Hers was poetry that defined a generation. Haunting themes for quiet thinking in the insane 70's. Like other world tanlents, the producers wanting to bring in orchestras and backup bands, always wanting to put their own stamp on this musical miracle. But Joni was a One Woman Show; a single soul endowed with a beacon which could reach into the darkness of other single soul's, and make sense of it all.
I'm forever indebted to her for the places she brought my battered soul for renewal.
Phyllis. Your untimely death has left a great void in my heart. One of my dearest friends I know you're now looking after me from above. I will always celebrate the time we shared together. I miss you more than words can ever say. We will meet again. Love, Steve
This is a beautiful, little masterpiece! I really love early Joni Mitchell--but never bought the "later " stuff, so all I know is the great, early stuff! Keeping it real, BobbyK
This is a beautiful, little masrerpiece! I really love early Joni Mitchell--but never bought the "later " stuff, so all I know is the great, early stuff! Keeping it real, BobbyK
" "they never knew he had been on their tv, so they passed his music by." boy, does this ever still ring true."
In 2007, the best violinist in the world, Joshua Bell, went busking, playing masterpieces of classical music on a Stradivarius. Do you think anyone stopped to listen? (Hint: two letters, starting with "n")
Thanks for posting-awesome! Joni is probably one of the greatest singer-songwriters ever, incredibly personal(extremely so), moving, & haunting songs.
Powerful, beautiful, haunting, about me. But why didn't Joni help the guy to get a chance a fame? I saw you glance Joni and turn away. I didn't like playing for free .
Oh, and Mr.Att, please take your post ironic, jaded, art school attitude somewhere else...it doesn't belong here. Go listen to some Lou Reed while staring at some Warhol or something, jesus.
Good heavens! Meredith's uncle played the clarinet! WOW! Someone should tell Ripley's "Believe It Or Not". Isn't that just a-m-a-z-i-n-g? The world will surely turn on its axis once the whole world knows.....
I first heard this song on FM radio in 73 and I thought it was done by Neil Young as an acustic guitar version. I spent years looking for it, until I found it on the internet, done by Joni Mitchell. It's one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
This song is an inspiration for me. My uncle was a very great clarinet player. And I love this album so much. But I always remember this song. This is for me about the choice, to play music for love alone.
@TheFobster ... I think about what people did to pure souls like Gandhi and Jesus and it allows the reality that ...for whatever reason... some people just don't get it.
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This tune, as Joni sings it, evokes that lonliness that so many of us spend our lives attempting to avoid. We surround ourselves with noise, friends, toys and medicate ourselves with food, booze, drugs. Yet at some level everyone knows that you die alone. This song and many of Harry Chapin's tunes make us stop and look at that. It's frightening, and some of our tears are shed for fear.
There have to be many different reasons we obsess over Joni. Me being a single, straight, lonely addict. I hear her words as something of a reflection of myself. Many question my love for Joni, i guess for their own reasons. But I hear her so clearly, and being so alone, her music still be keepin them lonesome blues away. Seems only the severely depressed broken hearted and unlucky souls hear her best.
I played with the guy this was about, Lol Coxhill. probably the most modest musician i have ever met. Now playing improvised jazz, Lol toured with people like the stones and jimi hendrix simply because they wanted him to jam with them. Last time i saw him he was in his 80's atleast so I thought I would comemerate the man who could capture an audience in a single moment, much like the one joni describes here. Big up Coxhill!
agreed Cris....she just "has it," doesn't she? My favorite always....if I were on a deserted island, her first eight albums would be necessary items for my survival.
Joni's music and lyrics are immortal - this is 'real' soul music with such sensitivity. I do hope the youth discover the music from the 60's and 70's. The world needs that sincere love that was honestly given by hundreds of musicians back then. Almost all the crap the kids listen to today are like pirates that steal and deceive. Joni's music feeds my soul and I am forever grateful. Thank you dear Joni. May God Bless You!
One or two in an entire generation, perhaps. We are particularly lucky in this one to live when Joni does. I discovered white wine and afternoon sunshine to the sounds of her genius, and those moments remain the foundation of who I am, the strength I can sometimes still reach.
And the best music sometimes never reaches the stage. I'm glad Joni did, along with the ghost of that clarinet player.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Sorry, but this is almost unlistenable to me, particularly after discovering Bette Midler's live cover of the song. So much passion in Bette's interpretation, and this one just drags and drags... And what about that last screech of a note she sings? Awful. A great songwriter, but like Dylan, I'd rather hear covers of their tunes than the originals.
Had you been there with us, back in the 60's, you'd understand the power of this magnificent piece. As it is, let the meaning touch your subconscious and the sound bring you bliss. 35 stars.
The song is so beautiful. I love the way she weaves the whole story into the time it takes to wait for the light to change and the self-deprecating way she portrays herself spoiled by her own success and as just another person who passes by the free music by the great clarinetist. She has the opportunity to harmonize with him, but she doesn't. I think this is the first Joni song I ever really appreciated. Lovely performance! Thanks for posting this!
The One Man Band: Nobody stopped to hear him, & he played so high, they passed his music by -- this was maybe me? Love you Joni & ". . . he was playing so good for Free." I did my best, that is all I can remember, all these years later. . ~ttt~
Ah, Joni, you make it so difficult for me to decide which song I love more. I guess I"ll just have to love them all. I do have to tell you, though, that "For Free" melts my heart every time. Beautiful song, dear lady, and it sits right up there with so many others you have given us. Thanks, Joni, a lot of us are listening and appreciating the gift.
Its not often that you get better quality clips on this site than those produced by the BBC and, as mentioned elsewhere, the live concerts are free but, should we rather pay (I do have a licence) £18M a year to see a vain, lisping dickshiner twice each weekend (if we watch the repeat the next day), or for the recording of concerts which, when discovered on You Tube forty years later, lift the heart?
And then there are the salaries paid to the news readers and other hosts!
Thank you for sharing this. A beautiful song from a beatiful singer, and a rich tribute to street musicians everywhere. Who can listen to Joni Mitchell without a tear?
Oh, this was so wonderful to find! I LOVE the songs from that time period by Joni Mitchell. She provided the background music to so many vignettes of my life. None better... a toast to you, Joni!
I was at this concert at the BBC in 1970 (part of the In Concert series they had) and she was absolutely brilliant. A superb voice, superb composer, superb musician. And such a nice person.
And the concert was indeed 'for free' thanks to the BBC ticket office.
You were very fortunate indeed!!! I've been a fan of Joni Mitchell since about 1969 or so myself, but have never managed to catch her in person: must have been totally magical :-+)
This is my favorite Joni Mitchell song, and it is obvious that CSN were quite taken with her as well. It combines her beautiful C Major song with such breathtaking honesty that it stops you in your tracks. I love watching her shoulders swing back and forth, like a young girl enjoying life so much you wish you could bottle it. This video is a treasure.
Joni, your music not only inspires but challenges. Thank you.
As somebody that commuted into manhattan for years i can assure you that there is a ton of talented musicians playing on the street and under it in the subways. I'm talking about people that make Britney and Jessica sound like chopped liver. You can thank the suits for the fact that you will never know who they are while you know every last detail about a no talent like Spears.
Oh Joni.... I am sixty by now as you are, I figure, and that deep deep feeling of time gone by , with the irreplaceable taste of the 60's and 70's is hard to tell. You are one of the most cherished keepsakes, woman.
Oh STFU.....don't question my, or others, devotion to Joni Mitchell. I didn't even have to look at your channel to know you were from France.....rude, vulgar asshole.
she's so talented it's a pity that she's not as famous as those people who aren't even half as talented as her...i wish that she would come back to singing. her voice may not be that clear soprano but she's still one of the best singers ever
What a douche bag American thing to say. Canada is Canada. Don't take credit for what is ours. And for the people about to comment about my comment, I'm not saying Americans are douche bags - I'm saying that is a very cliche American douche bag thing to say.
You can't seriously be trying to take credit for Joni's talent via nationalism.
That's no better than those dicks who think music can only be enjoyed by people of the era it was written. Music is a gift, not a possession to be owned by people who act like they wrote the damned songs. It's for everyone and meant to live forever.
Have you read the new book about Joni......"Take Me As I Am"? The author talks a lot about the influence of the Canadian Prairie landscape on Joni's songwriting. Joni herself adds that the British-style Canadian education system affected the way she wrote. You don't need a book to tell you that...her lyrics are dripping with Canadian imagery.
If there is anything that pisses me off on YouTube, it's yet another poster in a Joni thread, almost always American, dismissing her Canadian roots.
.....dismissing her Canadian roots, and claiming her for themselves.
Americans can claim everyone from George Gershwin to Irving Berlin to Rodgers & Hammerstein to Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen......and many, many more.
But that's not enough.....you still argue that Joni and Neil are yours too. How about leaving Canadians a few people we can be proud of??
I'm not trying to claim anyone's talent, you're the one doing that, I don't think you fully comprehended what I wrote, so instead of turning such a beautiful song into a national penis measuring contest, I'll just say good day and continue to listen to music I enjoy no matter where or when it was written.
I am not taking credit for Joni's talent. I'm saying her Canadian roots had a lot to do with her songwriting. She admits this herself.
You're implying Joni's Canadian roots had nothing to do with her talent. I'm saying, there may not be a Joni Mitchell, or certainly not a Joni Mitchell as we know her, if not for her growing up on the Canadian Prairies.
I never said I owned her songs. Nor that they shouldn't be enjoyed by everyone all over the world. Of course they should be, and they are.
Go back and re read what I wrote and you will not find any such implication that her Canadian roots had no part in her song writing. What I am saying is... what does it matter? In my opinion music is meant to take walls down, not build them up. Of course she was greatly influenced by her roots, but she was also influenced by her travels. Aren't we all? No need to make it fight over who influenced her more. If she was more influenced by her roots than anything else, that's fine.
You know, this argument was started by another person......an American, saying Joni was American. That's what I have a problem with. And this person wasn't the first to say it, and won't be the last. I couldn't even count the number of times I've heard this from an American. Same with Neil Young.
What you're saying, I basically agree with.......that her music transcends borders and is ageless. It is enjoyed by generations of people the world over. Transcendent and ageless.
And you know what?.... it may not matter to you that Joni is a Canadian, but it matters to Canadians. It matters to Canadians, a lot. You are an American so you will never fully grasp the Canadian psyche. We are a country with a population less than the state of California. We live next to the world's superpower. We have a national inferiority complex as a result. That we can produce such talent as Joni and Neil and Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot and Oscar Peterson......it matters, to us.
The Beatles music is also ageless and transcends borders. Does it matter to Liverpudlians and the British that the Beatles were from Liverpool? Youre damn right it does.
I can understand that to a degree, an old punk band I like called Dead Boys is from Ohio, the State I live in. I think it's cool they are from here, but I don't feel pride over it. I had no control over where I came from, I played no part in that, it's not an achievement. I just don't understand National pride and think it leads to much conflict.
...and Ohioans get looked down on a lot by several other states, so I do understand being happy someone from your area was able to make something of them self.
"That we can produce such talent as Joni and Neil and Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot and Oscar Peterson......it matters, to us."
Good point. I knew some, but not all, of these were Canadian. They are some of my favorites. Joni is an extraordinary talent who created this idea of singer-songwriter. We are all part of this fusion of European & African music that spawned rock&roll and jazz. And, yes, the Beatles were from Liverpool and pre-'64 they sat around listening to Motown.
Sheesh! What a grouch! I was not putting down Canadians...just people who think that the U.S.A. are the ONLY Americans...we are GOOD neighbors...remember!
Joni is one of the finest American songwriters and poets of all time. All of her songs are masterworks. I saw her live in early 70's performing with Tom Scott and L.A. Express. Best concert ever!
actually I think the new voice would be perfect for her to cover a lot of the jazz standards that Julie London used to do. At times she sounds almost identical to London.
I first got into Joni Mitchell's music around 1970, Folk music was still hot back then, one of my favorites of her's is "Song to a Seagull" which is like this song in some ways. Can'y find her version of the sone on youtube
Hers was poetry that defined a generation. Haunting themes for quiet thinking in the insane 70's. Like other world tanlents, the producers wanting to bring in orchestras and backup bands, always wanting to put their own stamp on this musical miracle. But Joni was a One Woman Show; a single soul endowed with a beacon which could reach into the darkness of other single soul's, and make sense of it all.
I'm forever indebted to her for the places she brought my battered soul for renewal.
lavalsaphone 3 weeks ago
I get CHILLS EVERY TIME I listen to this song!
lavasmokechile 1 month ago
Lovely...voice of an angel.
mimiderbyshire 1 month ago
What a wonderful bit of narrative songwriting including reflective
comment and what superb performance.
mouldybear 2 months ago
She takes you right there with her.
Catlovertea4 3 months ago
Phyllis. Your untimely death has left a great void in my heart. One of my dearest friends I know you're now looking after me from above. I will always celebrate the time we shared together. I miss you more than words can ever say. We will meet again. Love, Steve
BB61Sailor 4 months ago
Flawless.
wellsice 4 months ago
All time greats.
Joni and the song...
leperpathologic1 5 months ago
Need a moment to catch my breath...
TwilightFalls 5 months ago
Brings back good memories of simpler times. I saw her in concert back in the early 80's and she sang this song beautifully...Love her!
MrsNatureLuver 5 months ago
This is a beautiful, little masterpiece! I really love early Joni Mitchell--but never bought the "later " stuff, so all I know is the great, early stuff! Keeping it real, BobbyK
bobby7771117 5 months ago
This is a beautiful, little masrerpiece! I really love early Joni Mitchell--but never bought the "later " stuff, so all I know is the great, early stuff! Keeping it real, BobbyK
bobby7771117 5 months ago
absolutely awesome
OL8Twho 5 months ago
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@kenmeyerjr:
" "they never knew he had been on their tv, so they passed his music by." boy, does this ever still ring true."
In 2007, the best violinist in the world, Joshua Bell, went busking, playing masterpieces of classical music on a Stradivarius. Do you think anyone stopped to listen? (Hint: two letters, starting with "n")
princebubby 5 months ago in playlist Joni Mitchell
(sigh) (sigh) (sigh)
princebubby 5 months ago in playlist Joni Mitchell
Thanks for posting-awesome! Joni is probably one of the greatest singer-songwriters ever, incredibly personal(extremely so), moving, & haunting songs.
althecatify 5 months ago
Brings tears to the eyes. Such wisdom....
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Yay 1:00
lllamlll 8 months ago
Powerful, beautiful, haunting, about me. But why didn't Joni help the guy to get a chance a fame? I saw you glance Joni and turn away. I didn't like playing for free .
11xzxzxz 8 months ago
Oh, and Mr.Att, please take your post ironic, jaded, art school attitude somewhere else...it doesn't belong here. Go listen to some Lou Reed while staring at some Warhol or something, jesus.
kenmeyerjr 8 months ago 7
...they never knew he had been on their tv, so they passed his music by.
boy, does this ever still ring true.
kenmeyerjr 8 months ago
please does anybody have sheets. I need to play that for my boyfriend. please please
shywitness1 8 months ago
One of my favorite songs ever. I`m so glad I found this video. Thanks, Joni.
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WildaXanthe 8 months ago
Her accompaniment, the perfect synchronizing partner painting this story straight to my heart.
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adorableimbecilnq 8 months ago
If this doesn't paint pictures for you, then perhaps you're a dead person.
Tphilpott1 9 months ago
Good heavens! Meredith's uncle played the clarinet! WOW! Someone should tell Ripley's "Believe It Or Not". Isn't that just a-m-a-z-i-n-g? The world will surely turn on its axis once the whole world knows.....
MrAttPatt 10 months ago
@MrAttPatt What in the world is someone with a sour nasty attitude like yours doing listening to music like this?
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Amyfaden92 10 months ago
So many good memories...thank you Joni
and thank you street musicians who inspire this lovely story
onbrghtsd 11 months ago
Enjoy this for her like will never come again.
jjj1951 11 months ago 13
I wonder if she preformed this song for free... I like to think she did.
scottishcreamthe1st 11 months ago
I first heard this song on FM radio in 73 and I thought it was done by Neil Young as an acustic guitar version. I spent years looking for it, until I found it on the internet, done by Joni Mitchell. It's one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
df737 11 months ago
Pure Genius
srsteve12 1 year ago
This song is an inspiration for me. My uncle was a very great clarinet player. And I love this album so much. But I always remember this song. This is for me about the choice, to play music for love alone.
MeredithWaters 1 year ago
One precious message, perfectly voiced.
SnoozeButton57 1 year ago
Wow........
folkhippy 1 year ago
7 people hate music.
TheFobster 1 year ago
@TheFobster ... I think about what people did to pure souls like Gandhi and Jesus and it allows the reality that ...for whatever reason... some people just don't get it.
Yasha39 11 months ago
@TheFobster that, or they simply share a different interest in in music.
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This tune, as Joni sings it, evokes that lonliness that so many of us spend our lives attempting to avoid. We surround ourselves with noise, friends, toys and medicate ourselves with food, booze, drugs. Yet at some level everyone knows that you die alone. This song and many of Harry Chapin's tunes make us stop and look at that. It's frightening, and some of our tears are shed for fear.
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This song always makes me cry. I don't know why.
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Had Joni done nothing else in all her life, this would get her into Heaven.
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There have to be many different reasons we obsess over Joni. Me being a single, straight, lonely addict. I hear her words as something of a reflection of myself. Many question my love for Joni, i guess for their own reasons. But I hear her so clearly, and being so alone, her music still be keepin them lonesome blues away. Seems only the severely depressed broken hearted and unlucky souls hear her best.
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I played with the guy this was about, Lol Coxhill. probably the most modest musician i have ever met. Now playing improvised jazz, Lol toured with people like the stones and jimi hendrix simply because they wanted him to jam with them. Last time i saw him he was in his 80's atleast so I thought I would comemerate the man who could capture an audience in a single moment, much like the one joni describes here. Big up Coxhill!
RhymesandRythmns 1 year ago 2
This is what it's about. Raw emotional soul music. God bless Joni.
cadburyspirate 1 year ago
agreed Cris....she just "has it," doesn't she? My favorite always....if I were on a deserted island, her first eight albums would be necessary items for my survival.
backgame 1 year ago
Intoxicating and perfect.
RondelayAOK 1 year ago
been a hard rocker all my life but joni mitchell's music has always been there too.
as said below : real good for free.
MrKirkenstein 1 year ago
Oh, Joni; who could be this good? I love every note, every space between the notes; your music is like perfume. Real good for free.
soaringvulture 1 year ago
@aeonwing - I couldn't possibly disagree more.
craigaa52 1 year ago
Joni's music and lyrics are immortal - this is 'real' soul music with such sensitivity. I do hope the youth discover the music from the 60's and 70's. The world needs that sincere love that was honestly given by hundreds of musicians back then. Almost all the crap the kids listen to today are like pirates that steal and deceive. Joni's music feeds my soul and I am forever grateful. Thank you dear Joni. May God Bless You!
kokodokodo 1 year ago
I love you still.
lightgearwire 1 year ago
Nobody can sing like Joni Mitchell!
singlewhitegaboi 1 year ago
One or two in an entire generation, perhaps. We are particularly lucky in this one to live when Joni does. I discovered white wine and afternoon sunshine to the sounds of her genius, and those moments remain the foundation of who I am, the strength I can sometimes still reach.
And the best music sometimes never reaches the stage. I'm glad Joni did, along with the ghost of that clarinet player.
NefariousWheel 1 year ago 3
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Sorry, but this is almost unlistenable to me, particularly after discovering Bette Midler's live cover of the song. So much passion in Bette's interpretation, and this one just drags and drags... And what about that last screech of a note she sings? Awful. A great songwriter, but like Dylan, I'd rather hear covers of their tunes than the originals.
aeonwing 1 year ago
Comment removed
aeonwing 1 year ago
TO ALL OF OF THE THAT AGE SALUT. JONI WILL ALWAYS BE THE STANDARD
derblae52 1 year ago
Thanks for posting this, I really enjoyed it
voicenthewetlands 1 year ago
Had you been there with us, back in the 60's, you'd understand the power of this magnificent piece. As it is, let the meaning touch your subconscious and the sound bring you bliss. 35 stars.
oldcolonel13 1 year ago
I've always loved Joni's piano playing as well as her guitar playing; she's got a beautiful technique and it's a lovely song.
putkettleonfilms 1 year ago
Outstanding.
Thank-you Joni.
No other singer/songwriter has had such a powerful effect on my emotions.
True musical and lyrical inspiration.
madmad1955uk 1 year ago
simplly the best
kmoney62433 1 year ago
There is only one word to describe this performance....perfection.
Thank you, Joan Anderson....
sonnyridoc 1 year ago
The song is so beautiful. I love the way she weaves the whole story into the time it takes to wait for the light to change and the self-deprecating way she portrays herself spoiled by her own success and as just another person who passes by the free music by the great clarinetist. She has the opportunity to harmonize with him, but she doesn't. I think this is the first Joni song I ever really appreciated. Lovely performance! Thanks for posting this!
gnukev 1 year ago 2
So beautiful. Her songs and singing have always taken me to that beautiful peaceful place and here after all these years it remains.
Voicercise 1 year ago
Sublime Joni, great song....a far sweeter time too!
neilerone 1 year ago
The One Man Band: Nobody stopped to hear him, & he played so high, they passed his music by -- this was maybe me? Love you Joni & ". . . he was playing so good for Free." I did my best, that is all I can remember, all these years later. . ~ttt~
tomthumbtoo 1 year ago
absolutely beautiful - song and singer alike
AkiliNeil 1 year ago
Even after these 40+ years I can remember every word
jessicawabbit2525 1 year ago 3
a wonderful time in my life, thank you vvery much
missfitt5555 1 year ago
my angel
danishwolf71 1 year ago
La mas dulce y linda voz de todos los tiempos
TheMIGUEL1962 1 year ago
Beautiful.
devout 1 year ago
Que bela voz!!!!
eliseusilver 1 year ago
oct nine john lennon was born
sivaddivad 1 year ago
EcoRover ... love this song, beautiful indeed ... and yep, a tear fell just as I started to read ur comment, lol. Hits the emotions every time
soulgirl54 1 year ago
Ah, Joni, you make it so difficult for me to decide which song I love more. I guess I"ll just have to love them all. I do have to tell you, though, that "For Free" melts my heart every time. Beautiful song, dear lady, and it sits right up there with so many others you have given us. Thanks, Joni, a lot of us are listening and appreciating the gift.
butfulmuzik 1 year ago 2
totally agree, willinnewhaven
mirntaflarb 1 year ago
Its not often that you get better quality clips on this site than those produced by the BBC and, as mentioned elsewhere, the live concerts are free but, should we rather pay (I do have a licence) £18M a year to see a vain, lisping dickshiner twice each weekend (if we watch the repeat the next day), or for the recording of concerts which, when discovered on You Tube forty years later, lift the heart?
And then there are the salaries paid to the news readers and other hosts!
2eys2ears2fingers 1 year ago
Better singer: Joni
Better musician: Joni
Better songwriter: Joni
More influential. I guess we can give that one to Dylan
WillInNewHaven 2 years ago 19
Ha ha, yeah spot on there man.
But to give him his dues, Bobby had a few good tunes....
TheNigelr 2 years ago 2
I love her
FERBUS2007 2 years ago
Thank you for sharing this. A beautiful song from a beatiful singer, and a rich tribute to street musicians everywhere. Who can listen to Joni Mitchell without a tear?
EcoRover 2 years ago 42
@EcoRover
not me!
jibe22686 1 year ago
PS I used to be a street musician in San Francisco, so I really especially loved this song!
flutestar51 2 years ago 3
Oh, this was so wonderful to find! I LOVE the songs from that time period by Joni Mitchell. She provided the background music to so many vignettes of my life. None better... a toast to you, Joni!
flutestar51 2 years ago 3
I was at this concert at the BBC in 1970 (part of the In Concert series they had) and she was absolutely brilliant. A superb voice, superb composer, superb musician. And such a nice person.
And the concert was indeed 'for free' thanks to the BBC ticket office.
crispwintermorning 2 years ago
You were very fortunate indeed!!! I've been a fan of Joni Mitchell since about 1969 or so myself, but have never managed to catch her in person: must have been totally magical :-+)
HolyMotherofGrid 1 year ago
Thank you! I have listened to this song countless times and to get to watch Joni sing it is a precious treat.
rondoescoaching 2 years ago 3
Yes.
misterwriter111 2 years ago
She's so good it's nearly frightening
canada2love 2 years ago
I agree -- I've been a fan for years, but I still CANNOT believe that anyone is this good. Shiver.
TheDeviDiaries 2 years ago 2
Just looking at her singing takes me into heaven :)
canada2love 2 years ago
This is my favorite Joni Mitchell song, and it is obvious that CSN were quite taken with her as well. It combines her beautiful C Major song with such breathtaking honesty that it stops you in your tracks. I love watching her shoulders swing back and forth, like a young girl enjoying life so much you wish you could bottle it. This video is a treasure.
Joni, your music not only inspires but challenges. Thank you.
smallCUB520 2 years ago 3
Oh yeah another great that you guys should check out is Laura Nyro. Very similar to Joni in terms of personality (i.e. super sensitive artist)
tom6612 2 years ago 2
As somebody that commuted into manhattan for years i can assure you that there is a ton of talented musicians playing on the street and under it in the subways. I'm talking about people that make Britney and Jessica sound like chopped liver. You can thank the suits for the fact that you will never know who they are while you know every last detail about a no talent like Spears.
tom6612 2 years ago 3
Ain't it the truth. I've heard some fantastic musicians down there, all kinds of music.
mmedefarge 2 years ago 2
never NEVER mention jonas brothers (or any other new worthless performer) while Joni Mitchell is playing!
june32 2 years ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
it never gets old.
martintherobot 2 years ago
Oh Joni.... I am sixty by now as you are, I figure, and that deep deep feeling of time gone by , with the irreplaceable taste of the 60's and 70's is hard to tell. You are one of the most cherished keepsakes, woman.
Cris1949 2 years ago 45
joni, with this song, inspired me to busk
at age 17, i'm 51 now and have never HAD
to panhandle when hitchhiking
since then !!! love to her and YOU for posting this. thanksgiving every day, tom
afrisbeetom 2 years ago
jewel owls
jewels
lol, it could work either way:) both beautiful images
oo orrrr, school house, instead of schools
courtandspark86 2 years ago
School Owls
Schools
She is brilliant!
tnash71 2 years ago
haha yes, school owls
courtandspark86 2 years ago
Wow..... X
br0adcaster1 2 years ago
just cant seem to find a prince who knows his way around a womans body.
SexyyAamberr 2 years ago
I don't know any of her music 'cept big yellow taxi. But this is sooo beautiful. gotta look some more of her stuff. right now.
mrsthursday 2 years ago 2
Blue is a great album to start with. I bet you'll listen to it over and over and...
fingal42 2 years ago
I envy your journey
lidgleymike 2 years ago 2
@lidgleymike : ))
mrsthursday 2 years ago
you need these albums to get you started:
court and spark
clouds
blue
hejira
courtandspark86 2 years ago
@courtandspark86
thanks for the list. My older sister has Blue, I had no idea she was even a fan of Joni.
mrsthursday 2 years ago
Joni and her music shows the beauty around us..
TheElis9 2 years ago
Stunning. Mesmerising.
Christ, this is incredible!!
This song always manages manages to slice me into two.
What a f*cking perfomance.
Thanks muchly henhenstoll.
Cotdail 2 years ago
Still a beauty and an inspiration to the world, what times, what talent, thanks
stripetuffy 2 years ago
oh my god, one of her most beautiful songs, along with "Last time I met Richard"...
discomadame 2 years ago 3
Mitchell and tears go together because there's too much beauty in her music.
dks880 2 years ago 5
Simply Wonderful
TheRubalenska 2 years ago
happy tears
r2dxhate 2 years ago 3
You must be kidding. Please God, you create this perfect Lady-then what? I have to live up to her fine example? Well,then, I will.
1dantown 2 years ago
That's what i call: TALENT!!!!
290977250777 2 years ago 3
This kind of talent is hard to find anymore.
marvy1118 2 years ago 4
It always was, dude. One of a kind.
Sammyboy72 2 years ago 2
female divas sure ain't what they used to be
this is such a beautiful song
sweetelesue 2 years ago 2
My very favorite Joni song of all time.
MrsVil 2 years ago
This is a side of Joni that I have nearly forgotten...between her folk and jazz period. She's fantastic...
OneHeart75 2 years ago
How pathetic.
Americans and Canadians fighting over her musical roots.
Who the fuck cares?
It's the music stupid...
Apart from for some Americans and Canadians that is.
Mitchell fans?
Yeah, right.
fripouille69 2 years ago
Oh STFU.....don't question my, or others, devotion to Joni Mitchell. I didn't even have to look at your channel to know you were from France.....rude, vulgar asshole.
ApocalypsePlough 2 years ago
This has been a personal favorite for almost 40 yrs now. I bought the album with this song about the time this recording was made.
Thank you for posting it with the video. I still love it.
thisisbullr1 2 years ago 4
This comment has received too many negative votes show
lesbos...i like 'em...they r good signers...
testicularfortitude1 2 years ago
she's so talented it's a pity that she's not as famous as those people who aren't even half as talented as her...i wish that she would come back to singing. her voice may not be that clear soprano but she's still one of the best singers ever
999imcool1 2 years ago 4
For the record: Joni's Canadian.
One of the best songwriters of the twentieth century, but a Canadian. She moved to NYC from Toronto when she was about 20 or so.
bbmaven 2 years ago 5
For the record..Canada is in North America...so she is American...
uschums 2 years ago
What a douche bag American thing to say. Canada is Canada. Don't take credit for what is ours. And for the people about to comment about my comment, I'm not saying Americans are douche bags - I'm saying that is a very cliche American douche bag thing to say.
wherethelightisnt 2 years ago
You can't seriously be trying to take credit for Joni's talent via nationalism.
That's no better than those dicks who think music can only be enjoyed by people of the era it was written. Music is a gift, not a possession to be owned by people who act like they wrote the damned songs. It's for everyone and meant to live forever.
valerie2patsy 2 years ago
Have you read the new book about Joni......"Take Me As I Am"? The author talks a lot about the influence of the Canadian Prairie landscape on Joni's songwriting. Joni herself adds that the British-style Canadian education system affected the way she wrote. You don't need a book to tell you that...her lyrics are dripping with Canadian imagery.
If there is anything that pisses me off on YouTube, it's yet another poster in a Joni thread, almost always American, dismissing her Canadian roots.
ApocalypsePlough 2 years ago
.....dismissing her Canadian roots, and claiming her for themselves.
Americans can claim everyone from George Gershwin to Irving Berlin to Rodgers & Hammerstein to Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen......and many, many more.
But that's not enough.....you still argue that Joni and Neil are yours too. How about leaving Canadians a few people we can be proud of??
ApocalypsePlough 2 years ago
I'm not trying to claim anyone's talent, you're the one doing that, I don't think you fully comprehended what I wrote, so instead of turning such a beautiful song into a national penis measuring contest, I'll just say good day and continue to listen to music I enjoy no matter where or when it was written.
valerie2patsy 2 years ago
I think some of you are missing the whole point of music.
valerie2patsy 2 years ago 2
I am not taking credit for Joni's talent. I'm saying her Canadian roots had a lot to do with her songwriting. She admits this herself.
You're implying Joni's Canadian roots had nothing to do with her talent. I'm saying, there may not be a Joni Mitchell, or certainly not a Joni Mitchell as we know her, if not for her growing up on the Canadian Prairies.
I never said I owned her songs. Nor that they shouldn't be enjoyed by everyone all over the world. Of course they should be, and they are.
ApocalypsePlough 2 years ago
Go back and re read what I wrote and you will not find any such implication that her Canadian roots had no part in her song writing. What I am saying is... what does it matter? In my opinion music is meant to take walls down, not build them up. Of course she was greatly influenced by her roots, but she was also influenced by her travels. Aren't we all? No need to make it fight over who influenced her more. If she was more influenced by her roots than anything else, that's fine.
valerie2patsy 2 years ago
You know, this argument was started by another person......an American, saying Joni was American. That's what I have a problem with. And this person wasn't the first to say it, and won't be the last. I couldn't even count the number of times I've heard this from an American. Same with Neil Young.
What you're saying, I basically agree with.......that her music transcends borders and is ageless. It is enjoyed by generations of people the world over. Transcendent and ageless.
ApocalypsePlough 2 years ago
And you know what?.... it may not matter to you that Joni is a Canadian, but it matters to Canadians. It matters to Canadians, a lot. You are an American so you will never fully grasp the Canadian psyche. We are a country with a population less than the state of California. We live next to the world's superpower. We have a national inferiority complex as a result. That we can produce such talent as Joni and Neil and Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot and Oscar Peterson......it matters, to us.
ApocalypsePlough 2 years ago
The Beatles music is also ageless and transcends borders. Does it matter to Liverpudlians and the British that the Beatles were from Liverpool? Youre damn right it does.
ApocalypsePlough 2 years ago
I can understand that to a degree, an old punk band I like called Dead Boys is from Ohio, the State I live in. I think it's cool they are from here, but I don't feel pride over it. I had no control over where I came from, I played no part in that, it's not an achievement. I just don't understand National pride and think it leads to much conflict.
valerie2patsy 2 years ago
...and Ohioans get looked down on a lot by several other states, so I do understand being happy someone from your area was able to make something of them self.
valerie2patsy 2 years ago
"That we can produce such talent as Joni and Neil and Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot and Oscar Peterson......it matters, to us."
Good point. I knew some, but not all, of these were Canadian. They are some of my favorites. Joni is an extraordinary talent who created this idea of singer-songwriter. We are all part of this fusion of European & African music that spawned rock&roll and jazz. And, yes, the Beatles were from Liverpool and pre-'64 they sat around listening to Motown.
karlmahlmann 2 years ago 4
@wherethelightisnt
Sheesh! What a grouch! I was not putting down Canadians...just people who think that the U.S.A. are the ONLY Americans...we are GOOD neighbors...remember!
uschums 1 year ago
Joni is one of the finest American songwriters and poets of all time. All of her songs are masterworks. I saw her live in early 70's performing with Tom Scott and L.A. Express. Best concert ever!
xomgitsbettyx 2 years ago
istening to Joni singing this song is like watching a sweet and bitter movie ......
isa2222 2 years ago 5
actually I think the new voice would be perfect for her to cover a lot of the jazz standards that Julie London used to do. At times she sounds almost identical to London.
fomomoto3 2 years ago
it's a shame joni's addiction to cigarettes ruined her singing voice later on. she sounds like an angel here.
sookiestackhouse2u 2 years ago
my favorite Joany song!! Glad to see it on YT
scarletstarr 2 years ago
Total perfection without trying love you Joni
Virginiaflame 2 years ago 2
make me happy while i hear this song..!
beyondsms 2 years ago
I first got into Joni Mitchell's music around 1970, Folk music was still hot back then, one of my favorites of her's is "Song to a Seagull" which is like this song in some ways. Can'y find her version of the sone on youtube
xbblhead 2 years ago
It's a lament about capitalist exploitation of music. Even though she sued me once, I will always love her!
blab69 2 years ago