From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2004 #373 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 Saturday, January 1 2005 Volume 2004 : Number 373 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- new cover: All I Want... in spanish [Emiliano ] Shawn Colvin [Emiliano ] Re: new cover: All I Want... in spanish [Emiliano ] Re: Blue [Bobsart48@aol.com] Re: Blue ["ron" ] Dreamland plug [Brian Gross ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 16:35:18 +0100 From: Emiliano Subject: new cover: All I Want... in spanish Hi, Bob! I've just read this in El Pais, so I didn't hear it already. "The cuban Ela joins salsa, pop and half-breed (mestizaje) in the album: "'Abreme la Puerta" (Open the Door to me) Ela (Gisela Ruiz Gonza'lez, La Habana, 1978) makes her debut these days in Spain as soloist [...]. Also resounds the echo of one of the sigers most admired by Ela, the great Joni Mitchell, from who the cuban siger plays in castilian the classic All I Want." Well, I won't go away to day to get it (nobody could force me to leave my house this afternoon... except for going to the newstand next corner to get a DVD from Marvin Gaye, but it's only some metres away), and I don't know if the album it's still in the streets, but I'll try to get it next year (he he) so I can send it to the cover king. Maybe I'll do search in the wwweb for its record company, Salad (this is, indeed) the first album by this new record company, owned by the much known here Alejo Stivel. Hey, I just can't wait to hear it. I take the chance to wish you Happy New Year! (and my eternal gratitude for all the kind words I've recived from wonderful people in this list) Have a Warm winter! Emiliano ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 16:53:27 +0100 From: Emiliano Subject: Shawn Colvin Hi, dears! I must confess I heard of Shawn Colvin in the first place reading the biographical pages in www.jonimitchell.com (www.jonimitchell.com/Roots.html) with the story about recording Shawn's album Fat City in The Kiva, that studio... and, of course, that liner note "To Joni Mitchell - me wimp, you master." The fact is, I've just heard the recording from Shawn's concert in The Warfield Theater, San Francisco in November 29 1994. At the encore she sings a long rendition of her Polaroids, in wich she adds some lines from Just My Imagination, My Girl, Like A Rolling Stone... and these following lines: "Once in a while In a big blue moon There comes a night like this Like some surrealist Invented this 4th of july Night Ride Home" (Roars of enthusiasm by the audience, of course) Well, we've got her covers of River, Conversation, Urge For Going & Free Man In Paris in the Covers volumes (numbers 13, 19 -2 songs- and 24: Many Thanks, Bob!), as long as the versions of Amelia, Chelsea Morning & Big Yellow Taxi from the TNT All-Star Tribute, but this is new to me (although it's only a bit, alas!) Kisses and Twelve Grapes to everyone! Emiliano ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:14:14 +0100 From: Emiliano Subject: Re: new cover: All I Want... in spanish Hi! I've just discovered... Ela's official page is http://www.elaruiz.com/, and, according to the very little tiny bit from All I Want, it seems she sings it in English (at least its beginning, that's it) yours, truly: Emiliano ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 14:05:41 EST From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Shawn Colvin **but this is new to me (although it's only a bit, alas!)** Hi Emiliano, and Happy New Year to you & all my brothers and sisters across the pond! I have heard this one, have it in fact, labeled as "Polaroids Medley" in which she sings the snippet of NRH, not enough to include it in a compilation or add it to the database. Perhaps she'll give us a full version some day. On the other hand, the new "All I Want" is a new one and will go into the database right now. Thanks for catching it for me, it really made my day as I've spent the past couple hours trying to replace a flush valve in the upstairs toilet and now resigning myself to call the plumber to stop the drip-drip-drip. Damn, I hate toilets - of course they are nice to have around. Bob ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 14:14:39 EST From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: new cover: All I Want... in spanish Emiliano, How could YOU of all people miss it??? There are two covers of it on the CD, one that she sings in English titled "All I Want" and one in Spanish titled ""Todo Que Lo Quiero". The sound snippets are just teasers, it has an interesting techno sound to it - I can't wait to hear the whole thing(s)! This is very similar to the recent Argentinian release of Amelia by Roxana Amed...she offers up 2 versions, in Spanish & in English. A very sweet trend! Bob ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 14:21:13 EST From: BRYAN8847@aol.com Subject: Dreamland review with good Joni photo In this Australian publication: http://www.smh.com.au/news/CD-reviews/Joni-Mitchell-Dreamland-Neil-Young-Greatest-Hits/2004/12/31/1104344976538.html?oneclick=true Happy New Year, everyone.....Good riddance, 2004 (not to be pessimistic but that about sums it up). Bryan ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 15:25:44 -0500 (EST) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Happy New Year Some of you are already in next year and some are stuck with me in last year for now. Whatever year you're in, I wish all of you the very best. I do hope 2005 brings more joy than sorrow. Goodness knows, 2004 wasn't exactly a year of joy for so many reasons and has ended on a very tragic note. I'm kind of partial to numbers that are divisible by 5 (or 3), so I have hope for 05, and a good thing too, because we'll be stuck with it for 365 days. Happy new year, everyone. ===== Catherine Toronto - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:02:50 EST From: Bobsart48@aol.com Subject: Re: Blue Interesting discussion here, on one of Joni's finest "paintings". I have lately been categorizing Joni's songs (thinking of compilations by theme, perhaps, in the context of Joni's recent commercial concessions). To those 'theme' categories I might one day like to compile a CD's worth of her "most artistic" songs. Blue will certainly be a part of that compilation. Often I de-construct Joni's lyrics into slightly different forms than those shown on her album covers. This helps me focus on their underlying structure, which I sense Joni is inclined to try to mask - perhaps because they look too mathematical, too symmetrical, less artsy in that form. Here is my 'chiropractic adjustment' to Blue: Blue Songs are like tattoos You know I've been to sea before Crown and anchor me Or let me sail away Hey _Blue_ (http://www.jmdl.com/glossary/entry.cfm?id=3) Here is a song for you Ink on a pin Underneath the skin An empty space to fill in Well there're so many sinking Now you've got to keep thinking You can make it thru these waves Acid, booze, and ass Needles, guns, and grass Lots of laughs lots of laughs........ Everybody's saying That hell's the hippest way to go Well I don't think so But I'm gonna take a look around it though Blue I love you.................. Blue Here is a shell for you Inside you'll hear a sigh A foggy lullaby There is your song from me............... I agree that the opening line is - musically, if not on the page - a one word line. That one word line sets a number of contexts. 1. It is the 'wash' for the whole song. The whole album, really. That's what a painter does, right ? In this case, the wash allows the painting to portray images centered in the sea. 2. It addresses a specific person (who is dubbed by his condition) 3. It emanates plaintively from the singer's soul, and acknowledges the blueness there as well as in the soul of the addressee 4. The depth of the closing musical tone of that line suggest that blue is a dark place, but at the same time a warm place. Not dark and cold, but dark and warm. More the womb than outer space. An impression. This song is, to me, deeply impressionistic. All of the previous postings reflect agreement with that, at least as I read them. Still, the impressions seem to compel scrutiny. Again, the previous postings acknowledge that. Why? Perhaps part of the reason is that there is a disjointedness in the song's structure, even after I re-construct it - unlike many of her other songs. The first example of this lies in the initial analogy - started in the first verse, then completed - after a diversion - in the second verse. "Songs are like tattoos........... Ink on a pin Underneath the skin An empty space to fill in" God, I love that. In between, Joni diverts attention from the analogy to anchor herself at the center of the song. Is it is ever thus with her? Even in Jericho, the 'I' word dominates, even as she vows to sublimate it. You know I've been to sea before Crown and anchor me Or let me sail away What is the sea? Is it the bluest place, or the roughest place, or the least stable place? Or from time to time the most peaceful, solitary place ? Here, the suggestion is that her addressee offers her the roughness, the challenge, the stimulation of the sea, but she has been there, done that. As she travels the sea, it is not solely for the act of travelling. There needs to be a destination, a place of stability - at least temporarily, a place to lay anchor. More quiet times. Like a river flowing. Deep kisses and the tide rolling in. Don't just stimulate me, jerk me around. Give me something to hang onto, or I'll have to move on with my journey, sailing away, traveling, traveling, traveling. Next, we leave the ego, and back to the addressee. "here is a song for you". A message, besides "make up your mind about me", is one of understanding and encouragement - you can do it, we can make it if we try: Well there're so many sinking Now you've got to keep thinking You can make it thru these waves Acid, booze, and ass Needles, guns, and grass Lots of laughs lots of laughs........ Then, she expressed her doubts about whether this effort of hers will work, whether it is worth the risk of the perfect storms, the tsunamis of the heart. Back to the first person again. The prospect of fulfillment in love is the only rationale for this risk, and from it emerges a commitment to try (a la Jericho) and a statement of position and maybe even commitment ? 'Everybody's saying That hell's the hippest way to go Well I don't think so But I'm gonna take a look around it though Blue I love you.................. Finally, she wraps her message (her song) in a seashell, the present from one lover to another wrapped in a package, the song soothing like a lullaby but at the same time sighing with the resignation that seems likely to follow shortly. Still what a beautiful present it is, bound to get under his skin, like a tattoo. Blue Here is a shell for you Inside you'll hear a sigh A foggy lullaby There is your song from me............... If it were simply the lyric, it would be enough. But the connection between the haunting music and the lyric is so intense, so profound, that this song stands among her greatest pieces of art, in my opinion. When she whispers "Inside you'll hear a sigh", and then the 'foggy lullaby' is followed by the piano chords rising in tone, yet diminishing in volume, fading in the fog........... What an exquisite moment ! And, she finishes with the simple flourish of a painter signing her painting. "There is your song from me". No regrets, Coyote. Whoo. Bobsart ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 02:13:02 +0200 From: "ron" Subject: Re: Blue hi >>>>bobsart wrote >>>>What is the sea? Is it the bluest place, or the roughest place, or the least stable place? Or from time to time the most peaceful, solitary place ? Here, the suggestion is that her addressee offers her the roughness, the challenge doesnt the sea have a specific meaning in dream imagery?? if i look at a couple of dream web sites: "To see an ocean in your dream, represents the state of your emotions and feelings. It is indicative of some spiritual refreshment, tranquility and renewal. To dream that you are traveling across the ocean, signifies new found freedom and independence. You are showing great courage." and the significance of waves - from another dream website: " small wave may indicate the surfacing and acknowledgement of minor emotional issues. large wave may represent either the surfacing of large emotions or a surge of power and determination. tidal wave may imply feeling overwhelmed by emotions, allowing them to impact on your life in a destructive manner " does this not perhaps refer to: "well there're so many sinking Now you've got to keep thinking You can make it thru these waves" is joni not perhaps talking about the emotional state that goes with being in love, and the loss of control when the waves get out of control??? ron who often dreams of being on the beach watching tidal waves but has never yet dreamed of wally and trojans .......................................................... ps - happy new year & lots of good music to evertyone!!!! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 23:49:12 -0800 (PST) From: Brian Gross Subject: Dreamland plug Sydney Morning Herald Fri, 31 Dec 2004 JONI MITCHELL, Dreamland (Nonesuch/Warner) NEIL YOUNG, Greatest Hits (Reprise/Warner) Both of these Canadian giants have had careers of more than 30 years, replete with regular stylistic changes and highlights, although in terms of "hits", most of those happened in the first half of the 1970s. They've also had periods where label managers and large numbers of their fans were at best perplexed, if not turned off altogether, by those changes. Those factors make it almost impossible to compile a collection of songs reflecting that body of work, no matter how good the intentions, particularly when you try for a hits collection rather than a career overview. After all, even semi-serious fans recognise the singles/hits aren't always the best songs in a career. But people will keep trying and people will keep buying, if only to keep "stoking the star-marker machinery behind the popular song", as Mitchell sings here in Free Man in Paris. Advertisement AdvertisementYoung's greatest hits here are, according to the sleeve notes, "based on original record sales, airplay and known download history", which, like an ARIA platinum award, means anything you like, really. The fact is these songs are the best-known Neil Young tunes, the ones you will hear on classic rock radio, and come almost exclusively from 1969-78 with not a single song from the past 13 years. Hard to complain, I guess - that's what's promised in the title, after all - unless you think a good compilation should reflect the depth and range of someone's work for fans and inspire relative novices to explore the rest of the catalogue. Sensibly, Mitchell's collection is not called a greatest hits; crucially, she had a hand in the song selection; thankfully, it is a thoughtful collating of a career. Mitchell doesn't have a problem including the songs likely to be demanded by fans, from the girlish Big Yellow Taxi to The Circle Game, Carey and Help Me. And fabulous they are, too. But here also are more demanding moments from her less commercially successful explorations of rhythm (The Jungle Line, Dreamland and Furry Sings the Blues), her less travelled '80s and early '90s work (Nothing Can Be Done, Come in from the Cold) and the orchestrated, deeper mined reinterpretations she made of her material in recent years (Both Sides Now, Amelia). There's plenty missing, of course, and some may find the non-chronological running order odd but, packaged with reproductions of gorgeous paintings and full lyrics, Dreamland is exactly the kind of product that will send new and old fans off to the source material, to the absolutely essential albums themselves. now me Sounds like a good review. Happy New Year, Joan and all! Here's to a better 2005 for each and every one of us. A hug to each of you. take care, and again, happy new year, brian in south jersey ===== Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got till it's gone --Roberta Joan Anderson, who never lies __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2004 #373 ********************************* ------- 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? (http://www.siquomb.com/siquomb.cfm)