Line #19 Music/JoniMitchell


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jm_8728.jpg]]
2	[floatboxright:
3	Influenced:
4	+ Music/{{Prince}}, Music/TaylorSwift, Music/HerbieHancock, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BobDylan, Music/NeilDiamond, Music/SamFender, Annie Lennox (Music/{{Eurythmics}}), Music/DonnaSummer, Music/{{Jewel}}, Music/SaraBareilles, Chrissie Hynde (Music/ThePretenders), Maynard Keenan (Music/{{Tool}} and Music/APerfectCircle), Music/WeyesBlood]
5
6	-> ''"I want the full hyphen: folk-rock-country-jazz-classical, so finally when you get all the hyphens in, maybe they'll drop them all, and get down to just some American music."''
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8	Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell (née Anderson, born November 7, 1943) [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CC]] is a Canadian singer, songwriter and painter. She was born in Alberta, and began singing around the age of nine, after a case of polio.
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10	To get the biographical data out of the way: she made a short attempt to go to college, leaving after a year; in 1965, she gave birth to a girl, but gave her up for adoption not long after. She married Chuck Mitchell later that same year.
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12	Now on to the important bits. Mitchell made her breakthrough in the mid-1960s, relocating to New York City and traveling up and down the Northeast coast playing in cafes and bars. Many of the songs she had written and sung were [[CoverVersion covered]] by other artists during this time, a trend that would continue as her popularity grew. Many of these covers allowed these artists to [[CoveredUp eclipse Mitchell's own career]], including Judy Collins' cover of "Both Sides, Now", which became a top ten hit in 1967.
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14	It wasn't until 1970 that Mitchell reached mainstream success under the guidance of producer David Crosby (of [[Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung Crosby, Stills, and Nash]]), winning the UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for Best Folk Performance for her album ''Clouds''. She continued to receive critical and commercial success, and incorporated [[GenreShift more and more jazz-influenced songs]] compared to her previous acoustic work. By the 1980s, her work failed to reach the same success as before, with 1979's ''Mingus'' (a collaboration with Music/CharlesMingus) being her first album not to sell at least half a million copies.
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16	This trend continued until the 1990s, particularly after the release of the CD ''Turbulent Indigo'' in 1994. This is largely thanks to a return to her original sound and playing style. Mitchell's newfound success would continue until her retirement in 2002, though she later released several new [=CDs=] since then. A memoir is also supposedly in the works. She suffered an aneurysm in 2015 that caused her to take a step back from the spotlight, as she still has trouble talking.
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18	Mitchell was inducted into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame in 1997 and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1981. She also received a Companion of the Order of Canada citation and the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
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20	Mitchell's musical style consists of non-standard guitar tuning, elaborate orchestration (occasionally verging on BaroquePop territory), lush vocal harmonies, and borrowing elements from various genres (rock, jazz, [[NewWaveMusic new wave]], folk and pop, for starters).
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22	!!Discography:
23	* ''Song to a Seagull'' (1968)
24	* ''Clouds'' (1969)
25	* ''Ladies of the Canyon'' (1970)
26	* ''[[Music/BlueJoniMitchellAlbum Blue]]'' (1971)
27	* ''For the Roses'' (1972)
28	* ''Court and Spark'' (1974)
29	* ''Miles of Aisles'' (1974) (live album)
30	* ''The Hissing of Summer Lawns'' (1975)
31	* ''Music/{{Hejira}}'' (1976)
32	* ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'' (1977)
33	* ''Mingus'' (1979)
34	* ''Shadows and Light'' (1980) (live album)
35	* ''Wild Things Run Fast'' (1982)
36	* ''Dog Eat Dog'' (1985)
37	* ''Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm'' (1988)
38	* ''Night Ride Home'' (1991)
39	* ''Turbulent Indigo'' (1994)
40	* ''Taming the Tiger'' (1998)
41	* ''Both Sides Now'' (2000)
42	* ''Travelogue'' (2002)
43	* ''Shine'' (2007)
44	* ''Amchitka, The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace'' (2009) ([[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment live album]])
45	----
46	!! I've looked at tropes from both sides now:
47	* ACappella: The song "The Fiddle and the Drum" from the album ''Music/{{Clouds}}'' dispenses with instrumental backing altogether.
48	* AffairHair: "Off Night Backstreet":
49	-->''Who left her long black hair in our bathtub drain?''
50	* AgeProgressionSong: "The Circle Game" - this is also an AnswerSong to her friend Music/NeilYoung's "Sugar Mountain".
51	* AlbumClosure: "Both Sides, Now," which looks back on a life and reflects on the embodiment of multiple perspectives, appears as the last track on ''Clouds'' (whose [[AlbumTitleDrop title it drops]]).
52	* AnimalMotifs: Repeated references to snakes and serpents are a common lyrical theme.
53	* AntiChristmasSong: "River"
54	* ArtsyBeret: A lot of photos from the '70s show her wearing one, including on the cover of ''Music/{{Hejira}}''.
55	* BerserkButton:
56	** Never compare her to Music/BobDylan. '''Never'''.
57	** Don't refer to her as a "folk singer" either.
58	* {{Blackface}}: Joni created an Black male character called Art Nouveau [[https://i.discogs.com/SnBvGSse_XfVkNwAbtAvxnJfUGjbU8l1_toVIRUFk-8/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTIwMDE0/MTctMTMwMTIzNTUw/NS5qcGVn.jpeg and appeared as him]] on the cover of her 1977 album ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter''. Mitchell would say in 2015 that she did it because she disliked the photographer she was working with. She also said she "experienced being a black guy on several occasions", which may explain she donned the Art Nouveau blackface again for one shot in the 1980 concert film ''[[Shadows and Light]]'' and again in 1982 for a still-unreleased short film.
59	* CelebrityIsOverrated: A stance she has stayed with from the beginning of her career. WordOfGod was that she arrived at this conclusion after seeing a tearful Sandra Dee being mistreated by the tabloid press during her divorce from Music/BobbyDarin.
60	* ConLang: Mitchell created a mythological world with its own language. Naming is based on initial letters of important sayings: a race of tiny men are called Mosalm (Maybe Our Souls Are Little Men), and the tiny women are called Posall (Perhaps Our Souls Are Little Ladies). The queen, Siquomb, gets her name from the phrase "She Is Queen Undisputedly of Mind Beauty", and lends her name to Joni's official music publishing company. The song "Sisotowbell Lane" uses this language as well: "Somehow, In Spite Of Troubles, Ours Will Be Ever Lasting Love".
61	* ContemplateOurNavels: "Refuge of the Roads" was partly inspired by the time Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche induced her into a temporary, three-day state where the concept of "I" was absent from her.
62	* DomesticAbuse: "Not to Blame" is about a serial abuser who never takes responsibility for all of his failed relationships, some of which drove his partners to suicide. It's been alleged that the song's subject is Mitchell's ex-boyfriend Music/JacksonBrowne, who was facing down allegations that he physically abused his ex-girlfriend Creator/DarylHannah[[note]]Ms. Hannah maintains that this did happen; as of 2014 she had a steady relationship with Neil Young, and in August 2018 they were married.[[/note]] at the time ''Turbulent Indigo'' was released. Mitchell has denied this, but the similarities between the song's lyrics and known events in Browne's personal life has allowed the rumors to persist.
63	* DrunkenSong: "Talk to Me", about begging for conversation from someone not willing to speak, gains entirely new context from its opening line:
64	-->''There was a moon and a streetlamp'' \
65	''I didn't think I drank such a lot'' \
66	''Till I pissed a tequila anaconda the full length of the parking lot.''
67	* DualMeaningChorus: "Big Yellow Taxi"
68	* GranolaGirl: The Bohemian, creative women in "Ladies of the Canyon" could be this.
69	* GreatestHitsAlbum: Mitchell declined to issue one of these for most of her career, but relented in 1996 with the release of ''Hits''. One of the conditions for Reprise releasing that album was that Mitchell was also allowed to compile a second compilation, ''Misses'', containing lesser known tracks (plus "A Case of You", which was left off ''Hits'') that she considered to be personal favorites.
70	* GreenAesop: "Big Yellow Taxi", again.
71	* TheHeart: Magazine/RollingStone considered her to be this to all the male rock stars in L.A. in the '70s. The magazine called Mitchell the "Old Lady of the Year"[[note]]In the 1960s and 70s, your "old lady" was a woman you were comfortable with, a relationship that really meant something, whether formally married or not.[[/note]] and the "Queen of El Lay".
72	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Subverted with "Raised on Robbery", where the character in question tries to make herself out to be one of these, but instead comes off as an abrasive, obnoxious LowerClassLout who manages to drive off a prospective john (not that he intended to hire her in the first place, as it's made obvious that he simply wanted to enjoy his drink in peace).
73	* LampshadeWearing: "People's Parties":
74	-->''Photo Beauty gets attention''\
75	''[[YourMakeupIsRunning Then her eye paint's running down]]''\
76	''She's got a rose in her teeth''\
77	''And a lampshade crown''
78	* LighterAndSofter: Crosby, Stills and Nash's cover of ''Woodstock'' was quite different from her original slow, sparse work.
79	* NewSoundAlbum: ''For the Roses'' introduced the jazzy textures that would dominate her later work.
80	* OneManSong: "Carey". The significant other the song concerns just happened to have an androgynous name.[[note]]The real Carey ([[https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=5095 Cary Raditz]]) was definitely a guy, and a "mean ol'daddy" par excellence. He's also the "redneck on a Grecian isle" in "California".[[/note]]
81	* OneWomanSong: "Amelia", which is (sort of, in a way) about Amelia Earhart.
82	* OrchestralVersion: An entire album of these with ''Both Sides Now''.
83	* PainfulRhyme: exaggerated with "For Free". The opening lines rhyme "jewels" with "schools," which is fine, but veer into trope territory when Mitchell insists on pronouncing them "''jew''-ells" and "''skew''-ells."
84	* PiecesOfGod: "Woodstock".
85	* PrecisionFStrike: From "Woman of Heart and Mind"
86	-->''Drive your bargains''\
87	''Push your papers''\
88	''Win your medals''\
89	''Fuck your strangers''\
90	''Don't it leave you on the empty side?''
91	* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: Her mid-70s albums drew heavy influence from jazz. She also claimed her {{Blackface}} character on the cover of ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'', "Art Nouveau," was a representation of her "black soul."[[note]]Some black artists, among them Chaka Khan, Herbie Hancock, and jazz drummer Don Alias (her lover at the time), understood [[https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=3377 what she was trying to do.]][[/note]]
92	* RadioSong: "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio," which she wrote after being asked for a catchy love song [[TakeThat to play on the radio]].
93	* ReallyGetsAround: The narrator of "Just Like This Train" is the sexually dysfunctional version of this trope, dealing with a breakup by going on a relentless sex spree.
94	* ReligionRantSong: "Tax Free" is her Type 3 rant against televangelists preaching like {{Church Militant}}s while living, well, tax-free.
95	* SelfBackingVocalist: She uses the technique a lot on her recordings.
96	* ShoutOut: That Music/LedZeppelin song "Going to California" about a woman "with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair"? [[TheMuse That's Joni]]. Robert Plant had a crush on her when he was writing the lyrics. (More obvious on the live version of the song from the Led Zeppelin live album ''How the West Was Won'', in which Plant can be heard shouting "Joni!")
97	* SignatureStyle: Her open or non-standard guitar tunings, which she calls "Joni's weird chords". There are almost 50 different tunings.
98	* SmokingIsCool: Joni began smoking at the age of 9, and it is reportedly one reason for her voice's decline in later years.
99	* StageNames: Joni's birth name is Roberta Joan Anderson. "Joni Mitchell" is not really a stage name, though -- she always went by Joni, a variation of her middle name, and she took the last name Mitchell when she married fellow musician Chuck Mitchell. She got famous as Joni Mitchell, and subsequently kept the name even though the marriage to Chuck dissolved fairly quickly.
100	* TerraDeforming: "Big Yellow Taxi".
101	* TitleTrack: "Blue", from, well, ''Blue''.
102	** ''Ladies of the Canyon'', ''For The Roses'', ''Court and Spark'', ''The Hissing of Summer Lawns'', and ''Hejira'' also each have their own title track.
103	* UnusualEuphemism:
104	** "Blue Motel Room":
105	--->I know that you've got all those pretty girls coming 'round, hanging on your boom-boom-pachyderm
106	** "Court and Spark" itself
107	* VocalEvolution: Her voice became deeper and lower as she aged, and chain smoking took a toll on her vocal range.
108	* WanderlustSong:
109	** ''Hejira'', written on a road trip from New York to Los Angeles, has two of them.
110	*** "Song for Sharon", where the protagonist concludes by telling Sharon:
111	---->You've still got your music\
112	And I've got my eyes on the land and the sky\
113	You sing for your friends and your family\
114	I'll walk green pastures by and by
115	*** "Refuge of the Roads", based on Joni's road trip itself (as well as an episode of her life where her sense of ego was temporarily removed by a yogi.)
116	** "Urge for Going"
117	* WithLyrics: Mitchell added lyrics to Music/CharlesMingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" on ''Mingus''.

Context Music / JoniMitchell