Lama wrote: "I think this is ONE painter who has painter herself into a corner. Someone tell me she's working on new songs. We haven't heard that for a looooong time. And she said "Yes" to a Hits package. And the next one in the nest is the FIRST-EVER sequel. This sounds exactly like an exit strategy to me."
Jim, I hate to say it, but I agree with you, for various reasons. First, Joni's last release of original material was TTT in 1998. The album included one song, "My Best to You," that she didn't write; another, "Man from Mars," previously completed for a movie, and several more she had been singing in her occasional concerts throughout the early 90's. Simply put, her output, in sheer quantity, is not anything approaching what it once was. Joni has also commented publicly that she "sings her sorrow and paints her joy," hates the contemporary music biz, and wants to retire. She has been quite clear through most of the 90's that her heart is not in music. And I think it very telling that, as an immediate response to the events of September 11, her reaction was not to write a song about the horror of the attacks, but to complete a painting of the burning towers. She's living now nearly full-time in her box of paints. Finally, and most sadly, I'm not sure that Joni has a lot more to say. Judging from the quality of the some of the writing on TTT, which tended too often to disintegrate into ill-conceived rants against various forces real and (perhaps) imagined, I'd cautiously venture that the quality of Joni's songwriting does not currently occupy the extremely high level it did for such a very long time. I'd further say that, consummate artist that she was and always will be on at least some level, she knows that. In all, if Joni wants to end her professional association with the music world to pursue a life filled with painting and the laughter of her grandchildren, I say: let her. She's earned it. And she's given us so much that I feel like some sort of musical and literary glutton, daring to ask for more. This is especially true if pursuing another path would contribute in a significant way to her lasting happiness. Mary P.
