Why BOTH SIDES NOW is a perfect song 

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So wonderful to see this iconic figure finally get receive praise and recognition she deserves. And so eloquently presented, Mary. Thank you! 🙏🙏🙏

Joni is one of the most evocative songwriters ever. Just the first few bars of Just Like This Train, Coyote, Song for Sharon, or Chinese Cafe immediately bring back the time & place when first I heard them, and each new hearing offers something new.

"Oh I am a lonely painter, I live in a box of paints" Joni was an art student, who played music as a student, because it paid. At one point in her life her brush was a guitar, her voice, a pen... her canvas a stage, a diner , club , wherever she could "paint". Her music is poetry, her thoughts, her feelings, her life, her biography... and her paintings, that is her music told vivid stories of her life in the same way a artist paints. I have listened to her work for decades, she is truly an artist, we are honored to have had her paint in our ears.🎶🖌💚💙❤‍🩹 (and yes , she paints on canvas too, )

I’m 72 years old. Have been a music lover ever since I first listened to my older brother’s 45rpm records in the mid 1950’s. Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis. Then the Beatles, Rolling Stones. As the 1960’s evolved I got more into folk and Joni was always amount my favorites. When I started playing guitar in my 60’s after retirement, I became interested in alternate tuning and discovered that she was the queen of alternate tunings. I also had polio. Contracted it in 1952. So she is a kindred spirit. Love her now. Always have. I like your stuff too.

Thank you, Mary, for this very moving tribute. I discovered Joni in my late teens, and have been a fan since the early 70’s. I saw her live at the Hollywood Bowl one beautiful summer night. I’d broken up with my girlfriend, and I’d bought two tickets, that I didn’t want to go to waste, so I invited my mom. She’s an artist and had been a musician, and was really able to appreciate the magic that is Joni on that beautiful summer night in LA. Wonderful, as is what you’ve shared, which revealed some things about Joni’s life that I didn’t know. Thanks again. Blessings. Lou

Both sides now and ‘A case of you’ are personally the most moving songs of my life.

Joni's one of the greatest artists of the last century no doubt. Great vid Mary!

Thank you Mary for such a wonderful video. You captured so much, and so beautifully, in only 10 minutes. I fell in love with Joni when a friend brought over a copy of her then just released debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968. A bunch of us sat in front of the speakers and were absolutely mesmorized. I have been a Joni fan ever since.

I've loved Joni Mitchell from the moment I first heard Clouds. I was a Senior in high school when that album was released and I remember purchasing it at my favorite record store in late 1969. I believe she is a musical genius. Thank you for this video.

I was in my late teens as she was putting out her early stuff. It was so different and struck the heart of teenage angst we were living during that time. Of course we weren’t having complicated relationships in the hippie caves in Crete but we were exploring the complexities of young love and maturing with each experience, good and bad. Unlike so many artists her music stayed relevant even as our maturity broadened and deepened our understanding of life. Seeing her now, seeing the tribute to her with Graham Nash singing Case of You for her, seeing the old movies of her being loving with Graham while having the early lyrics of River on her lap, all that is so touching and personally relevant. Those of us who have a lifetime of experiences in our rear view mirror understand those flash fire relationships like theirs can’t last, and you know that as you live them. You can see that it will end but you treasure those experiences of love and infatuation while you can. Now, decades later, they’re treasures that you feel blessed to have experienced. But she must have been aware of that in the moment and knew to live that moment as fully as she could. Lessons

Thanks for a glimpse into this musical icon’s life. I have never heard most of this.

Thank you, Mary, for this so-lovely tribute to a legendary painter-of-words&music. Joni is such an amazing artist. Of anybody, you are the appropriate person to be telling Joni’s story. You are a musician and composer. I only knew of her from listening to “Both Sides Now” on my small AM transistor radio, back in the day. [DJ’ed by ”Cousin Brucie” out of NYC on WABC]

We finally saw her show in 1974...long past our young hippie years but well aware of her songs. It was magical...her voice, her music, a little nostalgia, a little rebellion. We were home in our youth again. She remains one of our all time favorite singer/songwriters...and that's saying a lot when you come from the years of Dylan, Lightfoot, Beatles, Cohen, etc. Happy Birthday, Mary. Hope you have a fun, enjoyable, warm and wonderful day. Cheers 🍻

My Dad was her neighbor when she lived in Detroit in the Verona Apartments in the Cass Corridor, he was fairly well known musician in the scene himself playing drums with the likes of Bob Seger, Mitch Ryder, and pretty much every Blues musician in the Cass Corridor, and being one of the first employees of Creem Magazine, he actually ended up turning down some bigger gigs like Ike & Tina Turner and few others as well. The Cass Corridor was a pretty insane scene itself, it was a blend of some incredible musicians like the MC5, The Stooges, a yet unknown Alice Cooper, artists like Gilda Snowden, and Brian and Wendy Froud and poets like John Sinclair, even Gilda Radner was a regular in the scene. The Cass Corridor was featured a bit in the Creem documentary, but it’s something I don’t think gets enough attention for it’s contributions to the arts.

I was in tears more than once through this video. I am almost 60. In truth, I was a mite TOO young to have been able to appreciate Joni Mitchell in her early years in real time, and when my own musical tastes began to coalesce I was much more interested in Tull, Yes, and Rush--Joni Mitchell sounded entirely 10 years too old to my young ears. Lol. I have progressed from a classical musician to a rock musician to a trad/folk musician to a singer songwriter, and all that time Joni has floated in the background, and my regard for her songwriting, singing, and her personal strength have just continued to grow. Thank you for this bio: it's a treasure

I cannot agree more. She is at the top along with Gershwin, Paul Simon and other immortals. Thank you for your thorough analysis.

This flight tonight is often overlooked but really one of her best songs.

Mary-Thanks so much for this wonderful documentary. what a nice way to start the day! Huge Joni fan here, but I'd never known that "Both Sides Now" was inspired by Saul Bellow's "Henderson The Rain King"-wow! ("Humboldt's Gift" is a favorite) Also that Al Kooper was the conduit to getting the song to Judy Collins was something I hadn't known--obviously your knowledge of her career and research is extensive. Is he the Forest Gump of music or what? Got a good laugh on the "go sit on a tack" response to her continuing to deal with all of her retuning on acoustic! What a badass indeed.

Great story, Mary. So many of us love Joni, and have grown up and old with her. Thank You.

We are so lucky to have Mary as both a brilliant historian and a talented musician. I've said it before but you can see the sparks flying off of her brain.

Beautiful. Hearing someone describe an artist in a new and exciting way is like unwrapping a precious gift, where each word becomes a brushstroke that paints a vibrant and vivid portrait in our minds. Thank you!

Wonderful lyricist and singer -- and an innovative guitarist.

She really is the epitome and inspiration for artists past, present, and future. What a badass is right 🤘

Mary that was the best story about Joni Mitchel’s life I’ve seen or read. Your journalistic talent is impressive. Really enjoyed it.

Thank-you, Mary for reminding me of this lovely lady and gifted song-writer. She's truly an inspiration for any aspiring artist!

Your voice on these essays is like smooth caramel with a hint of smoke. These are the best part of what you do. I hope you get to interview people. Well done Ms Spender, well done.

Certainly one of the greatest. I’ve owned copies (Vinyl, CD and digital) of ‘Blue’ since it was released. Joni is treasured here in Canada as one of the stars in our musical constellation Thank you Mary

Saskatchewan Canada proud! 🇨🇦

I like all the classic albums by Joni. I think one of favourite albums is Hejira, it has a really chilled, laid back vibe to it. My all time favourite though must ne Court and Spark.

I listen to a lot of different music, but Hejira is my favorite album by a female artist ever. Joni is nothing short of amazing.

Nothing gives old fogies like me more pride than seeing later generations appreciate Joni's work as I did when it was first released so many years ago. I heard Joni's first album when I was nine, and am sixty-five now. So much of pop music is exposable, but not Joni's. It has an authentic and genuine quality that cannot be faked.

Made me cry.

I've loved Joni's music since I was a teenager in the 70s... even Mingus, and her "wilderness years" records... Thank you Mary, for this lovely tribute!

I had the pleasure of hearing Joni in November of 1966 at the River Boat coffee house in Yorkville, Toronto, and again at the same place in April the following year. I was fortunate to have been able to hang out there even though I was twelve years old because my father George Pastic had a studio in Yorkville. Then he bought an old home on Davenport at Avenue Rd. which he renovated and turned into a fabulous top floor studio, and rented the two lower floors to an antique shop and a hair salon. I heard so many emerging artists in Yorkville during the 60's and early 70's that I couldn't possibly name (or remember...hahaha) them all. My dad became friends with Bruce Cockburn and did the photography and art design for Bruce's first album "High Winds White Sky" which is still one of my favorites. As for Joni, I've loved and admired her ever since then, both for her art and for who she is as a person.

Great vid, though I'm surprised you didn't mention David Crosby, who was seminal in advocating and producing her debut album.

I was at the Joni Jam at the Gorge Amphitheater for her first headlined concert return this month. The thing that struck me the most, as a 64 year old lifelong fan, was that most of the people there were far younger than me.

_Sometimes voices in the night will call me back again_ _Back along the pathway of a troubled mind_ _When forests rise to block the light that keeps a traveler sane_ _I'll challenge them with flashes from a brighter time_ _Oh, I think I understand_ _Fear is like a wilderland_ _Stepping stones or sinking sand_

Joni was indeed a great writer, wise beyond her years! But you, Mary, also possess that maturity and clarity. It comes out in your analyses, your sparkling finger picking on the OM, your understated bluesy voice etc. I’ve been playing guitar for 67 years, and appreciate originality - I’m expecting Great things from you! 😎🎶 ~ Jack Bond

I came to Joni Mitchell's music quite late. It was 1983, I was 23 and the girl who became my wife introduced me to Court and Spark. I was smitten (with the girl and the music) and I've been listening to Joni's music ever since, sometimes with tears in my eyes. Fyi, that girl and I are still married 😁

When she matured into jazz I followed her there. Opening my ears to so much more music! She’s an old soul.

Being Canadian, she first wrote “I could drink a two four of you “, but it just didn’t work… Seriously, Joni is hands down my favorite musician. Thank you for sharing this video.

I’d didn’t expect watching this video to make me cry but Joni always reminds me of my late wife. And I hope you don’t mind me saying, lovely blouse. Very smart and classically styled and arty.

Mary,, simply a terrific presentation and recap of Joni’s work; crisp, to the point, evocative. I saw Joni open for CS&N in 1968, it was my first ever concert; her music lives in my DNA.

Legendary, iconic performer.

Mary, your lovely and knowledgeable narrative brings tears of love and joy. Thanks for all you share with us. ❤

Joni has always been one of my favourite song writers. I grew up to all of her hits. 🇨🇦

I was just sitting down to play my guitar and work on Joni Mitchell’s coyote. I have been trying to perfect that for at least three weeks now and still find it very challenging and I’ve been playing the guitar Over 50 years. And since I subscribe to you and your headline was greatest songwriter of all time I had this premonition that it might be about Joni I just flew 2700 miles to see her at The Gorge in Washington with Brandi Carlile, The likes of Annie, Lennox, Sarah McLaughlin, Lucius, Marcus Mumford, Allison Russell and many others. She is finally getting the mountainous recognition she deserves. It was a magical night, one that I had waited for since I picked up a guitar in 1971. Thank you Mary for your wonderful tribute to Joni. There is a great Rolling Stone article about Bob Dylan and Sam Shepard about the rolling thunder review. Joni wrote coyote while on the tour. It’s another one of my favorites and could use more recognition.

I was blown away when I heard a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Big yellow taxi” in a Trader Joes…I don’t know the words to her songs but I know that line, “Don’t it always seem to go?, that you don’t know what you got til it’s gone, They paved paradise, put up a Parking lot” I was a child who grew up on her music because of my Mom. She’s an amazing guitarist as well that has tons of alternative tunings.

Wonderful tribute, Mary. Very moving.

😮😮😮😮😮 I had no idea she premiered that here! Amazing.

Listened to Joni since the late sixties. Greatest female singer/ songwriter. Best Canadian songwriter alongside Neil Young. I wonder what she and Graham Nash might have done if they stayed together.

Mary, Being so wonderfully human, you must occasionally have, “a swing and a miss” when at bat, but your “Home Run Stats” are astounding, and speak for themselves! Joni’s 2000 rendition of “Both Sides Now” is one of the most powerful songs I’ve ever heard! Thanks so much for so wonderfully and lovingly supplying this laudatory post! And “River,” off “Blue,” is one of the greatest “Christmas” songs ever, especially if you happen to be facing the day solo… How you managed to deliver all this without tears is beyond me (as I was not nearly so successful!)… All the best always… - Glenn PS: Love the blouse!

Mary your voice and delivery are sublime here. You have many careers, but one of them could easily be as a voice-over artist or host. Awesome bio about Joni! I never got into her music by my singer/songwriter cousin is very much inspired by her.

I'm 62. I remember Woodstock by Matthews Southern Comfort (1970 - I was 9) before I heard Joni (though I probably heard Judy Collins with Both Sides Now prior). Then Big Yellow Taxi... actually before Matthews Southern Comfort (it all fades after 50 years!). Then Help Me and Free Man in Paris... in 1974. You know when I heard Blue (song and album)? I was on a huge Joni binge during the pandemic in 2020. Shame on me! I love Joni. Thank you Mary. Nice tribute.

I feel that even people who don't like Joni's music have to admire her at the very least. Personally, I went through a phase of studying her music intensely but found relatively little that I personally connected with. Even with that, in my opinion, every songwriter HAS to have a Joni listening phase, even if it's just to learn how many possibilities there are in songwriting. She's an artistic genius and there's no two ways about it.

I'll be with you, playing Joni

I don't know how you got though that without crying yourself, Mary. Thank you.

Thank you Mary, I'm only a few years younger than Joni and has loved her music basically my whole life. I was unaware of some the issues she has suffered through. Thanks again.

There's been some lovely content on the channel this year, this episode as lovely any. Now we know more about one of the great inspirations that led you to being a singer songwriter?

Wonderful tribute to a legend

Saw Joni in 1983 with a friend, who was the AV tech when I was in high school in the 70s and he had seen her at the Riverboat in Toronto, a historic venue in Yorkville were the icons of the 60s and 70s played. There is very little of her catalogue that I don't consider must haves, essential for anyone who loves music to have in their collection. For guitarists, just listening to Amelia and how she played still gets me,

Well that brought me to tears, and it was all new to me. Thank you.

Both sides now, Blew me away the first time I heard it. Done by an Irish band. Certainly one of the greatest I've ever heard..

Incredible video of the ultimate artist!!! Thank you so much for reminding me of Joni’s genius.

Beautiful tribute to an amazing artist.

Thank you so much for this video. YESSSS! Joni for me definitely is the Greatest Songwriter of All Time. You brilliantly condensed a a very complex career and life in this short video. Wonderful!

Well done, Mary. A great tribute to our Joni

Way to go, Mary! Super well written and produced!

I was walking the dog listening to the Mark Radcliffe BBCR2 folk show when he played the new Newport Folk Festival version, I deeply regretted not wearing my sunnies as it made me weep openly in the street.

Beautiful tribute Mary! Being the best is irrelevant. The ability to touch someone's soul with words and music is such a priceless gift. Joni has changed a lot of lives in her time.

Not haviing ever been to canada she was one of a few artists that took us there. Such a beatiful tranquil backdrop for expressing her life experience. Heard leonard cohen recordings before but i never pieced them two together. Thank you. Makes sense now. I got the same woodsy feeling from gordon lightfoot ,another canadian. I did enjoy hiking in our mountains in california and i did so relate. I couldnt help but reflect that the title court and spark sounded a lot like quartz and ? (Composition of sand). I favored her early works for the breath of fresh air that they are.

Love, love, love Joni from the prairies of 🍁 🇨🇦 🇨🇦

Since I've been a little kid (born in 63), she has been a part of my listening life. One of my goto artist and all time fav.

What a lovely tribute: the greatest indeed. Thank you so much. ❤

Great video, Mary! Joni's music is a gift that just keeps on giving!

Amazing comments Mary. Delivered with confidence, gentle forcefulness, In a sincere way. Well done. Keep up the great work Mary!

Another great video/content Mary! :D You've got such a lovely way with words! :D Your appreciation and respect for other musicians/artists is so apparent! :D As someone that connected with Joni's lyrics from the very beginning of her recording career (and earlier, thanks to other artists recording some of her songs) I was certainly interested to learn what your "take" was on her songwriting! :D And you brought a grin to my face re: your observation/comment that she was a real badass! :D For younger folks it's probably hard to imagine, but consider this: Joni started her musical journey and eventual career in an era when female artists of all kinds (musicians, songwriters, actors, authors, painters etc), were often actively "pushed to the background", objectified and treated as vastly inferior, insulted and even assaulted, their artistic rights/ownership and $ from their work often stolen from them, (remember, women weren't even allowed to open a checking account on their own in most states of the USA until sometime in the 1970's... they had to have a father, brother, husband, manager, agent, or some other male figure sign up for then "allow" them on their own account while the male had complete control.) Joni faced those kinds of challenges and MANY MORE head-on, and was able to set precedents that benefited not only women, but men as well. A pioneer, and a true musician for the sake of the music, vs. "entertainer" or "pop star"! :D Thanks for so beautifully addressing the amazing songwriting of Joni Mitchell! :D (not to take anything away from other fantastic songwriters, both male and female)

I had no idea Mingus was panned. In my social circle (and college radio airplay) Mingus was a monumental achievement!

Joni is a true musical treasure. I've been hooked since Hejira first came out. She's the best at blending the personal with the universal with a style all her own. It's to your credit to feature her in this video.

How you were able to deliver all that and keep it together... mad props to you. I got teary-eyed, just thinking about that Newport video... Thanks for another great presentation.

I remember her as I was only 8 when "Woodstock " happened. The song still gives me goosebumps. well, a very early so valid analysis in the line " they paved paradise, made up a parking lot" and so on. Absolutely underrated artist and a word so many other do not deserve to be called. thanks for the memories....

I’m just old enough to remember being a small boy hearing “Help Me” on the car radio and that voice sliding permanently into my little brain.🥹 Joni is one of those perennial artists that I can go back to after a long while, and be struck even harder by just how great she is. (AND how underrated she is for sheer musicianship!)🤯🎸💖

A great little love letter for Joni, Brilliant Mary.

In the 1970s my parents bought their first stereo, a Philips. It came with a choice of a number of LPs. One of them, "greatest hits of Euson". Most beautiful song: a cover of 'both sides now'. Give it a listen!

Old?? Growing old is a blessing. Being old SUCKS! I love your videos, and Yes, Ms. Joni was most certainly a cut above the rest!

Great job !! thanks for sharing !

Well done Mary! Thanks.

I love the way you write, I love the way you narrate, and I love how your disarming sincerity and your unique and dreamy speaking voice all come together to make a perfectly captivating video. Honestly, I've never heard you play the guitar -- but I don't need to right now because I'm enthralled enough just to experience you in your element. No one does this like you do, Mary, just like no one could ever really carry "Both Sides Now" the way Joni does (though recently I was emotionally dismantled by the tear-jerking Emilia Jones "CODA" movie version). And -- you really "get" Joni... you really, really do. That's the sweetest icing on the cake.

When Joni Mitchel passes, I will cry. Her music means so much to me. Oh, by the way, nice blouse.

Bravo and many thanks for this incredible video! A perfect mix of insight and inspiration, documentary and tribute. Informative, tight, yet also deeply personal and connecting. I know you are a singer songwriter at core, but wow you are also so talented at creating special content like this on artist and music appreciation.

Thank you so much for this, Mary. I've been a fan of Joni Mitchell for quite a long time with Blue and Court and Spark being my favorite albums of hers (along with The Circle Game), and I've never heard so beautiful and moving a dedication to her.

Professor Spender. Never stop learning. I've learned a few things on Utube.

This is a beautiful and well-researched analysis of one if the most influential musicians in my life and in the unique eclectic genre she occupies.

thank you for your wonderful story about Joni Mitchell..Mary you are a lovely woman and artist...thank you so much

Thank you Mary for this video about Joni. She was and she is an example of an exceptional person for many of us

Oh, Mary, what a beautiful and moving presentation. Like many who were drawn to this episode of your channel, I have wept over Joni’s music, and your presentation brought tears again. Yes, we are lucky to have shared this time with Joni. Thank you for presenting that case with such love and reverence.

Greatest is subjective but she sure was up there. I lost interest in her after a while but she was one of the musicians that got me interested in music. Love her music. Her album with Charles Mingus is one of my favorites.

She was 23! That just blows my mind. Both Sides is such a deep song

Thank you Mary,your diction is perfect ,and your words on Joni are as moving as the subject is..keeping playing clear and strong ,.Mary 💖🎶🤗