YMMV / Joanna Newsom

• Awesome Art: The cover of Ys, as well as the fairy tale style illustrations in the album booklet.
• Awesome Music: Lots of it. The albums Ys and Have One on Me in particular (as well as the EP released between them) have a bountiful supply, but her early releases have plenty of gems as well, and she's continued her winning streak with Divers.
  • Her live performances are creations of unparalleled beauty, and bootlegs are well worth tracking down.
• Broken Base: A fairly minor example compared to many, but there are fans who prefer her older sound (from her first two EPs and The Milk-Eyed Mender) and fans who prefer her more recent work. Most fans like both her styles just fine, though.
  • Also a minor case with whether her voice was before or after she had surgery and took vocal lessons. Again, most fans like her voice just fine in both eras, though her voice overall can be something of an acquired taste.
• Genius Bonus: Her music is full of so many historical, natural, literary, and poetic references, it'd be difficult to explain all of them. Vulture made a list of all the complex/unusual words she uses in her songs, which shows how well-read she is.
• Heartwarming Moments: "Emily" is a touching affirmation of sisterly love, and "Esme" is a song written for a newborn baby.
• Even Better Sequel:
  • Ys to The Milk-Eyed Mender
  • Even better threequel of Have One on Me to Ys.
• Fan Nickname: Before "Colleen" was released, fans defaulted to calling it "The Yelping Song."
• Fridge Brilliance: Once you figure out that "Colleen" is about a young mermaid, sea-nymph, or selkie who doesn't remember who she is, every word in the song makes sense.
  • A traveller tells Colleen, "I would not speak your name in this place / For if I were to try, then the wind, I swear, / Would rise to tear / You clean from me without a trace." We never hear her real name.
  • Why would Monkey even care what the villagers would say about Bear if they saw her bathing? Because in treating Bear like his slave, Monkey is slowly becoming like a human himself.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Her harp.
• Signature Song: The seventeen-minute "Only Skin"; "Good Intentions Paving Company" and "Peach, Plum, Pear" for fans of Have One on Me and The Milk-Eyed Mender, respectively.
• Squick:
  • From "Only Skin," we have the lines: "Scrape your knee, it is only skin / Makes the sound of violins."
  • One of the more unsettling lines from "Go Long:" "I was brought in on a palanquin / Made from the many bodies of beautiful women."
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: Quite a lot of her material, really. Her music has been compared more than once to the experience of hearing a bedtime story. "Have One on Me" especially stands out here.
• Tear Jerker: Lots of her songs can approach this territory, but "Baby Birch", "Does Not Suffice", and "Time, as a Symptom" particularly stand out here.
  • "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie", in all of its versions, is one of her biggest tearjerkers. "This Side of the Blue", "'En Gallop'", and "Peach, Plum, Pear" can also definitely qualify.

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