Joni Mitchell: Both Sides, Now - a Masterclass in Empathy & Perspective | The Daily Doug (Ep. 358)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- #JoniMitchell #BothSidesNow
In this #MasterpieceFriday edition of #TheDailyDoug, I'm taking a deep dive into Joni Mitchell's classic song Both Sides, Now. In addition to our usual harmonic analysis, we take a close look at the profound lyrics as we listen to the original studio recording from Clouds and the poignant re-recording with orchestra in 2000. Thanks to our friend Francesco for recommending this song to us. I hope you enjoy!
Reference Video: • Joni Mitchell - Both S...
Reference Video: • Joni Mitchell - Both S...
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![Joni Mitchell - Clouds (Full Album) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/J48BpiPLHtA/mqdefault.jpg)
It's as if a young Joni Mitchell wrote a song for her older self. Remarkable. What a talent.
Its a song about childhood ending... she was 21, @Larryfertel1567
@@alvaroLguevara Sigh..... The great thing about songs, and particularly great ones is that there can be multiple interpretations. This masterpiece is one of those songs.
@stevenmeyer9674 -Can't recall an illusion at 60, when ur 21... but you can at 21, looking at 8.
But I get the sentiment....
You reminded me of a time i got accused of being to concrete literal, by an artist I adored when i was 19.
Maybe I still am : (
maybe it was why she got away.
Maybe its why it all still hurts so so much 45 years later.
When it comes to female songwriters, there's Joni Mitchell, and then there's everybody else. Simply wonderful.
Truth
Joni is monumental but I would not easily dismiss so many others, such as Kate Bush or Bonny Raitt. Poets all.
The list of superb female songwriters is endless, but Joni sits on top for me. An incomparable songwriter, singer, musical arranger and musician, she lead the way for so many others who followed.
When it comes to songwriters there is Joni Mitchell and then there is everybody else.
You can take the word female out of that sentence, and it doesn't become less true.
I have the 2000 version on 5.1 It is simply stunning. The voice of an women who has experienced life as opposed to the original by a young woman with her life in front of her. And all that comes through in both versions.
2k Stunning for sure, hard to listen to its so sad. Tear up every time.
Completely agree.
Please tell me you saw last night's Grammy performance of the song. Seeing an 80-year-old Joni Mitchell with a face that exudes wisdom and dignity and then she sings about how she has examined life from every angle and still doesn't understand it… The whole thing takes on a much deeper and poignant meaning than it ever did before.
I came here to say precisely this. It's as if Young Joni specifically wrote this song for Elder Joni to sing.
Always loved the song since I was a kid, but the 2000 version owned me. I get chills every time I hear it.
I started watching this, and about halfway through, I started to send you a message that you needed to hear her 2000 performance of this. Almost as soon as I started typing, you did. I'm 64, and I have to say that her take from 2000 is probably the most moving thing I have ever heard, as it sums up the changes in my perspective on life in the last 40 years. She somehow managed to sum up the differences between my life then and my life now and deliver it in such an extraordinary way. The orchestration combined with her voice brings me to tears every time I hear this. Then you add a deeply moving analysis relating it to life and society today. Thank you so much for this.
every time I hear her sing these old songs, I start to cry.... so magical
Memories
I got really into Joni in my late teens. I was really into Jaco, and after finding out Joni played and recorded with Metheny, Pastorius, Brecker and Alias, I was floored and needed to explore her discography. Mingus is a great album, dedicated to and assisted by the late great Charles Mingus. Joni is an icon in my opinion, one of the few voices left from the 60's. I've never heard her 2000 version. Her voice sounds heavenly and very graceful. Gods bless her.
You also played with Jerry Garcia Thanks I'm backing vocals
Mingus is amazing
The early recording is the voice of a person struggling to make sense of the world. But the later recording are the reflections of a Woman who has come to terms with who she is.
I bought this CD in the early 2000's and after hearing her new interpretation of "Both Sides", it just stunned me to tearful silence, still does. It really was a whole other side to the song. BIG shout out to Vince Mendoza who did the amazing orchestral arrangement and to the great Wayne Shorter on the soprano sax. Don't know if anyone here mentioned this yet, but I read a lot of the studio orchestra were in tears when it was recorded.
The 2000 recording never doesn't shred me. The voice is of someone who has been thru the wars and come out a very different person, asking all the same questions but from a totally different set of circumstances.Absolute genius concept. And looking at that cover portrait, the Wayne Shorter aural brush strokes are the icing.
1969 - the Golden Age of Rock/Pop Music was exploding with talent and originality which unfortunately has long since faded into mediocrity. Joni was just one of many sensitive voices but hers had just a bit more depth in reflection. We now can cherish and relive her contributions to music that are timeless. Thank you Joni ...
Hey Doug, if you get to read this- Joni was famous for her guitar playing in open tunings. She had her own language of music that later in her development in the mid 70's translated to working with musicians like Jaco Pastorious, Pat Metheny (many other greats) etc. their needed to be a greater musicianship to translate the instrumentation of her original music. She was notorious for using suspened chords- watch her live "Shadow's and Light" show and you can really see her playing and genius :) ~JP
Check this out ... th-cam.com/video/zyDW7lslN5Y/w-d-xo.html ... Joni is amazing
The 2000 version has always struck me as warmer, her voice deeper, with more experience and experiences. In fact I find the lyrics surprisingly deep for an author of Joni's age in the early 60s (although she is one with strong experiences from an early age).
In any case, a masterpiece in both versions. Of a complex simplicity that allows her voice and the message of her verses to take over and touch your soul.
La versión del 2000 siempre me ha parecido más cálida, su voz más grave y profunda, con más experiencia y experiencias. De hecho la letra me parece sorprendente profunda para un autor de la edad de Joni a principios de los ‘60 (aunque es una persona con fuertes experiencias desde temprana edad).
En cualquier caso, una obra maestra en ambas versiones. De una compleja simplicidad que permiten a su voz y al mensaje de sus versos, llevar el control y tocar tu alma.
I could listen to that a million times and get goosebumps every single time!
This song is used with beautiful effect at the end of Ricky Gervais’ Afterlife… it’s a great watch if you can get it in the U.S. it’s on Netflix in the U.K.
Netflix here, too. Bingeworthy, superb entertainment.
Amazing how she sings the two different styles that portrays her life experience from two different ages: one young love, young life, with seemingly plenty of life to live, and the other looking back at most of life gone, and the same words and new delivery is sardonic, jades and shards of life’s scars on display. The music masterfully done.
Thanks Doug for another great reaction and analysis. You really did get to the core meaning of this great song.
As I am trying to cope with an agressive form of brain cancer, I feel that you have given me some extra insight and strength to reflect on my own illusions about life. Thank you once again, and thanks to Joni Mitchell.
Joni was so young. Epitome of old head on young shoulders. Always loved this song. Always loved listening to Joni, whether studio or live, whether earlier or later. If someone is not moved by her art, that person is made of stone! I do so hope, Doug, that we hear more from her on your channel. Please. -- Including a deeper analysis of her unique musicianship is always welcome. (Sus chords and unusual harmonies all the time!)
Beautiful, thought-provoking analysis. My favourite video of yours that I've seen.
I’d recommend having a listen to Joni’s magnum opus, “Paprika Plains” from 1977, a 16+ minute fantasia for piano, voice, and orchestra, with a sweet little coda featuring Wayne Shorter and Jaco Pastorius.
For sure! Don Juan as a whole isn't one of her best, but "Paprika Plains" is an absolute masterpiece
Classic period, love Don Juans Reckless Daughter, Hejira is my favourite, Hissing of Summer Lawns in my view was the springboard for these great original albums
About "Paprika Plains": Joni spent years being patronized by men(I know, shocking, right). One fine example of this was the string session in NYC for "Paprika Plains". Joni heard the first playback and said that the strings were not in tune with the original track. Of course the men involved discounted her perceptions and said that everything was fine. Some time later, when she met Charles Mingus for the first time, the first thing he said to her was that the strings were out of tune. She knew immediately that they would get along well.
I listen to many, many different artists and many styles of music from several continents. With all due respect, no one has expressed such a complete musical skill set as Joni Mitchell. She is a songwriter without peer who utilises chords, chord progressions, and melodic invention that are far outside the norms not only for pop, but even for jazz. She was integrating African musicians into her music long before Paul Simon or Peter Gabriel. Her guitar playing is quite skilled, particularly when one considers that she has had significant motor impairment of her left hand since having polio as a child. Her abilities to use the recording studio as an instrument are of the highest order. Finally, her taste in the construction of both her arrangements(the string arrangements are not hers) and the staffing of her bands is also particularly skilled. Obviously, her voice is also fantastic in conveying feeling. Finally, she refuses to stand still. Her albums are rarely similar to one another and some of them are shockingly different from their predecessors.
There are many musicians in the world. A small percentage of whom perform professionally. A tiny percentage of those professionals are truly exceptional. And then there is Joni Mitchell.
Cheers,
Alan Tomlinson
Couldn’t agree with you more.
Still, Paprika Plain is one of the most outstanding pieces of music ever written!!!!
Joni writes such beautiful songs. I love her work.
Joni uses alternate tunings a lot...
Both Sides now was in drop D and capoed on the fourth fret, so in F#
...Doug is good - isn't he?...
The Album "Blue" made me fall in love with Joni's purity of voice, with guitar, dulcimer, or piano. Every tune is a masterpiece. Then I bought "Clouds", then "Hissing Of Summer Lawns", "Heijra" , the list goes on. I will never tire of her music, but "Blue" is near the top of my top ten albums of all time.
The entire album is a masterpiece
This song hits me like a brick every time I hear it. Thanks for taking me through this in another way than just listening, deepening the experience in a way. Y'all :-)
The earlier version is as bright and hopeful as the later one is retrospective and melancholy. Both beautiful!
Most Unique Tunings and voice and Greatest Lyrist Ever☁️⛈️⛅ also, those paintings on her album covers are all done by Joni: she's the "TRUE ARTIST"!
Agreed! She is a poet and musician!
Joni plays in a lot of open tunings on the guitar, this gives such an open sound. Love it.
"I really don't know life at all "
Me neither. And I will be 70 this year.
Note:
those are her self-portraits on the covers of both albums
as on on all her albums
she was 23 when she wrote this song
Great closing act for this week, indeed a masterpiece. Women in music week was great, could have also been a month or a quarter. 🙏🎶🎶
Thank you Doug for your many great posts. You now must view the video of her singing this song at the Newport Folk Festival last year. In her 80's and after her aneurism the latest generation of this song is transformative. An old lady with little breath and obliged to sit throughout shares her wonderful and accurate voice and tells us "I really don't know life, at all." You must listen to it - all that Doug says about the song's meaning evolving is proved true beyond imagination and you will cry...
Beautifully analyzed. I've always loved the song but have never really examined the lyrics sufficiently, as I have with some of her other songs. Thanks for adding clarity. I suppose, following your theme, I have only looked at one side of the song. Perhaps I can now look at both side and claim that 'I really don't know this song ... at all'.
The reworking of The Circle Game is equally moving. That and Both Sides Now are probably 2 of the greatest songs ever, for their core honesty, for lack of a better word/thought. You couldn't have put that any better, Doug. Thank you.
I found your channel and subscribed instantly while traveling through the Pink Floyd tune Shine on You Crazy Diamond. Watching you lay out the chord structure while listening truly inspired me to learn this gift. I am assuming is Relative Pitch? I have been practicing this technique and I must say. learning I, IV, V became a breeze the rest has becoming complicating. Anyways, I love the story you had behind this tune. I've heard it hear and there in my life but I have never listened to it like this. Magical!
Doug has won a place in my heart for doing this great tribute to Joni, who is a hero of mine!
Emelia's version in CODA is awesome esp. with the limited training she has. Seal and many others have done really well too.
Jonis music is a blessing from the heavens worthy of endless praise
Vince Mendoza is Boss arranger. He's really respectful of every artist he's ever worked with. Check him out.
Joni said this version was much more poignant than her previous version as if she'd written it more recently.
She was way ahead of her time and we're the one's catching up. Cheers Doug.
I love Joni. Thanks for your analysis.
She is one of those artists who I never gave much notice until I got older and now.., her voice, her songs just hit me completely different.
Twice this week, you've brought tears to my eyes. Good stuff!
Joni Mitchell is one of the greatest signer-songwriters of all time.
She is also know for her odd guitar tuning, which maybe on display on the "Clouds" version.
She's the female version of Gordon Lightfoot!
Or, Gordon Lightfoot is the male version of Joni Mitchell...
@@Habichiwoowoo yes. They are interchangeable.
Someone play this to Putin…now!
The one and only Joni....brilliance
Doug NEED Kate Bush: "An Endless Sky of Honey" the FULL LONG SONG from 42 minutes!!!!
I hope Joni watches this. I love this. I love the days of no auto-tune on instruments and voices. I love cracking, slightly off notes in a vocal that is mostly right on key. Lifelong huge Joni Mitchell fan and this was a great appreciation of her classic song.
This is outstanding!
Hey, many people have reacted to this song: SHAMAN| FAIRY TALE (RITUALIVE)-> th-cam.com/video/Xg_gOqZudKI/w-d-xo.html
But, nobody has a Classical background like you do. Unfortunately, "Andre Matos" the Brazilian lead vocalist passed away in 2019 at the age of 47.
Listen to Amelia and Woodstock from Travelogue, they are brilliant orchestral reworks
A quintessential Joni Mitchell composition. I think it describes looking at life during phases of life, in maturing. One of the sad things in getting older is we tend to get jaded, and experienced.
Great song. Thanks. How about The Who’s “Tommy”. The rock opera.
Check out Britney Howard's version from the Kennedy Center Honor of Joni... It's very well done. It's in the spirit of the second version you played.
Joni is in a class of her own.
Props to Wayne Shorter for the beautifully lyrical sax playing on the 2000 version.
Great video Doug. I've heard this song all my life on the radio, but never took any notice of it. So out of curiosity, I watched and boy, I'm glad I did. What a powerful song and lyrics, wow. I'm going to have to find a lyric video and learn it, so next time it is on the radio I can sing along. Thanks Doug.
Just found you and listened to the brilliant Joni Mitchell. Thank you for your perspective ❤️…did you get the chance to watch her sing this at the Grammys a few weeks ago? Now 25 or 30 years later and still breathtaking. 😊
Where's the "love" button?
In the 2000 version I sense the years of actual experience and the trials seen in those years. It brings me to tears, as I too at 70 yrs old can relate to the changes in my world view from that as a 20 year old.
Judy Collins version was very popular when I was a kid. That’s why we sang it in 5th grade chorus. And her version is beautiful, but Joni’s phrasing makes hers so much more meaningful. She makes you feel what she’s singing about, and I love her guitar accompaniment as opposed to all the orchestration of Judy’s version.
Wayne Shorter played sax on a lot of songs.
The profound multidimensional aspect to her work is on display here listening to these 2 versions back to back. It is looking at the bulk of her life and work, through the differences in the arrangement and vocals, from both sides of her career. The other lyric that alludes to the ideas you expounded on are at end of "Sweet Bird" from The Hissing Of Summer Lawns... "Guesses based on what each set of time and change are touching."
Thanks for a great vid.
'Travelogue', the album which followed 'Both Sides Now', consists entirely of Joni's songs, again arranged by Vince Mendoza and with the same stellar cast of muscians. It's a thing of beauty. Vince Mendoza's arrangements are stunning - in 'Refuge of the Roads' he uses a French horn to echo Jaco's bass figures from the original version. Genius!
Brano magnifico!
Very wise musings, Doug!
Um. You're fantastic! Landed here by seeking a meaning behind the lyrics to this song and clicked without knowing who you were. So impressed with your interpretation and musical analysis that I'm marveling and subscribing by the end. Bravo!
Joni's Weird Chords❤️☁️
Sublime, without a doubt... what a piece.
Great analysis, Doug, great message on the world today, too. Thank you! I've been a Joni fan since I was about 13, and I'll be 65 in July. I'm as big a fan now as I was then. If and when you do another Joni reaction, please consider "A Case Of You". It's one of my favorites by her, and ;you would love it. Thank you, again!
"La vida es sueño, y los sueños sueños son"
I heard the first recording when I was in college. I liked it a lot, and played it many times on the guitar. I didn't appreciate the song near as much as I do with the interpretation Joni gives it in her older age. That deeply resonates with me at 72. I love your comments.
Great song to end woman's week with and great introspective discussion to go along with it Doug. Thanks.
Absolutely loved this song from the first time heard it.
Tonight's video has touched me deeply and made me think profoundly about my path through life which has been spectacularly unusual. Introspection during the pandemic has made me lose my path and this basic song with guitar was so brutally simple and basic (of late I have turned my back on electronic instruments and retreated to my acoustic guitar and piano) it has thrown me back into my early life and wondering how I got here; how my PhD in Quantum Physics changed my life from painter to scientist and how in management I lost track of everything that was dear to me. Now retired and back to Art the adventure continues tomorrow morning. Thank you Doug and Joni :-)
Very insightful on many levels. Thank you!
Finally, we get to Joni, what an artist
Awww I really enjoy this. Keep up the good work ❤️🙏🔥🔥
Joni became pregnant in art school and the father fled to California. She married Chuck Mitchell-- they were a duet for some years-- after the baby was born and in care, since he agreed at first to adopt or raise the baby with her.. That fell apart and her daughter was put up for adoption. Much more to the story, but by the time Joni wrote Both Sides now, she'd gone through a hell of a lot, that allowed her--forced her more likely--to look at life from both sides now. That said, Joni is a poet, songwriter, singer and musician in a class of her own!
I love Joni Mitchell! One of the first albums I ever bought was Joni's Blue album; still an all-time favorite.
This is my favourite video you've done so far
Doug - anything from "For the roses". Just ANYTHING please!
I guess you know that Joni has experimented a lot with different guitar tunings. Something for an analytical guy like you to look into?
Wow! You did a nice job on this. I'm only a casual viewer of your broadcasts. It's your strength but sometimes you jump too fast and strong into the harmonic analysis even where there isn't anything to analyze but here you did a great job exploring the lyrics. In fact it wasn't until the 10 minute point that I heard any discussion of the chord progression. I'm an old person and was most familiar with the original version. I had only heard the string version a few times. She lost a lot of range in her voice through excessive cigarette smoking but she gained a lot of maturity with her phrasing and expression. I don't know if it was helped by all the jazz styled singing she did later in her life or if it was due to just getting old and mature herself. Anyway, I appreciate you doing both versions and re-opening the door for me on the later version. I have 10 or 15 Joni albums but not that one. Another album to buy! Oh well. Thanks again.
excellent episode. If you are going to continue with Joni, my favorite is "Song For Sharon". There is a lot there. Also consider "Judgement Of The Moon And Stars (Ludwig's Tune)" that begins with Beethoven's awareness of his deafness.
Your facial expressions convey everything I am feeling as I listened to these 2 renditions of Joni’s masterpiece. Sublime indeed. Thank you.
That scene with Emma makes me cry every time. I could relate to her anguish.
A deep dive indeed: Ive shared this with the tutor on WEA Uk course about singing and song writing (Lorna Poole) I think everyone will learn from you. Ta again L
As a kid in the 60's, I first heard Glen Campbell's version of this song. It was a favorite of my dad's and spoke to me of wisdom I was yet to acquire. Since then, I became a Joni fan (while loving Glen all along), and this song has changed meaning many times into my 60's. Thank you Doug, for bringing this back.
Joni was 23 when she wrote "Both Sides Now", and for all its insightful poetry, she has commented in the ensuing decades that she was a hubris-filled twit [paraphrasing for effect] for thinking she'd known enough of life to really comment about "both sides" then, when it truly takes a lifetime to understand the many ways that the world shifts around us. I find the revisited version a fascinating bookend to her masterpiece.
She is brilliant
If you get a chance check out “The Last Time I Saw Richard” from Blue (1971) and compare it with her 2002 version on her “Travelogue” album.
Hello :) please, please :) listen to this song - Metal Church- Watch The Children Pray - I'm very curious about your charismatic evaluation of the singer, but also the music track. Please :) It's a beautiful metal ballad. Be sure to choose the studio version or the official music video. Thank you.
Thank you for doing this video.
The Joni Mitchell song that does it for me, is, Down to You. off her Court and Spark album. The whole album is great but the orchestration here knocks me out.
mine is "Job's sad song", (Turbulent indigo), but everything from Hejira, or "hissing" or others, is top notch.
Hands down - Joni's the best women singer/songwriter. Anyway, I don't know where to make musical/song suggestions but I'm just going to request a song right here. Oingo Boingo is one of the most talented musical groups ever - best live band I ever saw - and they don't get enough love. Please be the first person to react to their song - "Grey Matter." Great musical piece. Second song suggestion - "Reptiles and Samurai." You will love their unique musical compositions!
The later version is my comfort blanket it doesn’t make me sad i don’t reflex on life gone by it just surrounds me warmth comfort
You mention the chord suspensions several times, Joni used her own open chord tunings on many of her songs. Normal guitar tuning is EADGBE, and the most common open chord tuning is DADGAD. Joni invented her own.
{:-:-:}
Yes, I think she had like 50 different tunings. DADGAD is also known as Irish tuning, I believe, and used a lot for Irish folk music
@@mojorider8455
Yes, it does have a nice, Irish, folky feel to it. I tuned mine to DADGAD once, I think it's one of the ones Rory Gallagher used to use. But then I didn't know any chords! To really work on it I'd need two guitars, one normal and one with an open chord.
{:-:-:}
@@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 it's fun to experiment! I think open G is fun, you can play a lot of the Rolling Stones tunes like Keith Richards
My first exposure to this piece was Neil Diamond's cover version that came out in 1969. A different, yet no less emotionally jarring take on it and I love it dearly to this day.
Same here. My mom had used to play that version all the time when I was young.
I would to see a analysis of The Ladder(Homeworld) and Roundabout by Yes
Love her use of open tunings! It provided such a wonderful sound, with the droning strings. Very rich and colorful sound
You should listen to Joni's moving song "Love" from "Wild Things Run Fast". A real tear-jerker Doug.
Wayne Shorter's saxophone playing is inspired.
That interesting saxophone solo us from my favourite saxophonist, Wayne Shorter.