Kakki, I definitely agree with you on some of this. I think the most obvious demonstration of this would be the comparison of Joni's two versions of Man From Mars - The TTT version, and the her version from the Grace of My Heart sound track. While the TTT version is very nice, and melds beautifully with the rest of TTT, her GOMH version is a stunner.
What I cant agree with is the belittling of the Nice Kitty Kitty lyric! I know everyone hates this, but for some reason, I really like it. There a wink and nod feeling to it that I find very appealing. She's asking for the Kitty to be nice to her, when she knows full well that it will strike out at her at the first opportunity. There's a taunting in it that I must admit I find kind of sexy. It's a definite love/hate relationship - she's often written about her distaste of the music business, but here, with the playful tone in her voice, I think she's almost acknowledging at least a partial love for the damn thing. Her use of the phrase Boring! after the Nice Kitty Kitty line only supports this. For all her protesting, she enjoys the conflict. Let's face it, it's served as some pretty great fodder for some pretty amazing songs. As far as TTT sounding too much the same, I've had several friends make the same complaint about Hejira and Blue, and in reality, they both do have a unique consistancy to them. For some reason, though, people are more open to the sounds of these albums. To me, it's just a matter of preference. I happen to prefer Picasso's blue period, but I still recognize the genius of his rose period. I think this is very much the same thing. Jack
