A Sunday Surprise.

I spent this past Sunday morning in my typical fashion of eating oatmeal while reading The New York Times. As I opened the Arts section, the first article that appeared was titled “Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’ at 50.” Out loud I said, “50!?” In shock of how old Blue actually is. 

Blue by Joni Mitchell is one of my favorite albums. My first introduction to Blue was just this past December. My mom and I were questioning why Emma Thompson’s character in Love Actually treasured Joni Mitchell so much. I listened to Blue and found myself in tears just like Thompson’s character does in the movie. 

Blue and Back to Black (Amy Winehouse) are the two albums that perfectly reflect my transition from girl to woman. These albums are complicated, contradictory, and complex. At one point in my life, certain scenarios explored in these albums were only myths to me. Suddenly, these adult themes became a reality. I don’t know when that switch happened. All I do know is that today I understand exactly what Mitchell is talking about in “A Case of You” and Winehouse with “Tears Dry on Their Own.” 

The NYT article explores 50 artists and their thoughts about Blue. Even her famous ex-lovers have wonderful things to say (which I find quite fascinating.) I’ll leave out any more explanation of the article and let you read it. The article was a lovely surprise on my Sunday morning. Not only was it an interesting read, it allowed me to reflect what my coming of age story is. 

Blue is the perfect example of being completely open and true as an artist. We can all learn something from Joni Mitchell.

“The trick is, if you listen to that music and you see me, you're not getting anything out of it.  You listen to that music and you see yourself. It'll probably make you cry and you'll learn something about yourself and now you're getting something out of it, you know?”- Mitchell at 8:29.