I count this song among my favorites by Joni, or anyone for that matter. Few other songs give me this feeling of contemplative reflection on life and love. And I dig how the song's story is told from an ethereal and unordinary perspective. So, I was intrigued to hear Joni talk about the inspiration for the song on the Philadelphia Second Fret recordings from March 1967 (thanks, simon...hi Nikki). Joni attributes the impetus for "Both Sides, Now" to her reading of _Henderson the Rain King_ (1959) by Nobel laureate Saul Bellow. I had been meaning to read the tome for some time, now and finally got around to it this sunny Sunday. I thought I'd post the salient passage to the List, as I don't recall it being discussed here before. Bellow's book, a comedy and a fiction, is the story of a New York millionaire who goes to Africa to "find himself" and the meaning of life: "Africa reached my feelings right away even in the air, from which it looked like the ancient bed of mankind. And at a height of three miles, sitting above the clouds, I felt like an airborne seed... ...And I dreamed down at the clouds, and thought that when I was a kid I had dreamed up at them, and having dreamed at the clouds from both sides as no other generation of men has done, one should be able to accept death very easily. However, we made safe landings every time." -Julius np: 2nd Fret "Urge for Going, Both Sides Now, Circle Game, Morning Morgantown..."
