I just finished reading the Border Crossings interview. I just love
reading this type of interview with Joni. She puts so many thoughts
out there. In this part she pretty much says what I was fumbling
around with a while back in comparing the standards to Joni's music:
JM: The standards had a lot of melodic movement and a very simple
statement broken up into short phrases. Whereas the folk music of the
singer/songwriter movement was losing the sophistication of melody and
harmony, but it was gaining longer, lyrical lines.
(snip)
BC: Does "Both Sides Now" seem different to you in its most recent
incarnation from when you first recorded it?
JM: It's different every night, depending upon what happens to you
just before you go on stage. You bring different things to it, and
that's probably the beauty of its being vague rather than specific, in
that it remains interpretable and changeable.
Me again: So Joni herself is saying that a simpler lyric is more
interpretable than a more complex one. She also made some interesting
comments about Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and the type of
material that each sang.
Great interview but Mr. Enright could have been a little more careful
with some of his facts in his intro. 'Slouching' coming from 'Leda
and the Swan'? And 'The Only Joy in Town' set in Spain? The Spanish
Steps, yes, but I believe those are in Rome, Italy. Nit-picky, ain't
I?
It was also interesting to read Joni's take on what her marriage to
Chuck was about in contrast to what he had to say about it. Sounds
like a real swell guy, ol' Chuck.
Mark in Seattle
