Turq:
I ran into Joni Mitchell a couple of times. Once is written up in one of the
stories in
Road Trip Mind. The other was at a gathering with Yaqui medicine man
Grandfather Cachora.
Bronte:
Joni MItchell was an icon of my youth. My idol. I memorized 90 percent of her
song lyrics. I've only seen her in concert but she has always fascinated me. Is
Road Trip Mind a book you wrote? I'd love it if you shared your experiences
with her on the two occasions you met her, and your impressions of her. She
came across in her songs as a lady of all heart yet great strength. She was the
writer of "Both Sides Now" which Judy Collins made famous. Mitchell's words are
sheer poetry. Here are some of my favorite lines from her lyrics, that I still
remember by heart:
From Chelsea Morning:
Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I heard
Was a song outside my window, and the traffic wrote the words.
It came ringing up like Christmas bells and rapping up like pipes and drums!
Won't you stay, we'll put on the day and we'll wear it til the night comes.
Woke up, it was Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I saw
Was the sun through yellow curtains, and a rainbow on my wall.
Blue red green and gold to welcome you, crimson-crystal beads to beckon!
Won't you stay, we'll put on the day -- there's a sun show every second.
Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I knew
There was milk and toast and honey, and a bowl of oranges, too.
And the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses!
Won't you stay, we'll put on the day, and we'll talk in present tenses.
Or how about her song "Michael":
Michael wakes you up with sweets. He takes you up streets, and the rain comes
down.
Sidewalk markets locked up tight, and umbrellas bright on a grey background.
There's oil in the puddles in taffeta patterns that run down the drain
In colored arrangements that Michael will change with a stick that he found.
Michael takes you to a park. He sings, and it's dark, and the clouds come by.
Yellow slickers up on swings like puppets on strings hanging in the sky.
They'll splash home to suppers in wallpapered kitchens. Their mothers will
scold.
But Michael will hold you to keep away cold til the sidewalks are dry.
Michael leads you up a stair. He needs you to care, and you know you do.
Cats come crying to the key, and dry you will be, in a towl or two.
There's rain in the window, there's sun in the painting that smiles on the
wall.
You want to know all, but his mountains have called, so you never do.
Michael from mountains, go where you will go to. Know that I will know you.
Someday I may know you very well.
Okay, I'm getting carried away, but anyone who's read this far you may like
to read more, so I'll type a couple more. How's this for an image conveying a
world of meaning:
Just before our love got lost, you said, "I am as constant as a Northern
Star,"
And I said, "Constantly in the darkness. Where's that at?
If you want me, I'll be in the bar."
On the back of a cartoon coaster, in the blue TV-screen light
I drew a map of Canada, with your face sketched on it twice.
You're in my blood, you're my holy wine. You taste so bitter, and so sweet.
Oh, I could drink a case of you, darlin',
And still be on my feet. You know, I'd still be on my feet.
Then there's this gem about a priest:
The priest sat in the airport bar,
He was wearing his father's tie.
And his eyes looked into my eyes so far
Whenever the words ran dry.
Past the lash and the circle blue --
He looked as only a priest can: through.
And his eyes said "me,"
And his eyes said "you."
And my eyes said, "let us try."
He said, "You wouldn't like it here, no it's no place you could share.
The roof is ripped with hurricanes and the room is always bare."
He said, "I need the wind and I seek the cold."
He reached past the wine for my hand hold.
And he saw me young,
And he saw me old.
And he saw me sitting there.
Well, now the trials are trumpet-scored, oh will we pass the test?
Or just as one loves more and more, will one love less and less?
Oh, come let's run from this ring we're in
Where the Christians clap and the Germans grin --
Crying "let them lose," crying "let them win."
Oh, make them both confess.
TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote:
>
> Joni Mitchell, For Free:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQM1JkiQgoc
This video was Joni in her youth. I've been
traveling and working so much that I haven't
had a chance to pick up her new album (the
first in ten years), but I hope to soon.
Here is the promo for it, and for two other
of her projects this year.
I ran into Joni Mitchell a couple of times.
Once is written up in one of the stories in
Road Trip Mind. The other was at a gathering
with Yaqui medicine man Grandfather Cachora.
The smoking and all of her numerous chronic
ailments (she had childhood polio, and that
has repercussions later in life) have left
their share of wear and tear on her body
and her face and her aura, but she's still
one interesting woman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGa4spIe1-E
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