blood on the Tracks, Court & Spark, but then again I used to play all my records till there was no groove. I always felt so passionate about everything I bought. T.Rex, early Queen, Sparks for God sake!, Yes, (now they were my fab 5 for a while). I thought I was so arty being into "Close to the Edge" and pretending to be Jon Anderson singing "And You and I" which before long became "... you and I, you and I, you and I, ooooh you and I ... ... eagles in the sky, you and I" Willy the Shake NP - Mountains (Prince, the artist formely known as The Artist) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 07:52:32 -0500 From: "Michael Paz" Subject: Attention Labor Day Festers This Just In!! ******************************THIS JUST IN****************************** Hello Labor Day Party Animals- May just called me from Plum Island and tells me the City Council, the Chief of Police, her Abutters (neighbours who are esentially right up her butt so to speak) have all given their blessing for the continuation of the Third Annual New England Labor Day Post Party at Atty May's on beautiful Plum Island. She sounds very excited and could possibly come up on Saturday to Ashara's. Just wanted to let you all know asap. Sorry I had to use the main list cause I am not subscribed to the party list at work. I also did not mark this njc cause I did not want to miss anyone. Peace Michael ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 14:43:11 -0400 From: dsk Subject: Re: Firsts > Name the first record, > 1. You owned. Peter and the Wolf, a gift when I was 4. Tried to like and understand it (it was for kids, right?) but it was too harsh sounding for me so I listened to it with great attention several times, but felt like it hurt my ears. I much preferred what was coming out of my little transistor radio. > 2. You bought. Meet the Beatles. Actually, my mom bought it because I so obnoxiously demanded (just had to have it!) that she go to the store and buy it for me the first day it was available since I was way too young to get to the store by myself. I remember the incredible joy I had when she picked me up from school and I held the album and looked at the cover for the first time. My very own, to play anytime, no longer relying on the radio. Aahhh. Don't think she understood. :-) > 3. You remember parents or guardians playing. No records at all. Usually the TV was on and sometimes radio, easy listening stuff and news and weather reports. They told me about watching Perry Como on TV and me singing along so for years they considered me a Perry Como fan. Took a very long time to lose that reputation. One day I found a small stash of records that included the Ink Spots and other dance type records, old 45s, and was amazed that apparently one of them (or both) enjoyed music enough to buy some before I knew them. I always wondered what happened to that pre-children, pre-marriage(?) life of music. > 4. The cover art of which struck early interest for you. Revolver is the first one I stared at for a long time trying to make sense of it all and not miss anything. It was so complicated and stark looking at the same time, it intrigued me, and I loved that combination of simple line drawing and photos. > 5. You played over and over. (not necessarily yours) A 45 of the Sounds of Silence, dozens of times the first day I had it, starting early in the morning. The lyrics seemed so profound. And Beatle albums too, laying on the floor with my head next to the little brown record player with feet up on the wall, tapping to the beat (well, only once for that tapping on the wall action since it reverberated throughout the house and made other family members nuts after a few hours). I spent hours, days even, at a time completely entranced by their music. It's interesting remembering those times when music literally swept me away into very enjoyable places. All those sounds made me hopeful and hungry for the bigger world, and thinking about it now, I have to dramatically say that being temporarily transported by the music truly saved my spirit. Powerful stuff. Debra Shea ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 13:31:02 -0600 From: Alison Subject: Re: not getting through sorry, folks, this is a test. > From: Les Irvin > Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 13:19:55 -0600 > To: Alison > Subject: Re: not getting through > > At 01:01 PM 8/28/2000, you wrote: >>>> my emails don't seem to be getting through. is there are a problem i don't >>>> know about? > > Hmmm.... try a test post, with a copy to my address, and I'll watch for a > bounce. > Thanks, > Les > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 12:43:24 -0700 From: RandyRemote Subject: Re: Firsts > > Name the first record, > > > 1. You owned. Disney's "The Lady and the Tramp" on 78rpm with book-turn the page when you hear Lady bark- > > > 2. You bought. Beatles-"Help!" movie soundtrack-a whopping $4.98 because it was stereo ($1 more than mono) AND a soundtrack (add another $1) > > > > 3. You remember parents or guardians playing. Dean Martin-Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime, > > > 4. The cover art of which struck early interest for you. Nancy Sinatra in bikini on "Sugar" LP > > > 5. You played over and over. (not necessarily yours) Beatles "Rubber Soul" RR ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 12:51:51 -0700 From: RandyRemote Subject: Re: Firsts "Brenda J. Walker" wrote: > > 5. You played over and over. (not necessarily yours) > > Todd Rundgren - Hermit of Mink Hollow - Fade Away > > I listened to it all the time at the public library and then at home when they > changed their checkout policy for music. The public library also led to the > discovery of Joni, Jackson Browne and Dave Brubeck. > Yes- thank goddess there was somebody hip buying the records at my local public library. I certainly couldn't afford to buy more than a couple a year. Through the library I was introduced to albums by Joni, Bob Dylan, Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, David Amram, Tom Paxton, Memphis Slim, The Beatles, The Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Miles Davis, and lots more I can't think of right now. The first Joni LP I heard all the way through was from the library- LOTC....I bought Blue when it came out, and every one ever since. RR ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 15:56:45 EDT From: Gertus@aol.com Subject: Re:ribbons Opinions on the meaning of the line "Are you gagged by your ribbons?" basically divide into 3. Two people have suggested typewriter ribbons, something I would never have though of, although I am old enough to remember them. :) Another thought they might be parcel ribbons, wrapping the gift of silence, which is a nice idea. Two people mentioned medal ribbons from the many accolades heaped upon this person, possibly forcing him into an embarrassed silence. I think I like the latter best, but who knows? All 3 explanations can be made to fit. I love the song "Talk to me", I think the feel is so neurotic. My take on the person the lines are directed at is that he's someone Joni's just met and wants to get to know. She badly wants to chat and express herself and probably impress him but he's just not responding so she can't make him out. Anger probably is too strong a word but I think she's pretty annoyed by his refusal to play to the game. It's a brilliant song, whatever. Jacky ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 16:54:33 EDT From: JRMCo1@aol.com Subject: Crocuses to bring to school tomorrow... Hi Gang: I have a funny story about my goddaughter Heather's 10th birthday party yesterday. She's was thrilled with the 2 dozen balloons I had brought her, along with two books: _The Island of the Blue Dolphins_ and _Walk Two Moons_. She was also pretty excited about school starting tomorrow, which is now today. But she was most excited about these 8 baby "tree frogs" she had caught inside a jar. She named them all: Fred, Spotty, Hoppy, and 4 other names I don't recall. But she made it quite clear that one of them was her hands-down favorite, a cutey she calls "Little Green". I was in a bit of shock there for a second or two, looking into her totally innocent baby blues. She had no clue about the song's existence. Next time I go over, I'm going to play it for her. She's a great little musician, playing violin and piano. Who knows, this might be the start of something. Thanks for letting me tell my little anecdote. Now back to your regularly scheduled program... - -Julius NP: "Little Green ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 16:37:27 -0600 From: Les Irvin Subject: My 8 Dinner Party Guests - vljc Joniphiles - At the risk of overkill on the "list" threads... over on the Rickie Lee Jones list they have a "If you could invite 8 people to dinner, who would they be?" thread going. Someone (obviously with great taste) posted this list: >1. Caravaggio >2. Da Vinci >3. Michaelangelo >4. Rickie >5. John Kennedy >6. Marilyn Monroe >7. Che Guevera, (Not sure I spelled that right) >8. Joni Mitchell Les NP: John Martyn "The Church With One Bell" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 18:47:48 EDT From: JRMCo1@aol.com Subject: Joni song in Rolling Stone movie FYI...from today's Atlanta Constitution: <> - -Julius ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 15:58:19 -0700 (Pacific Daylight Time) From: Andy Stancliffe Subject: first record thread I've been lurking for at least 6 months, but I've been reading the digests today and just love this thread. > Name the first record, > 1. You owned. A yellow plastic Disney 45 (or maybe a 78!) of the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe. Don't know who the singers were, but it was definitely a child's record. > 2. You bought. A 45 of 'Windy' by the Association > 3. You remember parents or guardians playing. Definitely the Broadway cast album of My Fair Lady. I thought this would show up on more lists. I figured everyone's parents played My Fair Lady over and over and over. My Dad still whistles "I Could Have Danced All Night," probably without realizing it, while he's driving. > 4. The cover art of which struck early interest for you. Sergeant Peppers. I remember the day my neighbor bought it, and he had some friends sleep over, and we spent hours looking at that cover. It was the first time I remember seeing the lyrics printed on an album, and I just loved reading the lyrics too. > 5. You played over and over. (not necessarily yours) Although I played some old 45s over and over (Windy, The Letter by the Box Tops, some Beatles and Monkees songs), the first record I played over and over compulsively, uncontrollably, because I kept hearing something different every time, was Blue. Andy ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 19:01:29 -0400 From: B Merrill Subject: entranced by covers All these delightful spins down memory lane, and esp. recalled the "It's a Beautiful Day" cover have made me realize how the matter of: >> 4. The cover art of which struck early interest for you. is kinda "gone with the wind." It being so much harder to be entranced by the cover of a CD. (How many CD covers does it take to fill up a vinyl cover?) Does anything like this happen now?: >Revolver is the first one I stared at for a long time trying to make sense of it >all and not miss anything. It was so complicated and stark looking at the same >time, it intrigued me, and I loved that combination of simple line drawing and >photos. Or tripping out with that Disraeli Gears cover beneath a strobe light? Working your way through that intense detailed painting on the Santana cover? I think not! Bruce M ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 19:39:21 EDT From: MGVal@aol.com Subject: Re: ribbons (Talk to Me) In a message dated 8/28/00 1:15:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Gertus@aol.com writes: << love the song "Talk to me", I think the feel is so neurotic. My take on the person the lines are directed at is that he's someone Joni's just met and wants to get to know. She badly wants to chat and express herself and probably impress him but he's just not responding so she can't make him out. >> You know, I used to agree with the "neurotic" feel to this song. These past 6 or 7 months, I've been developing a different take on it which goes a little something like this: Perhaps the person is not neurotic at all. Perhaps Joni is the one with the "problem" per se. In the song, she even says: "anyway the best of my mind all goes down on the strings and the page." So with all of her talking, what is she really saying that is intimate? Sometimes, intimacy and getting to know someone better comes from just being still and allowing hearts to connect without words. Maybe he is responding but her hollow chatter drowns it all out. Best, MG ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 19:02:32 -0500 From: "kerry" Subject: Lyric Thread Marilyn wrote: <> This is interesting because a couple months ago, I decided to just read Joni's "Complete Poems and Lyrics," straight through. I was struck by how many times she refers to the moon. Right now, I don't have the time to reference all the lyrics, but if you search, there are lots of lines with "moon" in them! Can't wait to see what others come up with. Kerry ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 18:23:16 -0700 From: Scott Price Subject: Re: (now Hejira) At 01:36 AM 8/28/00 -0700, Kakki wrote: >What I'm still trying to understand is why so many think it is her supreme >crowning achievement. Hi Kakki, Speaking for myself, part of this recognition of Hejira as her crown jewel is because the question, or the concept posed, is to narrow it down to *one* album as the best. I love C&S, FTR, Blue, HOSL, DJRD, et al. But to name just one...yep...Hejira. For me it was the album that allowed me to get into...deeply into...lyrics. Having always been a "music person" before a "lyrics person" it was a revelation for me to be forced to listen intently to the lyrics because the musical arrangements were so sparse and had a sameness. There are moments of incredible melodic beauty as Jaco's bass soars to the lead and Joni's guitar playing perfectly complements the rhythms and the overall feel, but the lack of extensive layering, especially with background and harmony vocals, made me concentrate on what she was saying. I remember reading a review when the album came out where the writer criticized Joni for "chanting rather than singing." I could see what they meant. There were far less vocal gymnastics than she had given us on previous albums. While I have always been aware of the lyrics I was hearing with my music, it took a masterwork like Hejira to show me that song lyrics could be more than just stories or accompaniments. They could conjure up images so vivid that I thought I was there in the places she describes. I was transported, and found the whole album transcendent. And finally, I think much of our enjoyment of particular albums has to do with timing. When did we first hear it and what were we doing? Did it fit in well, feel "right?" Were these happy times or not? Could we use the music to help us feel better, or to embellish already good feelings? This album came out just as I was falling in love and I will always associate it with unbounded feelings of hope. OK, so maybe I was looking for something at the time, and latched on to this album, Hejira, having already been a Joni "convert," but here it is decades later and it's still the one I turn to. I can't imagine that any subsequent album, by any artist, could capture my spirit quite like that one did. Scott ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 22:15:15 -0400 From: "Sue Cameron" Subject: Re: dinner guests Typically, Colin beats me to the punch with his response. Mine was going to be so original with, in no particular order: >>1. Chris Marshall >>2. Colin & John >>3. Steve Mitchell >>4. Jamie Zoob >>5. Martin Giles >>6. Les Ross >>7. Azeem AK >>8. Phil Klein These wonderful gentlemen would be welcome at my home. If I could repay even a tenth of their hospitality I would still be considered a gracious hostess. Sue Cameron NP: UKFest 2000 and Marian's lovely singing ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 22:20:02 EDT From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: (now Hejira) << While I have always been aware of the lyrics I was hearing with my music, it took a masterwork like Hejira to show me that song lyrics could be more than just stories or accompaniments. >> Great post, Scott! Hejira is a transporting record for me; I love ALL Joni, and play her a lot while I'm at work, or working around the house, or whatever, but if Hejira is on I HAVE to stop & focus on it. It's like a dream, even the cover artwork is like a dream...the only other records I can think of that do this as well are Peter Gabriel's "So", U2's "The Joshua Tree", and "Faith" by The Cure. Bob NP: Joni, "Big Yellow Taxi" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 19:29:21 -0700 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: Lyric Thread > This is interesting because a couple months ago, I decided to just read > Joni's "Complete Poems and Lyrics," straight through. I was struck by how > many times she refers to the moon. Right now, I don't have the time to > reference all the lyrics, but if you search, there are lots of lines with > "moon" in them! Can't wait to see what others come up with. > > Kerry 'he stood looking through the lace at the face on the conquered moon' 'they're playin' that scratchy rock n roll beneath the Matala moon' 'and the moon swept down black water like an empty spot light' 'over the month of June was a photograph of the earth taken coming back from the moon' 'where the moon clock wanes & waxes' 'at least the moon at the window the thieves left that behind' 'the moon was bright like day for night' 'once in awhile in a big blue moon there comes a night like this' 'and the lonely loon and the crescent moon what a pocket of heavenly grace' and you know there must be more... Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 23:19:41 EDT From: IVPAUL42@aol.com Subject: Re: Lyric Thread In a message dated 8/28/00 8:19:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time, myrtlmoo@ticon.net writes: << This is interesting because a couple months ago, I decided to just read Joni's "Complete Poems and Lyrics," straight through. I was struck by how many times she refers to the moon. Right now, I don't have the time to reference all the lyrics, but if you search, there are lots of lines with "moon" in them! Can't wait to see what others come up with. Kerry >> Allow me to suggest that the moon is a popular item for nearly EVERY poet and songwriter. It might be more interesting to name poets and songwriters who have never mentioned the moon in a lyric, if you can find one. Paul I ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 21:40:37 -0700 From: RandyRemote Subject: recurring themes-stockings/nylons I'm sure this one is incomplete... Test your skill! Name the song and album (answers below) Stockings/Nylons 1. I want to wreck my stockings in some juke box dive 2. And a barmaid comes by in fishnet stockings and a bow-tie 3. Long silk stockings on the bedposts of refinement 4. You danced with the lady with the hole in her stockings-didn't it feel good? 5. A camera pans the cocktail hour, behind a blind of potted palms And finds a lady in a Paris dress, with runs in her nylons 6. Mama's nylons underneath my cowgirl jeans 1All I Want(Blue)2Last Time I Saw Richard(Blue)3Ludwig's Tune(For The Roses)4Help Me (Court and Spark)5Boho Dance (Hissing of Summer Lawns)6Song For Sharon (Hejira) RR ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 01:28:47 -0400 From: "Victor Johnson" Subject: Re: Lyric Thread > Allow me to suggest that the moon is a popular item for nearly EVERY poet and > songwriter. It might be more interesting to name poets and songwriters who > have never mentioned the moon in a lyric, if you can find one. > > Paul I I don't think that was the point. Are you saying that nearly EVERY poet and songwriter writes lyrics like Joni Mitchell? I think her images are unique, especially her moon references, and I find them very interesting. You might try listening to one of her cd's if you can find one. Victor ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2000 #347 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list at ------- Siquomb, isn't she?