From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2011 #294 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org 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, October 20 2011 Volume 2011 : Number 294 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Joni playing a solo acoustic show ["Jim L'Hommedieu" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:13:03 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Joni playing a solo acoustic show Attention first time collectors and veterans... I'm burning a solo acoustic show from March 02, 1972 in Philadelphia, PA. This was after "Blue" but before "For The Roses" was released. It's Joni in a solo-acoustic setting playing piano, guitar and dulcimer. It's on 2 CDs and includes Jackson Browne's solo-acoustic opening set. I'm willing to burn this 2 CD-R set for anyone in the US or Canada who mails in the blanks. If you are in the US, you should send return postage. If you are in Canada, I'll cover the return postage. No money will change hands. Sorry, but I've promised not to rip this show to mp3s. For details, write to me off list. Thanks goes out to simon for this fine show. There are some good stories like the one about Carey. - ---------------------- I'm also burning another show... Joni with James Taylor playing the BBC on Oct 29, 1970. This show is on one CD and includes my favorite performances (ever) of "California" and "Steamroller Blues". Send 3 blanks to get both shows. Thanks to simon for this show too. Is there anyone in Canada willing to burn some discs? Jim L'Hommedieu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:26:03 -0700 From: "Mark" Subject: Re: Trouble Child First of all I want to thank Anita for this moving, heartfelt and thought-provoking post. Jim, I have always had the feeling that the song is about someone who has had some kind of mental/emotional crisis as well. Not necessarily associated with substance abuse. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the subject may have been a female or even that it was Joni herself. But I still think the lyrical references I cited indicate that the song is about a male. Dave, I find your theory about heraldic symbolism to be entirely plausible. I don't know anything about that particular subject but it wouldn't surprise at all to find out that Joni does. Very astute observation. Anita, your thoughts about isolation reminded me of the line 'you really can't give love in this condition still you know how you need it'. When we love someone, we are reaching out of our isolation, seeking connection. What a desolate situation for the 'Trouble Child' to be so in need of that connection but unable to reach out for it. I would guess that images of water - oceans, rivers, lakes, pools - have many symbolic meanings in just about every culture on this planet. I think Joni has a special feeling about rivers. The reason for this isn't because of the song 'River'. It comes from the way she sings the word in 'Judgment of the Moon and Stars'. There is something about the way she draws the first syllable out and the inflection she places on the word that makes me think that the river has a special significance for her. There is almost a reverential tone in her voice. In the last verse of 'Facelift' she sings 'this river has run through both our lives' referring of course, to the South Saskatchewan River that flows through Saskatoon. I was raised in a town on the Mississippi River so I can understand that feeling of connection to the river. There used to be a kind of urban legend in my hometown that if you ever left, you would always be drawn back to the river. True or not, the Mighty Mississippi left an indelible impression on my memory and I'm sure that the South Saskatchewan is imprinted on Joni's memory as well. Of course, rivers generally run to some kind of ocean or sea. I remember the first time I went to Chicago and saw Lake Michigan. It was the first body of water in my experience that I could not see the other side of. Then I came out to Washington state and I will never forget the first time I saw the Pacific Ocean. I felt like I had found the mother of all waters, Mama Ocean in my mind, and that I had somehow returned to some primal beginning or home. It has been too long since I have been over to the coast. I will be drawn to that ocean for the rest of my life. I think that Joni probably felt the river of her life found its ocean as well. That is why she had that house at Malibu and why she has her sanctuary up on the coast in BC. The waves that break in her life change. The waves that break on the beaches are sometimes stormy and rough, sometimes comforting and calming. They are also repetitive and constant. The ocean is something that can empty your mind of trouble and worry, something you can lose yourself in. It can be a vast space to let the imagination dive into. You can find peridots, periwinkle blue medallions, gilded galleons, dophins playing, all manner of sea dreams or hear round resoundings of applause. You may find turbulent indigo stormy waters as well. Most surely, Joni Mitchell has found inspiration many times while contemplating that green water in motion. Mark in Seattle - -----Original Message----- From: Anita G Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 6:40 AM To: Randy Remote Cc: Joni List Subject: Re: Trouble Child As always, some fascinating analyses of 'Trouble Child' with some great insights and ideas about the symbolism. I certainly hadn't considered heraldic links. I have always been particularly struck by the numbers of images about water in 'Trouble Child'. The 'river of changing faces looking for an ocean', trickling through leaky plans, dreams over dams, plus the 'breaking' of both the waves and the 'patient.' Again, I am struck by the existential truth the song contains when Joni comments about the 'shock' of finding the truth of our isolation. Why does it comes as such a shock to know we really have no-one? Why,indeed. On a personal level, I have been in hospital twice in my life struggling with my depression, and the first time was in 1974 when, i think, I first hear C&S. The song sure sang lots for me, although fortunately I was never quite mad enough to think Joni had written it for me! However, the Doctors I saw often felt like vastly superior dragons and I certainly felt my 'right to be human' was going over the dam. Now I am older, I feel the truth about our isolation that Joni writes so well about in this song is tempered by the understanding that the people who trickle through all kind of plans can still be very,very close. We can still experience great connection with one another no matter how fleeting the contact and, of course, we can be blessed to have people in our lives who love us dearly and stick around. However, the truth of the fact that we are ultimately all alone is one of the most poignant aspects of 'Trouble Child' for me. 'We all come and go unknown' in so many ways. So, for me, both 'Hejira' and 'Trouble Child' are closing linked, being brilliant comments on existential truths. Robin, I know we will do a great job on this tune! Love Anita ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2011 #294 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe