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Hejira
this summer, being away and all.
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Welcome back, Tanya!
Song For Sharon is about Joni's childhood friend from Maidstone, Sharon Bell.
When I saw her in Atlanta in '98, she introduced it as "Song For Sharon Bell".
When they were kids, Joni talked of being a farmer's wife and Sharon talked
of being a singer. As life would have it, it worked out the other way.
One of the highlights of Jonifest was looking at Ashara's video she took in
Maidstone. They have a little "Joni Mitchell Museum" with some early photos
of Joni & her playmates, even the church where Joni went to "every wedding in
that little town". It was really neat to see those pictures. And of course,
Joni was always in the center of the shot and had her mouth open in most! :~)
Sharon's wish to become a singer did not go totally unfulfilled. She made a
record which included among other things, a rendition of a song written by
her childhood playmate, "Both Sides Now".
Song For Sharon is a brilliant song; even though it's incredibly long and
wordy (while performing it in New Orleans in 1995, she say's 'This song has a
LOT of words!'), each verse transitions to the next with such brilliant segue.
Bob
NP: "Big Yellow Taxi"