2001-03-05
Joni Mitchell, "Blue", posted at 03:20:53
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Still on a Joni Mitchell kick. A huge one.It's amazing how much "Blue", released six years before I was born, is meaning to me right now. "I am on a lonely road and I am traveling / Traveling, traveling, traveling / Looking for something, what can it be." Hmmm... that sounds familiar, like my own unending search for nothing in particular. I guess I'm looking for "the key to set me free."
My only reference point for Joni Mitchell is whenever I see her on some TV show now, like on the Grammies a few weeks ago. I see her as an old woman. Plus, she sounds old on her records. But Joni was only 28 when she released this album, and it's certainly speaking to me right now.
"California" is my favorite song at this point, even beating out the wonderful "River" (now that I've heard Robert Downey Jr.'s remarkable version, I can never hear Joni's the same way) and the wacked-out "Carey". I've memorized the song, which is always a sign I love it - I want an imprint of it on me. After all, songs are like tatooes, as Joni tells us in "Blue".
Anyhow, back to "California". Obviously, I've never been there, and I'm not even seriously looking at it as an option. Too far away, too much of a plunge, too many earthquakes, too expensive. But Joni makes it feel so wonderful. I think it's because she's singing about her home, and I'm juxtaposing the song into my own life about seven or eight months from now. Wherever I am, I'll surely be feeling some twinges of homesickness. Leaving Michigan is something I feel like I need to do to make sure I want to stay here, but I'll miss it. I don't make friends very easily, I will miss my family, etc. It will be tough. The biggest transition since moving to college. And I hear Joni singing about this transition throughout "California".
What's brilliant about her lyrics is that she's got a lot of obscure lines that don't mean anything literally to me - "kiss a sunset pig", yet they manage to move me, sending chills up my spine. Having a new musical discovery, even one from 1971, is certainly a breakthrough for me. I've tried listening to a few other albums of Joni's - most notably her live album "Miles of Aisles" - but haven't yet found the same connection with her work as I do on "Blue". But she could be heading to the pantheon.
I got my oil changed the other day, and was struck by the fact that I won't be changing it again until after my internship is over. Woah.
Applications went out for Summer Conference positions last week. I've already filled one out. Not sure if I'll turn it in or not, but the first step has been made.