What Makes This Song Great? "Amelia" Joni Mitchell 

And I thought I was the only man who cried listening to Joni Mitchell’s songs. I guess there is still hope for this world then!

This song affects me like few others. David Crosby played this when I saw him with my dad a few years ago. I think I had only seen my dad cry once before in my life. He didn't even cry when we found out his cancer was terminal or as he went through the dying process. But he cried when he heard David sing this song.

Thanks for giving Joni her due. Lots of people get labeled as “genius.” Joni deserves it with a capital G.

No one sounds like Joni. Intimate stories wrapped up in haunting melodies; who can ask for more. She is a force of nature.

Rick, I don't know but, it is possible you may have saved someone's life or at least changed it fundamentally forever with this emotional yet compassionate appraisal of your love of a great song. The world needs more of this, thank you.

Joni loves this video too: "... [Rick] did one on “Amelia.” And she was on the phone one night telling me how much she loved this video and how much she was impressed with how this guy really understood her and the song and got it on every level." - from an interview with Patrick Mulligan about Joni's new Archives release on The Second Disc, Oct. 30.

Rick, I was a touring rock musician in the 60's, then I got injured in multiple car accidents and stopped playing. Ever since I began watching your videos the Joy you display when discussing music and musicians has given me the motivation to play (Hammond Organ) again. It's been 50 years and I can hardly play, but I realized I was missing the joy you live in and I need it!.. Thank you

When you mention all the “lift” in the song she’s intentionally/musically creating the mood and feeling of aviation. Such a genius she is.

I was named after this song!! Joni Mitchell holds such a special place in my heart. Thank you so much for doing this!!

Better late than never to preach the Gospel according to Joni, Rick. Thank you for this wonderful analysis! This is my favorite record of hers, but it is a difficult choice. You are right to tell people to explore her entire catalog. She is a true artist, ever evolving and never satisfied by her genius work. In my humble opinion, she is one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century - period.

Who's back to watch it again after Rick's Video bashing WMG ? We're more than happy to see the video back up, Thanks for all your knowledge, enthusiasm and hard work Rick.

I'm a Lynyrd Skynyrd, Outlaws southern rock fan who also loves good basic classic blues rock. But I absolutely respect the ethereal folk sound of Joni. She has sick freakish talent with her tunings and melodies and as a blue collar rocker I have great respect for Joni and her sound and voicings. Anyone who plays music has to bow in respect to her sound and feel. God bless you Joni and thank you for your music.

I've been wondering how familiar you are with Joni's work and if you were ever going to discuss one of her songs in this series... And there you are covering one of my absolute favourites and it turns out you are as passionate about her music as I am. Wonderful to see someone share that enthusiasm. It was a delight watching this video. Here's to crying to Joni's music!

When a guy tells me he cries when he is moved by a piece of music (especially a piece of music by the true genius of Joni Mitchell), I know immediately he’s a good guy.

I find Joni Mitchells talent to be so extraordinary that its emotionally overwhelming. Creativity is an easy word to say but when you see it in full reality through her music its just stunning and inspiring at a level that’s beyond words. Joni from Ft McLeod Alberta...simply a gift to the universe. Thanks Rick for sharing the emotional impact of her brilliance.

Thank you for paying homage to Joni. She's an absolute treasure.

Oh, you get extra props for explaining your reluctance and delay in featuring her music, Rick! She's intimidating, and I find it totally impossible to closely listen to her without losing a lot of myself in emotion. I wept as I watched this! Thanks for honoring this amazing artist and craftswoman. She's peerless. Then, now, and forever.

Joni, being from Canada and through her work, might give some insight on what it means to be from here. Much like Rush, Neil Young, The Band, The Tragically Hip etc, the sound really belies the vastness of this place, and the empty space, of which there is plenty. And I know some American states get real winter weather, but there is something awe inspiring and terrifying about travelling across Canada in the winter, or just getting up for work when it's minus 30C and it won't be light until 9am. You need the solo from Limelight on the car radio, while you sip coffee and drive through slush. You need Joni in the background, painting with words, or Gord from The Hip (RIP) wailing about Wheat Kings or doomed fishing trips. Canada is really a nation of people with little to no ideology, or maybe even identity, but somehow, perhaps involuntarily, each is a natural feature, like the trees, mountains, prairies, or the coasts. Sorry if that's flakey sounding.

Fighting back tears seeing somebody actually get Joni and illuminate some usually unexamined aspects of her work. Thanks, Rck

After all these episodes, I just realized what you're doing. At least for me, it's like you're unlocking hidden secrets behind these iconic songs. Joni's music has always been on somewhat of an other-worldly plane for me, I don't have the musical aptitude to connect with the more sophisticated and beautiful songwriting structures she utilizes, but after watching this episode, I finally feel like I grasp her songwriting a little more deeply, which makes me appreciate her talent a hundred fold. Thank you for sharing your own unique talent of making a breakdown of a song an art in and of itself.

Excuse me for my English but Tried to explane my gratitud for Rick because it was very emotional this Joni Mitchell song. Thanks Rick because when I was young and listened this kind of jazz songs I never underestand why the acords or melodies were so intensive and deep and strange and beautifull. Today I open my mind for this masterclass. I am 58 years but I look my pass and the life with other eyes. Rick is not only the an amazing person and teacher, I considered my friend and guru.

I was working with Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays on their Warner Brothers Music Show LP when they got the call from Joni asking them to be in her band. They were so psyched. The show they put on that evening was smokin'. After the gig, they packed up, went to Massachusetts, recorded the "American Garage" LP, and then started rehearsals with Joni. I met up with Pat when the "Shadows and Light" tour passed through Philadelphia two months later. He told me that he was having the time of his life.

I’m so old that I found it hilarious that you needed to explain who Joni is. 😂

The whole of the Hejira album is a masterpiece on every level, the greatest song cycle since Schubert's Winterreise no question. If there is a jewel in the crown then it is Amelia, a shimmering, deliquescent piece of musical word-painting. Perfect.

Anyone who doesn't have the biggest lump in their throat by the end of this needs a medical examination... Just too beautiful

This entire album is a masterpiece - lyrics, music, arrangements, textures, performances, everything is out of this world! Joni at her peak IMHO.

I love how you just get so overwhelmed by the beauty and perfection of this song that you can’t even say anything except AAAAAH. 😂

I named my daughter Amelia after this song. Beautiful record and love the live version with Pat Matheny. My personal favourite album of Joni’s.

An older woman I worked with said "I had friends that knew her in art school, and they said they were glad she made it, 'cuz they all just thought she was weird." I understood immediately that my colleague was unredeemable, if that's the only thing she could think of to say about Joni. I lived off Hejira for months when I first discovered it. Some people are lighthouses, showing you how you can navigate forbidding waters, but look out there's rocks here.

Rick you are the guy that will load $5000 of musical equipment in a $500 vehicle to go play a gig that pays $50!! You make these videos not for profit or gain, but for the love and appreciation of others that would do the same. I see your work as being the keeper of lost souls...never letting others forget they were here and how they made the world a better place.

When Blue came out, I wore out the grooves, sang and knew every word. From then on, Joni was the brightest light in my world. A great many of the singer-songwriters I knew cited Joni as their most profound influence. A great many listeners consider her the Greatest of All Time. David Crosby said (paraphrasing) "In a hundred years, they'll look back and realize that Joni was the best of all of us". Thank you, Rick for the great analysis of Amelia. I'd have a hard time deciding between Blue and Hejira as my favorite album.

I love Joni and this is one of my favorite songs as well as the album Hejira. I have a hard time choosing between Blue and Hejira as my favorite album of hers. Perhaps her writing, voice and musicianship are the best on Hejira, but so many of her songs color the tapestry of my youth that it is difficult to choose. To be honest I have never heard a Joni song that I don't love. She is a true legend and anyone who has not taken the opportunity to know her music is doing themselves a huge disservice. Thank you for doing this podcast, I loved your analysis of this song. Joni paints a moving mural with her lyrics.

One of my favorite lines on Heijira: What a strange, strange boy He sees the cars as sets of waves Sequences of mass and space He sees the damage in my face Joni helped me through my young adult romances, and general youthful angst. If I wasn't listening to her songs, I was singing them. Thanks for the loving tribute, Rick!

Notes (heh heh): 3:02 Tuning - CGCEGC (C-Major slightly sharp ~10 cents) 3:33 Chords - F full bar chord on fret 5 Bb Major Add9/F 4:04 Initial chord voicings 4:16 Direct Modulation to G (G Cadd9/G) (or, I say, a G to a Gsus4,sus6 see 9:50 ) 4:38 Direct Modulation to Bb (Bb Ebadd9/Bb) 4:43 Gorgeous Chords and Melody 4:56 LIFTS - Intro in F, modulate UP a M2 (whole step) to Verse in G modulating UP a m3 to Bb to Am7, Bmb2,b6, G, Cadd9/G 5:34 Melody - emotionally moving melody notes in sync with the chords 5:58 (visual of notes) 5th of chord (G), 3rd of Chord (C), 5th of chord (G) descend add 9 repeat up a m3rd 6:51 Am7 4th to 3rd Bm7 4th to 3rd This is just a Chord-Tone Melody 7:32 "Cap" - his term for a melodic lift at the end of a melodic phrase (much like a Jazz/Blues player does) to give it closure like a period at the end of a sentence. 8:04 "Artists don't know what they are doing" Joni does. Interview - Sus chords. "Chords of inquiry" Unresolved chords. Using them as a paint brush stroke. 10:18 Lyrics (also 2:05 - 2:30) Imagery - driving across the burning desert 6 jet planes leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain --> 6 strings of my guitar hexagram of the heavens strings of my guitar 11:22 Guitar solo - Larry Carlton - pedal steel sound. (he's painting!! Aural painting.) 11:58 Chorus "Amelia, it was just a false alarm." 12:08 Eargasm/Chills section 12:40 Bass enters 12:58 "Blue" album 14:08 Intro Chords - the chord shape = E/F# in standard tuning (222100) then (444300) 15:12 "hauntingly beautiful" (Rick, wow. You did a fine and good job of reflecting her brilliance to the world. Thank you.)

I'm here because this video was taken down and is now back. Can confirm, I will be listening to much more Joni Mitchell than I typically do. These videos are great for getting me into music I didn't know.

Joni is a true artist. Blue is an absolute masterpiece, and River just might be the saddest Christmas song ever made.

Wow Rick! * * * * * I am a musician for 63 years now. Joni has always been at the top of my favorites. That album is my favorite Joni album by far. I have listened to that song [probably] 500 times. The Guitar . . .The Lyrics . . . Very Magical. Thank you for your review. I have never seen that much emotion on your face and the way you Shined while describing her music and passion.

I cry to all Joni’s music. Thanks for FINALLY covering Joni! This lineup with Metheny and Jaco is HISTORICALLY amazing!

I grew up listening to and hating this artist and album - thank you for making me realise at the age of 50, that I know nothing and need to relisten to Joni Mitchell

I’m so sad to be losing my hearing, Joni M has long been part of my essence😔. But I still remember her wonderful vocal performances.

I'm the same age as she is and my wife is from the small city where Joni started playing. I was familiar with her but not a big fan and we've never met. But, here we are, 55 years later and I have to say I'm finally starting to realize her genius. Better late than never.

To me, Joni Mitchell is the GOAT. My children have been exposed to all of her music. Now I am sharing it with my grandchildren. She is a true genius. Thank you. That was wonderful.

IF Bob Dylan can win a Nobel Prize for Literature, Joni should have one in her collection as well. And that's only for her lyrics...her music is pf an entirely other dimension that Mr. Dylan couldn't even touch…

So happy to re-watch this after seeing that Rick went for dinner with Joni. Vicarious ecstasy!

Best advice on the clip: "You should really go and listen to her entire catalog"... 💁🏽‍♂️🦅

Rick, thank you. I’m 16, and if it wasn’t for your channel and others, I wouldn’t find this great music! A lot of people say the internet is ruining my generation, but I think we’ll turn around and surprise those people. I’m excited for the day that I’ll put my music out there from inspiration of your videos.

I have followed Rick on and off for a couple of years now. I have thoroughly enjoyed his videos but I sometimes thought he might be missing the big picture by digging too deep into the technical side of music and songwriting. Boy was I wrong. Joni's songs have often brought me to tears too. But so did Rick's unabashed and deeply insightful presentation in this video. Thank you Rick. Ringing the bell now.

Joni Mitchell is mind-blowingly talented. I've been playing for years and her use of tunings still astounds me.

This is what I love about this channel (and Rick) we go from Korn to Nirvana, to Joni. When someone asks what kind of music I like I tell them all kinds as long as it is good. A lot of folks say this but I find very few that actually do have a love for ALL music and can find something to appreciate in any genre or style. Thanks Rick.

Thank you for playing Joni Mitchell's Amelia. Joni is brilliant, a genius painting stories and emotional landscapes with her music & lyrics Poetry. She is certainly the voice & music of my youth and remains my favorite artist.

And now you know why Canada considers her a national treasure.

The first time I heard this song, it was as if time had stopped, and I had been dragged off into another world filled with a beautiful melancholy.

Hauntingly Beautiful....I often cry when I listen to Joni...she touches your soul. Thank you for featuring this amazing song, Joni deserves it and you did it well. I love that you were honestly so moved by her music! She is a legend!

One of the greatest songwriters of all time. She is a painter of songs, a writer of colors, and most of all, a poet .

I swear I was just thinking the other day, "why doesn't Rick cover Joni?" "Is he scared?" "Alt tunings?" Cuz I *knew* you had to love her. She makes me cry all the time,too, Rick. Thank you.

Joni Mitchell is, quite possibly, the greatest songwriter, lyricist, and storyteller throughout the history of rock (folk, jazz, classic) music. 😄

"I cried when I listened to her records". Yes, your youtube did that for me just now, Rick Beato. Thanks.

Rick’s knowledge, enthusiasm and appreciation of diverse music artists makes him, in my opinion, unique on RU-vid. Credit where credit is due.

I just listened to the "Blue" album for the first time. I think I'm in love.

Hey Rick, I've watched episode 91 many times like an old movie, and your perspective and knowledge and appreciation of music theory to bring light to Joni's Greatness is a gift, thank you Rick and Joni

What we should do is every time we listen to a song on youtube that we learned about or even remembered because we are watching this channel is just write it down, leave a comment, Rick brought me here. So maybe, one day, these idiots realize that channels like this one do not hurt their bottom line. It's not enough for me that these videos are not blocked, he should be able to monetize his content. It's not fair. It's a service to music, what he is doing.

Man, I love Joni. When I discovered her years ago, her music really filled an empty space in me that I didn't know I even had. Her songs are magic to me. So great that you bring her up in this series, love the video. Thank you Rick!

Tragic that we will never again fall under the melodic incantations of this bedeviled enchantress in live performance. Rising up from the ashes of polio, this waif of the Saskatchewan plains, learned to transmute her demons whispers into a Siren's voice for every mind and soul. Until now and forever, with only a strum from her twisted tunings and sweet rebelliousness, she draws me, helpless and eager, to revisit her ramshackle entourage of wondrous and tragic timeless characters moving round and round in this circle game only Joni could guide one through. A voice more compelling than the winds or crashing waves....a vision more insistent as life itself...a painter of words... a lyricist of light.

I’ve discovered Joni’s music earlier this year and I came into it knowing she was some kind of a legend, so I wasn’t completely unbiased when hearing her material, I knew it was something big. But nonetheless I was actually stunned and moved as mover before. This music is something otherworldly, hearing a woman being so open in her creativity, flowing in harmonies and melodies just regularly makes me cry as I can’t be even remotely as free in my daily life and because her chord progressions actually hit me to the core, they are so unbearably moving. I’m so glad to be alive in the same era as her 🙏🏻

“The next thing I know, that Coyotes at my door” , “he picks up my scent on his fingers while watching the waitresses legs.” Unbelievable.

I met Joni in a grocery store on the Sunshine Coast BC about 10 years ago where she owns a house. I told her I was a huge fan at the cashier and she thanked me. The cashier was a 20 something girl who looked very confused that I was in awe of this older looking woman who seemed very average. Lol

We must protect Rick and all of his content for the sake of future generations. I am back here rewatching this video hoping that those dummies at the record companies realize that the work Rick is doing it’s also making them money and not to mention the educational value.

I'm a portrait photographer, and if I had a series called "What Makes This Album Cover Great" that gorgeous black and white photo of Joni that was used on Heijira would make the top five, easily.

Thank you for giving Joni Mitchell the respect. God bless her. This is one of my all time favorite songs. This was a very good video and presentation though I wish you would have talked about her picking hand and rhythmic style. I read Joni say that she thinks of her guitar playing as a percussive, and I hear that in her playing. As a drummer and a singer I appreciate her so much. Legend.

Probably one of the happiest days of my life, thank you for doing your best rick, im spechless. I just want stay silent for the whole video listening to this masterpierce and your interpretation, been waiting for this too long. Still have the original vinyl. Keep it up! A distant hug from a great fan.

I had never paid attention to Joni Mitchell because I thought of her as a folk musician, which is fine, but not really my thing. Then I heard about Jaco playing with her, which piqued my interest. Jazz 88 here in Minneapolis played a track from Shadows and Light one night a few months ago, and then I checked out the concert video on RU-vid. I could not stop watching. It is absolutely fantastic, and I've since checked out most of her other albums as well. I encourage everyone to look up that video right now!

"Hauntingly beautiful" --perfect snapshot of Joni's music

"Blue" is an amazing album. My dad got me a book of her paintings and poetry after I mentioned having got one of her records.

Joni Mitchell is a Canadian music icon. Plain and simple. Cheers! ✌️🇨🇦

I'm a pedal steel player and I teach in a jazz program at a university here in Canada. I have loved Joni's music what seems like my whole life. Rick: this is an amazingly musical and poetic demonstration of Joni's Amelia. Thank you so much. I encourage any music lover to watch this.

This is why I love Rick. You can clearly see the passion, the awe and the respect that He has for these wonderful musicians. Gotta love that !

It boggles my mind that there is anyone on this planet that doesn't know who Joni Mitchell is. I can't even fathom it. The greatest singer-songwriter in my lifetime, that's for sure.

“Blue” got me through a15 month deployment with the U.S. Navy on Guam. That album is magic! So are all the others. Thank you for doing this.

Supposedly Led Zeppelin’s Going to California on IV was written about Joni Mitchell. “Someone told me there’s a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.”

Another most amazing thing about that song, that you did not mention, perhaps you are unaware, is the fact that it isn't a pedal steel guitar, rather Larry Carlton on an ES335. This is - and I don't think anyone could argue otherwise - the most AMAZING presentation of pedal steel guitar effects ever recorded or performed. I spent 20 years certain that it was a steel and then i heard it was Larry and his regular ES335. I inquired and, as I recollect, got the man himself to confirm, via an email reply, he did it on his electric hollow-body guitar. Joni had laid the basic track down and as I recollect Larry went in afterwards, just he and the engineer and did that stunning guitar work. That's not to say what Joni was doing was any less. It is a beautiful song and I thank you for those chord demos.

I bought this album around 1977, and when I heard the lines " I pulled into the Cactus Tree motel to shower off the dust, and I slept on the strange pillows of my wanderlust", I suddenly realised what poetry is, because it can be taken poetically or literally. I'd never really got what people meant by the word poetry until then.

Shadows and Light is a masterpiece. Stirring through and through. JM is so awesome! ✌️

I find it difficult to put words around the feeling of rapture that her music can inspire. I appreciate your effort to highlight this snippet of an almost overwhelming creative gift.

Rick, Joni Mitchell....sigh.... At 67 less a day I am still moved to the core by her immense candor and lyrical interpretation - of her own songs, let alone anyone else's! Did you hear her sing at this year's Newport Festival?! Med beds had better be real, coz I can't imagine a world without her! Glad to make your acquaintance here, Rick. More, please!

My favorite lyrics from the album are from the title song: "We all come and go unknown Each so deep and superficial Between the forceps and the stone"

She is a rare artist that If you took away the music the lyrics alone have great artistic value . I love the singer songwriter era Joni was the very best of the bunch. Both sides now is perhaps the most beautiful ballad of all time.

"Honor died in World War II. You know, it just kinda died. Not very many people know how to do it anymore. If they honor you wrong, it makes you arrogant, because it stung. If they honor you right, it's humbling because it's inspiring." - Joni Mitchell. Rick you honor her right, thank you.

Did you see her at the Newport Folk Festival ?! I would be happy if you would take 24 hours to discuss Joni Mitchell and her music.I can sing "Blue" and "Court and Spark" backwards and forewards. Which I did for hours sitting on the floor of my room on a green shag carpet. It drove my mother crazy.

I saw the show a few days before the one on "Shadow's and Light" the night before I was heading off to college to study music in 1979. The show was part of the Mississippi River Festival at SIU Edwardsville, IL. The sound was so incredible you could hear the bend in the wire if you dropped a pin on the stage - no small feat in 1979. It was the 2nd of two concerts (the other being Jethro Tull in1975) that made me say "I want to do THAT!" and I spent the next ten years trying to find the inner Joni, Pat, Bruce Cockburn, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, until I finally started to have a voice of my own. 40 years, and 11 albums later, I still strive to even come close, but that show made everything coalesce. Maybe some day... Thanks for your great stuff, Rick!

AT LAST ! Since I discovered this series I wondered when the greatest representative of the singer-songwriter movement born out of Dylan's success (and the one that's arguably better than Dylan) and her boldest album would come up. (Also one of the most influential guitarist from her generation.) I thought you could do them justice , and you did. Thanks.

When she says she plays sus chord after sus chord because she wants to know where is her daughter it REALLY made me cry! If you know her story you know she had her only child when she was really young and she gave her daughter for adoption. Hopefully, she was able to find her adult daughter (and teenager granddaughter) and was able to make a piece to herself! But imagine what a life of anxiety she had! How deep is that? Oh my God!!!

You didn't mention "the hexagram of the heavens" -- the iChing as interpreted by 6 jet planes.....Ch'ien is the first hexagram, all unbroken lines, meaning Heaven (the origin, creative principle).

A thing about the chorus. She sings the beginning, but the completion of her thought and feeling is completely instrumental. The guitars finish and articulate words that can't be said. Oh, Amelia, it was just a false alarm. The rest of it, and the heart of this song, is spoken by guitars and bass and is absolutely the most haunting thing I ever heard.

Rick, you really are a music genius. Hejira album is definitely a masterpiece. I'm amateur bass player. Jacos bass work on that album is stunning.

I have loved Joni Mitchell since the late 1960's. So many of her songs have been my saviors when I have needed something to lift me up. . . 'Amelia' in particular. They can be so satisfying, so intelligent, so completely beautiful. . . and there are so many of them.

Rick, I've watched almost every single one of these and this is easily my favorite. Thank you for taking extra time to talk about the importance of Joni's lyrical magic.

James Taylor said with her tunings she was like an artist who started work by making their own canvas. I loved the 60s (I was teenage) - always a big Beatles fan; but in my life (no pun intended) Joni has produced THE best debut album bar none. I've never really been interested in lyrics, except with Joni. Her music also has made me cry and when the time comes, I want Sisotowbell Lane played at my wake.

Amelia is one of the greatest songs ever written.

OMG That little period at the end of a phrase!!! I always hear it and enjoy it but actually didn't KNOW it was real until you just told me. Love it!! Music is so rich in people's lives. And YOU TUBE university is awesome. I never could appreciate/ enjoy JM's music until I just now watched a biography of her and then tuned into the fabulous Rick Beato teachings again. It all comes together now and her poetry speaks to my heart.

Finally. Someone who appreciates this special lady and her true artistry as much as I do. And this song.... this song just, what? It’s almost impossible to describe. It grabs you musically and transports you to a place where you want to stay. And her lyrics are such a potent mix of honesty, story telling and poetry that it connects with you on a soul level. Who among us could admit that we’ve never really loved, but spent our whole lives at icy altitude? She is fearless and vulnerable at the same time. I could not admire her more.