Looking Out My Back Door

On Joni Mitchell And Aging Gracefully

I love it when movies and television make good use of classic music as a way to enhance or move their story. The wonderful "Love Actually" did that rather brilliantly (writer/director Richard Curtis spends a disproportionate amount of his time matching music to film, as meticulously as Cameron Crowe, who started his career as a music critic before becoming a filmmaker). One song in particular was Joni Mitchell's remake of her own "Both Sides Now." She originally wrote and recorded it for her second album, "Clouds," released in 1969. Most associate the song with Judy Collins, whose version was a chart-topper, but Mitchell reinterpreted it on her "Both Sides Now" CD in 2000, and it is gorgeous. It's from the perspective of an older, wiser woman who truly embodies the lyrics she sings, and it's stunning.

Mitchell's delivery of the lyrics alone is enough to make you weep, but when paired with poignant scenes, as it was in "Love Actually" and, recently, on the daytime drama "General Hospital," it can become a sobfest. I speak from experience.

What I find most ironic about my new appreciation for Joni Mitchell and others from her generation of singer/songwriters (James Taylor, Cat Stevens, CSNY, Carole King, etc.) is that during their heyday, when I was a pre-teen and then a teenager, I could barely stand them. I was tortured at summer camp, surrounded by cabin mates who not only played the aforementioned artists ad nauseum, but also had singalongs, accompanied by two of the campers who were actually decent acoustic guitar players. This did not mesh well with my favorites, KISS, Led Zep and the Stones. We battled constantly, and I usually lost.

Here's the irony: as an adult, I have attended several James Taylor concerts, adore Carole King (actually, I found her tolerable way back then, but would never have admitted it at camp), and have an appreciation for much of the music (except for one or two CSNY songs; they truly don't do it for me) of the other artists. Rod Stewart's recent remake of Stevens' "Father and Son" is lovely, as was the original. Do I still listen to Led Zep and the Stones? Absolutely. Even KISS, if I'm in a bizarre mood. However, I'm more likely to put on a Sarah McLaughlan or Sting CD these days.

I'd like to say I've matured, but I think I'm simply getting old.

posted by Hopster @ 8:08 AM