Regarding Nuriel's reminder of cars mentioned in Joni's songs: I don't know if it's the same for teenagers in the States or even for teenagers in Canadian cities, but for those of us who grew up in or near a small Saskatchewan town, cars were where we had to get together.
There were parents in our houses; there was no place to go but get in somebody's car and drive around the countryside and yes, through the towns, usually drinking beer. We'd meet up with other carloads of kids and park somewhere and bullshit awhile, then drive around some more. Cars were our livingrooms. Maybe that's part of why cars are meaningful enough to Joni to be included in many songs. That, and when you drive somewhere in Saskatchewan, it's not a short ten- or twenty-minute drive. It's almost always a good chunk of time that you are sitting in some vehicle, watching the land and sky go by. Kate of the North
