River by Joni Mitchell

Jeremy1012
Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
edited November 2006 in Other Music
I'm not a massive fan of Joni Mitchell or anything because I really haven't hear enough of her stuff but I've liked what I've heard like Fiddle and the drum and Big yellow taxi. However, I just listened to River on a whim and it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Her voice and the piano and the lyrics... it's just unreal. What other stuff should I check out?
"I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
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Comments

  • VEDHEAD27
    VEDHEAD27 Posts: 3,091
    Aww agreed. River is one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful songs. :o I love how perfectly she sets the scence, the mood... everything. That piano mimicking Jingle Bells and then her first line "it's coming on Christmas". Perfect. Awww and the way she raises her voice during "Flllllllly"???:o *tears* Totally takes you away. It's so beautiful and damn genius.

    Ya know I've never been a huge Joni Mitchell fan myself, or A Joni Mitchell fan in general, that was until BLUE. A few years back my best friend insisted that I listen to BLUE. I am beyond grateful that I did. My suggestion to you is that you listen to this entire album. I just listened to it the other day actually. :) It is completely gorgeous from start to finish. Every single lyric, every single sound, every single tone. It made me truly appreciate what an artist Joni is as was. Since I fell deeply in love with BLUE I've tried listening to her other albums but I just can't get into them. There's something very special about BLUE. It seems like it's the one album that appeals to everyone. Even the major Joni lovers that I've come in contact with all agree that BLUE is without a doubt her best work of art.

    Again, GET THE WHOLE ALBUM! You will not regret it. There is not a bad song, a bad second, a bad anything on it. Joni really had such a gift of creating these super unique sounds and tones in with her instruments (voice included) to match the emotions and exact moments, exact words that she was trying to highlight. That gift shines super bright on this masterpiece album. It's seriously phenomenal. She always paints such a vivid picture through her music and words... a relatable world that you can just easily walk right into, get lost and found in, and in no time you've become the main character. This is an album that makes you FEEL so, so much. It's a gorgeous journey. The power never ceases to amaze and pretty much always gets a refreshing cry out of me. It's amazing.

    Some of my fav songs...

    All I Want
    Case of You
    This Flight Tonight
    The Last Time I Saw Richard
    Little Green


    Ending the album with The Last Time I Saw Richard is further proof of this album's sheer brilliance.

    "Only a dark cocoon before I get my gorgeous wings
    And flllllllllly away"


    *chills* That part always gets me.
    Once again making her voice FLY.
    BEEEEAUTIFUL.
    :o
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    "Lo√e, you know the word
    ...YOU invented it!" ~ E√

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  • seagoat2
    seagoat2 Posts: 241
    Yes, get BLUE for sure - if u like that, try "Ladies of the Canyon" - some great tunes there. Enjoy!
  • esther1977
    esther1977 Posts: 540
    Yes you should deff buy Blue
    The last time i saw Richard, blows me away everytime i hear that song
    When all your dreams turn to dust, vacuum
    When all else fails, read the instruction
  • nfanel
    nfanel Posts: 2,558
    i love the part in almost famous where penny lane and russell see each other for the first time again. they are shaking hands and just staring at each other as william is "introducing" them...the opening notes of the river are playing in the background and it just fits so well...
  • Jeremy1012
    Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    VEDHEAD27 wrote:
    Awww and the way she raises her voice during "Flllllllly"???:o *tears* Totally takes you away. It's so beautiful and damn genius.
    That's the part that really stood out to me as amazing. I listened to the song about 10 times last night just to hear that part. I had always tought of her as a songwriter and not necessarily a singer (don't know why, my ignorance I guess) but that one part of this song totally changed my mind. She's one of only a few songwriters who are amazing at writing and at performing.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • viggs20
    viggs20 Posts: 1,296
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    That's the part that really stood out to me as amazing. I listened to the song about 10 times last night just to hear that part. I had always tought of her as a songwriter and not necessarily a singer (don't know why, my ignorance I guess) but that one part of this song totally changed my mind. She's one of only a few songwriters who are amazing at writing and at performing.
    She's also a brialliant guitar player...some of her tunings and chord progressions are really hard to figure out even though the songs may sound simple. A true legend.
    "Reality continues to ruin my life." - Calvin & Hobbes.

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  • direwolf74
    direwolf74 Posts: 1,622
    Wow, never thought I'd see a Joni Mitchell thread on here! Blue is one of my favorite albums of all time, and arguably one of the greatest records ever made. It's as close to songwriting perfection as you can get. Every song just blows me away. You might also want to check out Court & Spark and Clouds. Both albums are awesome and feature great tunes like "Both Sides Now", "Chelsea Morning", and "Free Man in Paris". Joni seems to have retired from making records these days, but I hear she still does her paintings and performs live every once in a while. The woman is a genius.
    "I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer. I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument."

    -Tom Waits
  • hbrowne
    hbrowne Posts: 57
    Hey, you should also listen to Sarah McLachlan's newly released cover of this song on her Wintersong album. I think it's fantastic.
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  • endlessparade
    endlessparade Posts: 99
    joni does a tune/video with peter gabriel called my secret place

    it's awesome
  • VEDHEAD27
    VEDHEAD27 Posts: 3,091
    hbrowne wrote:
    Hey, you should also listen to Sarah McLachlan's newly released cover of this song on her Wintersong album. I think it's fantastic.


    Oh agreed! I was flipping through channels awhile back and stumbled across this performance on a late night talk show. It instantly moved me to tears! Soooooo beautiful!!!! :o Thank you for the heads up on this! I wasn't even aware that it had been released. This is awesome news!

    Sarah really, really does Joni some serious justice. Her cover of Blue is also amazing. She should just make an entire album of Joni covers. :D
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    "Lo√e, you know the word
    ...YOU invented it!" ~ E√

    ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤
    ...::STONE--YOU--OWN!::...
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  • Truthmonger
    Truthmonger Posts: 559
    I've always been blown away that the song "Woodstock" was written by her. And why are Canada's greatest musical exports so often women ? Tell me the lyrics here aren't amazing:


    I came upon a child of god
    He was walking along the road
    And I asked him, where are you going
    And this he told me
    Im going on down to yasgurs farm
    Im going to join in a rock n roll band
    Im going to camp out on the land
    Im going to try an get my soul free
    We are stardust
    We are golden
    And weve got to get ourselves
    Back to the garden

    Then can I walk beside you
    I have come here to lose the smog
    And I feel to be a cog in something turning
    Well maybe it is just the time of year
    Or maybe its the time of man
    I dont know who l am
    But you know life is for learning
    We are stardust
    We are golden
    And weve got to get ourselves
    Back to the garden

    By the time we got to woodstock
    We were half a million strong
    And everywhere there was song and celebration
    And I dreamed I saw the bombers
    Riding shotgun in the sky
    And they were turning into butterflies
    Above our nation
    We are stardust
    Billion year old carbon
    We are golden
    Caught in the devils bargain
    And weve got to get ourselves
    Back to the garden

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