Released on
June 22, 1971 Blue is a serious album
that communicates openly about the diluted schematics of relationships
specifically Mitchell’s own scattered diary pages which find themselves lying
weightless across the records cutting grooves. Mitchell’s recordings following 1971’s
Blue would continue to examine the
same personal themes but not in the same reflective perfection as Blue. Mitchell’s influence is drawn from
her first husband, her relationship with Graham Nash as well as James Taylor,
her lost child, unrequited love, love lost, love found and if love even exists.
The aforementioned themes packaged in a exquisite blue and set to sail on
thoughts of endless horizons and flowing waters.
The albums
rich hue is revealed with the opening ‘All I Want’, briskly strummed on an
Appalachian dulcimer and woody acoustic guitar chords. Joni’s introductory
vocal lines are held by the syncopated scrubbing of the collaborative strings
and a soft percussion. Mitchell’s singing is drizzled in longing, the songs
content drawn from the gray area between leaving one relationship while
entering another. A spectacular opening.
‘My Old Man’
follows and begins with stately piano chords soon joined by Joni’s ‘bel canto’.
Her falsetto is stunning adding to the emotional draw of the song. Contentment
rings from the keys while Joni shares her unabashed dependence on the unnamed
significant other a continuation from the wishful opening of ‘All I Want’.
‘Little
Green’ is one of the songs from Blue that
was mined from Joni’s past catalog for inclusion on Blue. Originally composed in 1967 the song was written for the
daughter that Mitchell put up for adoption in 1965. While the actual story
would remain private for a number of years, Mitchell must have felt that the
personal expression warranted inclusion on such a personal folio of songs as Blue. A crisp finger picked acoustic births
a contrasting ‘green’ melody. The song delicately balances regret and hopefulness
like a china tea cup on a saucer. Mitchell’s voice pours out hopefulness for
her green child ‘when the Spring is born’ while internalizing the ‘blue’ weariness
of the father leaving. When performing the song live in the late 1960’s
Mitchell introduced the song by adding, ‘This is about a child who was born in
Cancer and I hope that’s good’.
‘Carey’
picks up the tempo a bit, while again featuring dulcimer in addition to Stephen
Stills making a special appearance on bass and acoustic guitar. ‘Carey’ moves
with an organic pulse and a underlying joy. Mitchell herself has said the song
is inspired by her traveling times, specifically people encountered when she
lived in a hippie community in Crete. This is probably the most ‘grooving’ song
on the collection, a great cut.
The album’s
title track ‘Blue’ closes side one fittingly with the opening line expressing that ‘songs
are like tattoos’ over a solitary piano. The song is impressionistic in its
intent while also carrying a commentary on the unfathomable waves of loss and
despair washing over our narrator. Imagery of the sea and of the piercing of
flesh intermingle, permanency and its eventual erosion also play out through the
churning piano and Joni’s rippling voice which diversely dips, flits, bobs and
weaves. Joni has been out to sea and nothing has been washed away. It's nice to be able to take a breath while flipping this record, it's needed.
One of Joni’s
most beloved songs, ‘California’ opens the amazing side two with a warm
optimism and sunny admiration for her home. Sung from overseas with a delicious
optimism, Joni’s voice melts over well timed pedal steel and a groovy airy
melody. James Taylor makes an appearance on the song lending some country funky
acoustic guitar. One of the finest songs on the LP because of Mitchell’s
revealing sentimentality and expressive siren voice. Like another paean to
California, ‘L.A. Woman’, the song is a nationalistic anthem for the lost and hopeful
hippies of the time, the feeling that still exists today.
The uptempo
feel of side two continues with, ‘The Flight Tonight’, a churning acoustic
number with a darker feeling than the preceding songs. Rock band ‘Nazareth’
would increase the popularity of this Mitchell ‘B’ side with their own hard
rock version in 1973. Content wise the song slots into side two by expressing
the immediate regret of leaving someone behind as a flight takes off into the sky.
The ‘rock
room’s personal favorite of the album comes next with ‘River’. Performed by
Joni solo on piano, the ‘ant-holiday’ song beautifully quotes ‘Jingle Bells’ in
its opening melody. The song deftly revels the receded feelings that the
holiday times can pull from inside. The imagery of the frozen water, cut trees
and no snow contrast with the memories of dusty Polaroid’s on the mantle. Mitchell’s
admission that she ‘made my baby cry’ increases the intensity of the icy notes
from her piano from which the songs of the holiday’s bob their recognizable melodies
before submerging again under the ice flows. The ‘river’ is Mitchell’s only escape
from her created regret, selfishness and sadness.
The song is
awash with perfection from its melody right down to Mitchell’s icicle vocals
hanging crystalline from her winter eves. The acknowledgement of regret is so
strong that it becomes beauty and Joni’s piano only affirms this reality. Wow.
The dulcimer
strums another famed Mitchell composition with ‘A Case of You’. This is an additional
Mitchell song that has been covered a number of times by a plethora of
artists. This song is supposedly
influenced by Graham Nash and spotlights a bird’s eye view of a lovers
conversation in addition to scattered remembrances of her lover brought to the
surface by the narrator in differing scenes. The buzz of alcohol is compared to
the drunkenness of love by Mitchell with desire running through her veins; as even an entire 'case of you’ would still allow Joni to
remain on her feet.
The album
closes with the anticipatory extended piano introduction of ‘The Last Time I
Saw Richard’. The song is all raw exposure and the uncomfortable reality of a
love between two people reaching its inevitable conclusion. The song is purported
to be based on Joni’s first marriage to ex Chuck Mitchell. In the song the male
half of the relationship acts as the ‘old guard’ and what must be left behind. ‘Richard’
takes the opportunity to deflate our narrator’s optimism by stepping on the ‘moon
in her eyes’ and pulling her head from the clouds. The song exhibits a
tremendous sense of place which character portraits of ‘the dreamer’ and the ‘the
realist’. The truth is in the details,
the waitress, every light being on in the house, all representative of the
influence of dying love.
Like, ‘Blue’
which closes side one, ‘The Last Time I Saw Richard’ epitomizes the whirlpool
of emotions explored on the entirety of the record. Both songs bookend one of
the most probing and truthful explorations and expressions of the human spirit
and relationships ever committed to record.
The 1971
album Blue consolidates the human
condition into a relatable and transportational collection. The music contained
within is what takes the message into the crevasses of understanding. It’s art
like Blue that allows us to adhere to
the music and its creator and use their expressions as reflecting pools into
our own lives for deeper understanding. Mitchell’s gift for observation and
dissemination as well as composition and instrumentation is critical for
delivering her beautiful musical analyses.
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