Marcel Deste wrote:
"If you look at these albums isolated from anything and everything
else they look one way and let the nitpicking begin. However, taken
along with the rest of Joni Mitchels life or career and they look very
different."
"She resolutely refuses to allow anyone or anything to control the
path she blazes and frankly I cant wait to see where she goes next. I
may not like it when she gets there but I will always love the fact
that she tries. When there is a Giant among you, you just observe.
Like they used to say about Michael Jordan, you cant stop her you can
only hope to contain her. We are all entitled to our opinions. On the
other hand there are trees and then there is the forrest."
And I write:
I just had to respond with a hearty 'right-on Marcel!' to this post.
I think we can, as Bob said, analyze and examine but in the end I just
can't bring myself to say 'Joni should have done this differently' or
'Joni should have cut that song from this or that album'. There
aren't many people in the music business with the genius to be able
to, first of all, conceive a complete, fully realized work of musical
genius and then secondly, be able to go into a recording studio and
make it happen: compose the music, write the incredible words, play
the guitar, play the piano, play the dulcimer, work out what you want
the other musicians to play, make adjustments as they come to you in
the creative process, be willing to experiment, work & refine until
she has at last realized the vision she is pursuing. There are other
artists who specialize in one or two or maybe three of the things that
this woman excels in and yes I can occasionally point to something one
of them has done and say 'why did they record that song?' or 'why did
they use that arrangement on that song?' or 'they should have done
that differently'. But not Joni. Her visions are her visions and
they are complete visions. Joni is the only person that knows how to
realize those visions and she has all the talent and know how to do
it. Tamper with it, subtract from it, add something to it or alter it
and it is no longer Joni's vision. I for one would never dream of
trying to second guess her or tell her what to do. I'm not saying
that I don't appreciate some albums more than others but there's
almost no-one else whose entire output is as brilliant overall as
Joni's. And if that is blind, fanatical devotion, so be it.
Thanks, Marcel. I've been blocked lately. Sat down to respond to a
post or two and just couldn't make myself do it. Don't know why but
I'm in a funk. I feel sometimes like I don't have anything more to
contribute here. It also really bums me out that I can't be at
Ashara's again this year. Maybe I just have too many things on my
mind these days. Between family worries, layoffs at work and a budget
that's getting stretched too thin these days, I think I'm feeling the
stress. I needed a little help to find my way back here.
Mark in Seattle
