Blue (Review)
Hi. Hey. Hello. ItzSonny...and Joni Mitchell. One of the most well-known music artists in music history, shit, even I know of her, yet I've never listened to her music, and when I was a kid, my favorite color was blue and secretly still is..."Blue" by Joni Mitchell. Yes, she just so happened to have released a classic album known as...well, Blue, I just stated that not even a sentence ago. So why not, dive into a classic album set in the folk and rock worlds and see why this talented woman of a musical genius created one of the most revolutionary albums of all time in...Blue. Let's get...blue? I don't fucking know, I'm trying to work here, alright.
BACKGROUND
Joni Mitchell gave herself a break from performing, especially off the high success of her hit songs and albums prior, taking off on a vacation to Europe. Whilst there, she started writing songs for this album and even reflected on life and romantic relationship currently that resulted in a break-up. Then more came for the album as she got involved romantically with actor, James Taylor, who was a rising movie star, and once he really popped off into stardom, he broke off the relationship which devastated Mitchell. After some thinking and laying out, she eventually arranged the songs for the album for the track-listing she wanted:
“The Blue Album, there’s hardly a dishonest note in the vocals. At that period in my life, I had no personal defenses. I felt like a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes. I felt like I had absolutely no secrets from the world and I couldn’t pretend my life to be strong. Or to be happy. But the advantage of it in the music was that there were no defenses there either.”
Thus, Blue was born and let's uncover why this is an all-time personal masterpiece.
REVIEW
"All I Want"
A great opener, it's a nicely simplistic song detailing a woman who just wants love in her life and how she just wants a man to love her and how much it hurts when he hurts her and it's great with some really passionate delivery from Mitchell and great chord play on the guitar.
"My Old Man"
This is a great continuer, from my examination, this is Mitchell talking about her lover and how love is so crucial to her in life with how when he's around, she's filled with joy and has her sad lonesome blues away, yet when he's gone, the blues come in and make her all sad and the way the progression perfectly aligns with her vocal delivery is brilliant and generally captivating, making this so enjoyably provocative.
"Little Green"
This one's just beautiful, again, the guitar is fantastic and creates a melody on its own that is mesmerizing with Mitchell delivering this story about her having to give up her own daughter and it's generally sweet and beautiful, with a childlike, yet adult swing of emotions put into it that makes this so tender to the soul.
"Carey"
More up-cheery and lightful-toned of Mitchell, though they have their problems, clearly loves this man and also desires to travel around the world, yet enjoys her company and it's very sweet like Little Green, yet is less tender and more positive vibes in its overall atmosphere that I truly adore.
"Blue"
The halfway point and also sharing the name of the album...this is beautiful, this whole LP has been beautiful thus far, yet this song really hones on its beauty, removing the guitar and having some fantastic piano play with a great progression that once again aids in the delivery from Mitchell of this serving as a dedication to blue, either a person or the very color itself, and how she believes in the right way and not that of hell and it's just...it's just beautiful, man, what else you want me to say (;c).
"California"
California, am I right or am I right? No, seriously, this is yet another great song, though it is more folk positive, it is also kind of a nervous song in its approach to Mitchell coming back home to California and yet not knowing if it will accept her and all of the stuff going on there, whilst still having a positive mindset and it's great, it gets down to its ideas and performs it wonderfully.
"This Flight Tonight"
Another great blend of positivity and negativity as this one explores Mitchell being on a plane and how despite her positive mindset, she can feel the blackness dragging her down and how she wants love and brightness in her light of a life and again, the overall instrumentation and delivery from Mitchell is unbelievable in its quality, this album has just been so consistent, beautiful, and outstanding track after track after track.
"River"
This one just...damn...depressing...how its Christmas time, the time of year where you're supposed to be celebrating the joys of life with people around you and how Mitchell wishes to have a river to sail away and just damn...this is just...sad...man, it's sad, beautiful...but sad. Beautiful though, great piano as always.
"A Case of You"
Again, this is all just beautiful, not even romantic...just...emotionally present and beautiful, with this one detailing Mitchell being so impacted by love that it comes off as wine from this one person and it's spiritually accurate within melody and her unbelievably talented vocal range where you can just feel her passionate and spiritual ease within the music being portrayed which leads us into the closer.
"The Last Time I Saw Richard"
What a beautiful way to close this beautiful album about such sad and melancholic ideas with such a positive and uplifting ideal from Mitchell for her despite how many lows and little highs she goes through in this album, by the end, she knows that the lows are just a phase and will eventually grow her wings to fly into something better and it's all conveyed so beautifully in this final song that explains why this album...is so treasured.
CONCLUSION
I believe the reason as to why this album is so treasured is because of why folk as a genre is so treasured and that it's how folk artists only require one instrument, one idea, and one mood to craft a beautiful song, let alone, a beautiful album that speaks truthfully and honestly about its core fundamentals and Joni Mitchell excels best at this with "Blue". The "Blue" in this album represents well sadness, when I think of sadness, I picture blue, why? The why is because of when it rains, I'm reminded of my tears, and when I'm reminded of my tears, I'm reminded of the blue in my watery eyes, and thus the Blue represents this albums' melancholic and sorrowful stories and instrumentals that give off us this feeling, yet Mitchell always stays positive throughout the entire LP because despite the genius of her being brutally honest with her real life events and her emotional stances on them, she remains positive because she knows things will get better and that the darkness is only a phase, thus revealing the Blue isn't just sadness...because blue itself is such a beautiful color, yet how can there be beauty in sadness? The beauty will be that despite our lows, things will get better, and so when we look back at those phases, we see the beauty in where we were then and where we are now...and that is why...Blue can be so sad...and so beautiful...just like Joni Mitchell. It's been Sonny and so long, farewell, and goodbye.
“I get my gorgeous wings and fly away
Only a phase, these dark café days”
