From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2002 #142 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 Thursday, May 16 2002 Volume 2002 : Number 142 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. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Today's Articles: May 15 [les@jmdl.com] Today in History: May 15 [les@jmdl.com] Re: "Electricity" What's it all about? ["hell" ] Re: "Electricity" What's it all about? [anne@sandstrom.com] =?ISO-8859-1?B?UmU6IFJlOiAiRWxlY3RyaWNpdHkiIKBXaGF0J3MgaXQgYWxs IGFib3V0Pw==?= [SCJoniGuy@] "Electricity" What's it all about? ["J.David Sapp" ] Re: re:electricity [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] re:electricity ["Victor Johnson" ] Re: funeral song/art exhibit [WARREN901@aol.com] Re: input-output-electricity [WARREN901@aol.com] Re: Re: input-output-electricity [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Re: JMDL Digest V2002 #217 -- Joni not at the Whitney [BRYAN8847@aol.com] natalie imbruglia sjc [LXROSS@ctrl.co.uk] Joni in Fiction [john low ] Re: Joni in Fiction [Murphycopy@aol.com] Re: Joni in Film ["Mark or Travis" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 03:00:50 -0400 From: les@jmdl.com Subject: Today's Articles: May 15 On May 15 the following items were published: 1998: "Bob Dylan leads excellent triple bill" - Jam! Website (Review - Concert) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/980515j.cfm 1998: "Historic Night Like Revisiting the Past" - Vancouver Province (Review - Concert, with photographs) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/980515vp.cfm 1998: "Rock legends bring out the boomers" - Edmonton Journal (Review - Concert, with photographs) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/980515ej.cfm 1998: "Trio Effort Makes Return of '60's Icons Memorable" - Vancouver Sun (Review - Concert) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/980515vs.cfm 1998: "Trio, Fans More Subdued Than In their Rocking Youth" - Vancouver Province (Review - Concert) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/980515vpx.cfm 1998: "Unpredictable Icons Can Still Rock When They Want To" - Toronto Globe and Mail (Review - Concert, with photographs) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/980515tgam.cfm 2000: "In love with Joni" - Contra Costa Times (Review - Concert) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/000515cct.cfm 2000: "Joni Mitchell's Dull Twist On Standards" - San Francisco Chronicle (Review - Concert) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/000515sfc.cfm 2000: "Mitchell Overcome By Orchestra" - Variety (Review - Concert) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/000515v.cfm 2000: "Mitchell's Truly Fusing Both Sides Now" - Los Angeles Times (Review - Concert) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/000515lat.cfm 2000: "Uneven evening with Joni Mitchell" - San Francisco Examiner (Review - Concert) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/000515sfe.cfm - -------- Can you type? http://www.jmdl.com/typing/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 03:00:50 -0400 From: les@jmdl.com Subject: Today in History: May 15 On May 15 in history: 1983: Joni performs in Copenhagen, Denmark 1997: Joni is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 23:30:47 +1200 From: "hell" Subject: Re: "Electricity" What's it all about? Bob wrote: > < She's not going to fix it up too easy>> > > Here's an interesting metaphor...who's her "technical manual"? Myrtle, her > mother? Or a close friend? Or a professional therapist? Regardless of who it > is specifically, the person is not too receptive to being the resource that > Joni hopes she would be. That was a great analysis, Bob - and pretty much how I've always interpreted the song. But I do have another interpretation of the lines above. I always thought "the technical manual's busy" meant that it was busy, as in too fussy, or too convoluted for her to make sense of it. In other words, she's got a huge amount of advice about how to conduct herself in the relationship, and she can't decide which advice is best. Just another take on the song, but you know there may be more..... probably as many as there are members of this list, at least! Hell P.S. Welcome, Matt! ____________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman hell@ihug.co.nz Hell's Personal Photo Page: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/main/personal.htm Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at: http://www.nbls.co.nz ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 05:28:32 -0700 (PDT) From: anne@sandstrom.com Subject: Re: "Electricity" What's it all about? > < She's not going to fix it up too easy>> > > Here's an interesting metaphor...who's her "technical manual"? Myrtle, her > mother? Or a close friend? Or a professional therapist? Regardless of who it > is specifically, the person is not too receptive to being the resource that > Joni hopes she would be. Here's another weird take on these lines. I always thought the way she sings them was interesting, with the syllable "man" being extended. So, I always thought she was saying that he (the minus) was busy, but that she couldn't quite bring herself to say that he was too busy to pay attention to her, so she says "manual," which could also mean she relies on him for doing the repairs. But, then reading Bob's interpretations below, I think that makes sense too. > > < And she shines it on me > She wants me to tell her > What the trouble might be>> > > So now rather than getting the desired advise from whoever the "technical > manual" may be, they are turning the tables and asking her to define the > problem. This leads me to believe that the "technical manual" is a > professional, who's trained to ask those kind of questions..."so how did that > make you FEEL", etc. ... > < Too easy > But she holds out her candle > And she shines it in > And she begs him to show her > How to fix it again>> > > Like you would light a candle to provide a minimum amount of light during a > blackout, she shines a candlelight into the "blackout" of the relationship. > Coincidentally, candles are also considered romantic, so she could be trying > to symbolize the re-introduction of the romance. > Then again, she's asking HIM for advice, so maybe he is the technical manual. Ah, Joni is never easy :-) lots of love Anne ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 08:31:53 -0400 From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?B?UmU6IFJlOiAiRWxlY3RyaWNpdHkiIKBXaGF0J3MgaXQgYWxs IGFib3V0Pw==?= <> Excellent point, Hell! It also can be taken a bit more literally than I originally did, and she could be referring to an actual document, like in "Lesson For Survival": "Guru Books, The Bible, only remind you that you're not good enough" Thanks for the thoughts...you know I HATE it when you lurk. ;~) Bob NP: Joan Osborne, "Let's Just Get Naked" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 09:03:22 -0500 From: "J.David Sapp" Subject: "Electricity" What's it all about? thanks for the analysis, makes sense to me - i had always kind of just dismissed the lyrics of this tune feeling i couldn't get my brain around it, although i've always loved the song and the album, FTR is usually in my top three. anyway i'm going to go have a listen right now peace, david NPIMH -Electricity ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 10:07:09 -0500 From: "mia ortlieb" Subject: re:electricity Bob, that was an awesome analysis of "electricity". I loved it! Joni is definitely the metaphor queen! I read an article in the jmdl library a while ago regarding this song. I don't remember the name of the article, but the critic was reviewing "For the Roses". And I think he mentioned that the song "electricity" was about a car. He did, however, rip on Joni for using masking tape rather than electrical tape. This song reminds me alot of Rickie Lee Jones' "Last Chance Texaco". Although, I think in "electricity" the point of view is from the car itself. And the car is making observations, while watching Joni and her "help" struggle with the repairs. The car is probably reminiscing about the good old days when it did run and when "they once loved together and floodlight that time". I've always thought that the "minus" in this song was the minus on the thermometer dipping to those very cold temperatures. I've always loved this song, too. It is one of my favorites. Mia _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 11:31:49 -0400 From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: re:electricity <> And I wouldn't say that was wrong, but I didn't see anything in the lyrics that would indicate that. It appears to me that she's paralleling the nature of love with the electricity in general rather than its mechanical application to a motor vehicle. But the nature of electricity is such that it works in the context of a car (running vs. stalled) or a lamp (illumination vs. darkness) or anything that requires electricity. (Shades of MG's classic parody "You Turn Me On, I'm A Vibrator")... <> Hey, I'll defend Joni...whatever gets the job done! We've all probably used a screwdriver for a hammer, or used a hammer to knock a screw in! ;~) <> Very "cool" observation, adds some depth to the analysis. And it certainly works on that level... Thanks Mia...and thanks again to Matt for "jump-starting the discussion in the first place. :~) Bob NP: Uncle Tupelo, "Fatal Wound" (from the superb "Anthology" reissue) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 11:52:32 -0700 From: "Victor Johnson" Subject: re:electricity > "Electricity? Biology? Seems to me it's Chemistry" (Lee, Lifeson, Peart) from "Chemistry" on Signals (1982) This song reminds me alot of Rickie Lee Jones' "Last Chance Texaco". > Although, I think in "electricity" the point of view is from the car itself. > And the car is making observations, while watching Joni and her "help" > struggle with the repairs. The car is probably reminiscing about the good > old days when it did run and when "they once loved together and floodlight > that time". > - --- Victor Johnson - --- waytoblu@mindspring.com "Roses wait for the springtime, They sleep beneath the ground. They hear March winds a callin' For the sun to come around."vlj Visit http://www.cdbaby.com/victorjohnson ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 14:09:07 EDT From: WARREN901@aol.com Subject: Re: funeral song/art exhibit i told a friend several years ago that i wanted " the circle game " played at my funeral. of course i also told her, and my parents, that i wanted my ashes put on her compost pile . ( i still want to be cremated but i have been having second thoughts about her compost pile! ) she made the comment that my choice off songs would certainly produce adequate tears. another incident in my life was brought to memory when i read the post about the new york art exhibit. i was having a conversation about joni's then new release TI with a friend at school. we both made our way to college late, being in our forties. a young student commented that she had seen a retrospective of joni's artwork in new york, naturally i was envious and pressed for details. come to find out it wasn't joni mitchell but joan mitchell whose retrospect she had seen. ( the " i thought she was dead " comment was the first clue.) anyway... warren keith p.s. i always thought " shadow and light " would make a good dirge ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 14:23:02 EDT From: WARREN901@aol.com Subject: Re: input-output-electricity nice analysis of " electricity " bob, my sentiments exactly. it has always been one of my favorite tunes. i thought joni's clever use of metaphors was particularly genius as well. like you said, in lesser hands... metaphorically yours, warren keith p.s. what took you so long to buy FTR ? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 15:11:11 -0400 From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Re: input-output-electricity <> I remember in the early 70's when I first heard Joni, I didn't like her voice (the higher pitched stuff). I loved Court & Spark, and HOSL & Hejira and so on, but I never really went BACKWARDS from C&S until I joined up with BMG record club in the mid-late 80's, then I started buying up a lot of CD's, including the "pre-C&S" Joni; Blue, FTR, LOTC, MOA, everything in fact except STAS which BMG didn't list. I got that one finally in the latter 90's from my local store. So as you can see my purchasing history for Joni's work has been pretty wacky. Remember too that (in the early seventies) I wasn't exactly running around with a crowd that was listening to/talking about a lot of Joni Mitchell! That's why I appreciate a question like the one about Electricity, it forces me to dig down deep with these songs and I gain a fuller appreciation of them. Bob NP: Gomez, "Rie's Wagon" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 16:07:07 -0400 From: BRYAN8847@aol.com Subject: Re: JMDL Digest V2002 #217 -- Joni not at the Whitney The Whitney exhibit mentioned earlier is the work of the painter Joan Mitchell, not Joni. Would have been nice though.... Bryan ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 21:53:59 +0100 From: LXROSS@ctrl.co.uk Subject: natalie imbruglia sjc We have a great little show here in Britain where contemporary musicians come on do a song of their own and then cover the song of some other artist they like or particularly admire. The show is called Re-covered. Well tonight they had, among others, natalie imbruglia playing. I dont know if natalie, an antipodean, is recognised as a musical entity with my transatlantic cousins but she's had a tune or two warmly received here. In the event she covered Crowded House's 'Pineapple Head' but afterwards she was interviewed and admitted she have liked to do a Joni Mitchell song but she was scared to because she's 'so amazing'. natalie, my dear, get along to this year's jonifest in upstate new york and watch very many brave moths fly into that particular flame with scant regard for the consequences. Bob, I had the tape locked and loaded ready to wing it to you. Others on tonight's show were Stereophonics covering the Beatles' 'Dont let me down' and The Pet Shop Boys covering Neil Young's 'Philadelphia'. Les (London) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 8:46:55 +1000 From: john low Subject: Joni in Fiction Im sorry I cant remember who is preparing the Joni in Fiction section soon to be posted on Les web site. I came across a small reference that I thought might interest people. At the moment Im reading the very last book that Richard Brautigan wrote before he died in 1984. Titled "An Unfortunate Women: A Journey", it was only published in 2000, by St. Martins Press (my copy is the British p/b edition published by Canongate Books, Edinburgh, 2001). In it there is a reference to Joni Mitchell, though he doesnt mention her by name. Pursuing a thought on the impact of the motor car in Honolulu he writes: "I think the worst case of Los Angeles automobile cultural damage Ive ever seen is Honolulu. For all practical purposes of survival you might as well drop dead if you dont have a car in Honolulu. ... "A folksinger has written a song about Honolulu in which she mentions tearing down paradise and putting up a parking lot." Forgive me if this has already been noted. Best wishes to all, John (in Sydney) __________________________________________________________________ Get your free Australian email account at http://www.start.com.au ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 19:56:54 EDT From: Murphycopy@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni in Fiction Thanks, John! I was unaware of that Brautigan book, so I will be adding it to the fiction section. Mark from Seattle sent me info about two other books over the weekend, so the Fiction section is growing steadily. When I proposed this project, I thought we would be dealing with 5 or 10 books -- but it is way more than that. And since we decided to add Joni mentions in poetry, plays, films, and on TV, there'll be, as one lister signs his posts, much Joni! Also, thanks to Les Ross for telling us about Natalie Imbruglia on TV. Although it's not an example on Joni in fiction, it will be on the site. There seem to be so many references to Joni on TV lately . . . mentions on TV dramas and comedies are in the fiction section, of course, but I found it hard to resist including those references to Joni that come from talk shows, late night TV, etc., so they'll be in the Fiction section, too. So if anyone else knows of or comes across any Joni in the media, please let me know about it. (Sorry, no need to send info about those times when you hear her music on a supermarket PA system, although that's always wonderful!) I am very thankful that our lovely Lori is putting the finishing technical touches on the site now -- while she's on vacation! -- so Joni in Fiction should be here soon. Take care, --Bob ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 18:07:22 -0700 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: Joni in Film > So if anyone else knows of or comes across any Joni in the media, please let > me know about it. (Sorry, no need to send info about those times when you > hear her music on a supermarket PA system, although that's always wonderful!) I'm sure this has been mentioned before but last Sunday I saw the film 'Truly, Madly, Deeply' for the very first time. This is a film that was directed by Anthony Minghella before he became a bigshot, hotshot director after 'The English Patient'. It stars Alan Rickman and an amazing actress name Juliet Stevenson who absolutely blew me away with her performance. In many ways it was like seeing my own life portrayed in this movie. But I digress. There is a wonderful scene where two characters are being very joyfully silly and they start to sing 'A Case of You'. I said 'Joni moment' and Travis (who is not a fan) said 'A Case of You'? Of course he heard the lyric in the song but he did recognize that line as the title. I'm working on him, folks! Mark E in Seattle PS: For those of you who know this movie and know something about me, here's an interesting side note: Travis works as a care-giver to severely mentally retarded people. When Juliet's character re-encounters a man she met by chance who will become the new man in her life, I had to take a break. We stopped the movie for a few minutes. It was too much. ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2002 #142 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she?