I agree that it's a wonderful question to have asked, Jim. Her wide appeal to gay men
and lesbians is something Joni herself has now acknowledged publicly. On a CBC
television interview (Canada) she mentioned that gay men, blacks and women were the
three largest demographics that her music seems to appeal to. These three groups make
up the largest portion of her audience.
As to why gay men (and lesbians) flock to Joni Mitchell, we can really only speculate
and offer theories. I am gay and have loved Joni for her honesty, her joy, her
recognition and articulation of sadness, her celebration of life and learning and her
understanding and creation of art. These are not gay traits, they are human traits,
and to say I like Joni BECAUSE I am gay would be totally misleading and incorrect.
Having said that, I think gay men (I won't speak for the lesbians) have a shared
history as far as emotional development is concerned. As mentioned above, there is
HONESTY in Joni's music. Having to hide who you are for the ease of those around you
is very trying and difficult and painful. Coming out of that socially-imposed prison
is a wonderful feeling. Joni's outpourings of emotion mirror, more often than not,
that same kind of emotional realization. Joni hates it when people call her lyrics
"confessional" because it implies she has been hiding something for the greater good,
but there is something confessional about them - admitting to feelings that she had
previously not addressed. There's something about this theme that I think gay men
identify with.
I also said that I love Joni because of her expressions of joy and sadness. Gay men,
no matter how well adjusted or happy, go through a period of time in their lives,
maybe several periods, when they feel totally alienated from the rest of society. They
feel utterly alone. Understand that society is 99.9% geared towards the comfort and
pleasure of heterosexuals - from the movies at your local theatre to the ads on
television, it's straight most of the time. Living on the fringes, one can get very
sad, very dark, very moody, very angst-ridden, very lonely and feel like no one really
understands. Joni articulates those emotions in her songs. She goes through them as a
woman, but the simple fact that they are expressed in song acts as a lure to those who
have experienced those emotions, gay men included.
She also expresses the joy that comes from revelation and acceptance in love -
abandon, hope, romance, happiness. Sailing out of the storm of self-conflict and
self-denial is a wonderfully cleansing feeling and it IS happiness. It's like a
rebirth.
Of course there are gay men who hate Joni Mitchell, who can't stand her, who can't
even bear to hear a single note from one of her songs - I know a few! Some gay men
identify more strongly with the glitz and glamour of Barbra Streisand or Liza
Minnelli. Not me, but a LOT of gay men do! So, there really is no rule or reason that
we can apply to every gay man and every gay woman where a love for Joni Mitchell's
music is concerned, or any other habits for that matter. Refer to the lines of
"Borderline" to see what I mean. "every measure, every gage..."
Basically, however, the majority of gay men find that female vocalists best articulate
their feelings - at least that's been my experience. Every gay man I know has a vast
collection of female artists and only a handful of male artists, myself included.
Maybe this is because women tend to sing about men; maybe it's because gay men are
more emotionally similar to women than straight men; maybe it's because the female
voice is more expressive. There are no answers only theories.
But I do thank you for asking it.
-Andrew
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