the first time i listened to the album For The Roses i was unsure how to
react. i confess that to you all now, this rainy tuesday at the end of
march. before i ever heard the album i knew YTMOIAR, CBS&SF, FTR, and WOHAM
from the various compilations (hits, missed, MOA) and i loved these songs.
overall, howver, the album failed to make me love it. so, i gave it
another chance. again, the album didn't make me love it. so i gave it just
one more chance. i wanted to listen to it some more, but who could find teh
time?
my thought on it at the time:
yes, Joni is, as ever, utterly admirable for her artistic integrity. yes,
the lyrics are great, and yes, some of the music is amazing, but
still....the album didn't quite get to me the way the others had!
at the time i was planning my trip to america and was deciding which cd's i
just coudn't live without. i co-ordinated things like Rdiohead and Jeff
Buckley and massive attack with friends to ensure that between us we brought
the best selection possible.
it was up to me to bring the likes of fleetwood mac, Rufus Wainwright, and
Joni Mitchell. Mere days before i signed off jmdl Kakki mentioned the
effect FTR had had on her ( i believe it was in relation to the extra songs
Joni performed on the BSN tour).
on the strength of her words i decided to give the album another chance to
let me love it, so i put it in my bag.
Joni's 1972 masterpiece sat in my bag for six weeks. one sunny morning i
really really wanted to hear CBS&SF, so i broke out the old album. it just
so happened that this was the day i was due to have my photograph taken by a
local newspaper that had previoiusly interviewed me (ultimately my picture
wasn't used in the article, but it was great fun to be in my house posing
with a Toni Morrison book as an ever so slightly eccentric photographer
climbed on the backs of chairs to get the right angle, and me worrying that
his dog would do a little *too* much snooping).
See You Sometime was just starting (for the fifth time) when the
photographer said something to the effect of "forgive my ignorance, but is
this Joni Mitchell?". well, you can imgaine my raised eyebrows!! he asked
if it was the new album, so i explained my love for Joni and my wish to love
this album. while explaining this to the gentleman i realised that it was
the words of Kakki i was almost echoing. later i was surprised to note that
the album played in my head all the time.
my grandfather died that august; i never returned to Ireland for the
funeral. it was a difficult time for me, and i know that i made it hard for
those around me.
and all the time the album played in my head. i don't need to attempt an
explanation i guess, but the album really did give me comfort.
from mid august until whenever KidA was released Eva Cassidys Time After
Time album and For the Roses were virtually exclusive sounds coming from my
cd player. at the moment, Judgement of the moon and stars is my "favourite"
Joni track. thank you for that Kakki.
Kakki must know that she has had an effect on a lot of poeple on this list.
my small example is just one of many that could be told, and even that is
something that her mere *everyday conversation* influenced, let alone her
more thought out, reasonable, and eloquent discussions.
Kakki will be sorely missed by 'most everyone, even those she may never have
realised that she affected.
it has been expressed in better words than i could spin, so i'll just add a
big fat "me too" to the wish that your departure will be temporary Kakki, or
that maybe you'll be waiting in the wings, waiting... because everyone
hates to have less than what they had before.
Love and Luck
GARRET
NP- Joni- Get Together, PBS 30.11.69. ((just gotten to the part where Joni
declares that "life is too short"))
