Allow me to come up with a few words about my feelings for the song,
"Jericho," discussed here of late in the "how might we change DJRD" thread.
I REALLY like this song, in both of Joni's incarnations of it. When reading
suggestions that Jericho be one to cut out of Don Juan, my thought was "no,
let's cut everything else first." (Even though I like the album, it is one
of my lesser favorites, and "Jericho" is the highlight for me.)
There is a sadness in Jericho that runs beneath the surface of the song.
The song in its entirety seems fueled by Joni's resignation that success in
a close relationship is not likely to last, but let's try, try again. I
don't think it is immature at all. I see it as an attempt to be hopeful and
move closer to the happiness she wants in a realistic fashion. It is
perhaps, in a way, fatalistic. ("Anyone will tell you just how hard it is
to make and keep a friend...")
It is interesting to me that this "trying to keep myself open up to you"
seems possibly like a new idea to her, as if she has any choice but to
attempt to be open if she is going to be in a close, enduring relationship
with someone. I think this change is a leap in maturity, realizing that
lives shared together require openness and, almost certainly, compromise.
And this change is voluntary, a "promise that I made to love," as if she's
"finally found a way to keep the good feelings alive" that would make all
this "grown-up" behavior possible for her.
I love the ideas of openness and the kind of relational integrity that she
describes. I think many therapists would suggest that a "warm" relationship
is a "healthy" thing to aspire to, but some of the emotional quid pro quo
she describes in the second verse could possibly end up with the lovers in a
--oh, no, that awful, overused catch phrase-- "codependent" situation.
But then I DO want to enjoy the approval of my partner, as he can give it,
and do occasionally feel a desire to pull from his confidence when I feel
shaken. The trick is to be vigilant of the degree to which one must rely on
the other person; these rich "gifts" must be exchanged warmly, equally. And
we are all human.
Joni never seems to get overexcited in this song; these are measured
thoughts. But in the last verse, she affirms that, for a possibility of
wonder, we gotta work at it, and it gets easier.
A dialogue like this, perhaps:
"Let the soldiers in. But let them scale the tower of my personality. If
you want to find me, I'm here, the door's open, and I've got a kennel on
(sorry, kettle!)
Let's make this happen, love:
"Let these walls come tumbling down NOW, let them fall right on the ground.
Let all these dogs go running free, the wild and the gentle dogs kenneled in
me."
Jericho was the walled city whose structure God toppled for his followers to
conquer for him, right? I am not sure that it is all that resonant of an
extended metaphor as used by Joni here. (Sort of the way allusions to Blake
in "Taming the Tiger" don't seem to add any depth or understanding to the
song, to my ears.) But it is relevant that the story pits the "chosen
people" against an enemy, and whereas in the story, one side is conquered,
in the song, Joni is suggesting that there is no enemy, that we must
willingly let down our walls not to vanquish but to share. She sort of
mixes her metaphors by calling herself a Judas in the bridge, but here is
the complexity: will we betray our loved one or nurture him?
(By the way, in the story, I read that the harlot of Jericho was saved from
destruction in the story because she harbored Joshua's messengers. (Why are
there so many harlots with hearts of gold in the Bible?))
But back to the song...there is a straightforwardness to it that is
striking. It is different from many of Joni's songs in that it is a
second-person address; the song is being directly addressed to the lovee (or
alternately, perhaps, being mused out loud to herself, but I prefer the
former.) I am trying to think of other songs of hers in second person; help
me out everyone!
I have to agree, and I have always thought, that Jericho seems out of place
on Don Juan's Reckless Daughter. My guess was that she thought of it so
fondly as such a strong song that she just HAD to include it on another
album in a studio form, and DJRD was the first place she found to put it.
It was, clearly, appropriate to or necessary for her to record it twice.
A personal aside, I was very excited upon first hearing the song that it was
a new version of the MOA song. I hadn't put two and two together for some
reason when reading the label. I was thrilled to hear those words in that
setting.
And both versions are quite different. You might say that the first from
"Miles of Aisles" is given the L.A. Express treatment, and the DJRD version,
the Jaco treatment (Jaco, et al.) The moodiness of the second version
reflects an older, even more world-weary and introspective Joni. Her voice
sounds different, less precious, jazzier, of course.
As I recall, I have on at least one occasion called this my favorite Joni
song. (High praise, indeed!)
This has been fun to write...thanks for reading...
Openly, on a rainy Friday afternoon,
Steve
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
