> Huh. I never thought of "Court and Spark" as presenting a single theme, > although some of the tracks bleed together beautifully. From my memory [and > of course it seems like many dim years ago.... :) ] I recall that she > had "Twisted" in a can for a long while before finding a home for it, > sticking it on C&S, almost as a bonus track. After all of those songs about > doubt, "Twisted" sometimes reads like a song about madness/humor rather than > about humor/madness.
Well I don't know how kosher it is to re-post something you've posted before but that's never stopped me before. Bob Muller had an idea about a thematic thread in Court & Spark & I kinda ran with it: To me Joni's much more like the person in > Twisted.>> > > Which is why she covers the song and places it right after TC...to give > her story a happy ending. I think she threw 'Twisted' in to provide as a contrast to 'Trouble Child' and also to lighten things up. She takes the subject she has tackled so seriously in 'Trouble Child' and covers a song that treats it in a comic manner. Joni is also a fan of Lambert Hendricks & Ross and this was a good chance for her to cover one of their songs (as she does on HOSL with 'Centerpiece'.) as the flip side of one of her own. > > Look at the references: > > 1. In "Help Me", she 'gets that CRAZY feeling again'... > 2. In "People's Parties", she says (as a throwaway) "I told you when I > met you I was CRAZY". > 3. In "Just Like This Train", she realizes that 'jealous lovin' will > make you CRAZY, if you can't find your goodness 'cause you lost your > heart'. > > IMO, when she sees the unattached barfly broad in "Raised on Robbery", > it pushes her over the edge to where she feels she has to DO something - > she knows simple advice and religion aren't going to resolve it, so she > turns to Professional advice in "Trouble Child", probably a combination > of her own experiences with therapy as well as those of others close to > her. It IS tough to think of Joni in this situation as we care for her > SO deeply... > > But (like we've mentioned in the Therapy thread) ultimately she > realizes: > 1. she has to solve her own problems, and > 2. there's really nothing wrong with her at all, and "Twisted" is the > resolution to the whole mini-opera... > > Of course, I could be all wet!! No I think you might be on to something here! Madness or craziness does seem to be a theme that runs through this record. The madman in C&S tempting her to 'lay down the heavy burden of sanity' as Don Quixote would say, the feeling of giving in and losing control in 'Help Me', the craziness of the starmaker machinery in 'Free Man' and the need to escape from it and all those crazy people at those 'People's Parties'. 'The Same Situation' and 'Car on a Hill' are about how you can drive yourself crazy when you're in love and 'Down to You' & 'Just Like This Train' are about how you can drive yourself crazy when you're falling out of love. 'Raised on Robbery' is just a portrait of crazy woman who makes her living off of 'love' and the last two songs are about being perceived as insane, one from a serious perspective and one from a comic perspective. Could the title 'Court and Spark' be translated to 'Love and Madness'? Mark in Seattle
