It is a metaphor, > for myself at least, > about coming to grips with 'endings.' And how > to live life in spite of > knowing it all ends. > > Face it folks, All good things come to an end. > Even Joni. You. Me. The > JMDL. Fests at Ashara's. Record contracts. > Lovely, young, strong soprano > voices. > > The question is, how gracefully are we going to > deal with the close of > this brilliant, meteoric career? Whine? > Complain. Lose one's self in > what was?
You know, I find it fascinating that everyone who is completely blown away by Travelogue and consider the best recording yet from Joni seem to assume that anyone who is less than thrilled with this new recording are longing for what was and/or wish that Joni had a sweet, young voice again. I may be wrong but that's the impression I'm getting. And I think that couldn't be further from the truth. That's almost as absurd as walking around wishing that Jerry Garcia was a little more alive so the Grateful Dead could play once again. Not quite but almost. Do you really think that people on this list are wishing that Joni could somehow slip back into time, be 20 something again for a few months, record a new record, and then magically reappear in 2003 with a new record. I don't know what the odds of that happening are but I think they're pretty slim. Did it ever occur to you that people who don't like Travelogue a whole lot aren't wanting or expecting anything more from Joni than whatever she wants to give. Where has anyone actually said they wish Joni would record another "For the Roses" or another "Court and Spark"? I haven't seen any such suggestions. The argument that one has to love Travelogue in order to gracefully accept change and things coming to an end is a bit overzealous in my opinion and I'm a little tired of hearing that rant over and over. Me personally, I still don't have a definative response to Travelogue, have liked some things on it, not cared so much for others, but I 'll say it again...for the most part, listening to Travelogue has helped me develop a deeper appreciation for Joni and allowed me to enjoy even more, albums that I love so much to begin with. Since when is that a crime? Why is there this assumption that someone who loves the original studio albums of any artist for that matter, is living in the past and "losing themselves in what was." Personally, I like to lose myself in Joni's music. It has that magic quality that enables me to just get lost, to soar along with the music. Is it somehow, not cool now to listen to Court and Spark several times over a weekend(which is what I did and thoroughly enjoyed it)? Is that not politically correct in the joni world? If Joni stops recording all together (which is a possibility) should I just sit in a room and not listen to any Joni Mitchell. That's about as much sense as this argument makes. Before I ever heard Joni Mitchell, I was a huge Rush fan and was devoted to them for a long time. They also put out a new album this year, "Vapor Trails" which I don't particularly care for. James Taylor put out "October Roads" which I really like alot. Beck, who I've never bought any cd's from, put out "Sea Change" which I completely love. My point is, just listen to what you enjoy listening to. Personally, I don't care whether or not Joni is the greatest musician of the 2Oth century. Whether she is or isn't- doesn't matter. I will enjoy her albums just as much either way. Let's imagine Joni is 80 years old, doesn't perform anymore but occasionally will sing at special occasions. But she doesn't have that pretty soprano voice anymore...and her albums are even older-doesn't matter. I will still like them just as much as I ever did. If you want to critique/defend Travelogue, then critique/defend it by its own merit without any reference to "a pretty soprano voice" or to people who love pretty soprano voices. I may be wrong but have people who love "Travelogue" stopped listening to Joni's early recordings? Honestly, some of the people who defend Travelogue so fervently and implore that they truly love Joni so much, while putting down people who don't like "Travelogue" seem to have little grace in my opinion. Victor in Atlanta, who's listened to alot of Nick Drake lately with whom I really have no choice but to "lose myself in the past" with as he sadly passed away in 1974 after only recording three albums(+ one posth. release)
