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Pif Magazine
ISSN: 1094-2726
Published by:
Pif, LLC
PMB 248
4820 Yelm Hwy SE
Suite B
Lacey, WA 98503-4903
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Los Angeles, Spring, 1971: Page 1, 2, 3, 4
Joni Mitchell is the best lyricist of this trio. She's also the best vocalist and a proficient guitarist and pianist. Blue's songs are alternately guitar-based and piano-based. Consequently, the album is a jerky ride tempo-wise. The guitar songs are upbeat and jazzy; the piano songs are plaintive and less rhythmic. But in terms of theme and mood, Blue is singularly consistent. Song by song, it's not Joni's best album, but as a whole it may be. Most of these songs are about hippy love. "We don't need no piece of paper from the city hall/ Keeping us tied and true./ My old man/ Keeping away my lonesome blues." There's hippy love in the infatuation stage: "I want to knit you a sweater/ I want to write you a love letter/ I want to make you feel better/ I want to make you feel free." There's hippy love in the addiction stage: "Oh you're in my blood like holy wine/ You taste so bitter and so sweet/ Oh I could drink a case of you, darling/ And I would still be on my feet." And there's hippy love gone bad: "Richard got married to a figure skater,/ and he bought her a dishwasher and a coffee percolator/ and he drinks at home now most nights with the T.V. on." But hippy love is still human love, and I've felt all this stuff before. This album is a lot like high school love – it starts off promisingly intoxicating, and it ends real sad. So sorry. I'm crying right now listening to it. |
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Blue is not sad in a hokey, bittersweet melancholy I-kind-of-want-to-cry-some way. Its sadness is the product of hope quenched, of emptiness. A blue Meg Ryan even quotes from this album in You've Got Mail, "It's coming on Christmas/ They're cutting down trees/ They're putting up reindeer/ And singing songs of joy and peace/ Oh I wish I had a river/ I could skate away on." Blue has its optimistic moments, but they don't prevail. So what's the value of an album like this? Well, the high points are truly wonderful, and they feel true while they last. And the low points are honest in a way that lets you know you're not alone.
Everything about Blue aims to connect. The arrangements are sparse and muted, enhancing the album's mood with minimum distraction. Joni's voice is strong and flighty as always, foreshadowing her later jazz stylings. The tunes are beautiful and unusual, structured like folk songs but with surprising jazz twists in their melodies. Ultimately, however, this album is not a collection of pop hits. It's not even about music, really. Blue is a message from Joni Mitchell's soul to mine, across states, across time.
"I remember that time you told me, you said,/ 'Love is touching souls.'/ Surely you touched mine/ 'Cause part of you pours out of me/ In these lines from time to time." B.B. King and Blind Lemon Jefferson elude me. None of that so-called blues music has ever made me blue. These songs...these are my blues.
