Cold blue steel and sweet fire

[brianallancobb]

Joni tuning the E down to C is just wild. The sub-dominant. It makes absolutely no sense. Brilliant. Love you, always, Joni. Terrific guitar. Nobody like you.

[rickheddle]

@brianallancobb I always loved James Burton's work on the original. And yes, Joni's tunings are scary!! But, they work.

[brianallancobb]

@rickheddle

Don't know James Burton. He was the inspiration for this song? Love Joni's work on this, Saw her live in D.C., six months before this recording, heard this song for the first time, just cried.

[brianallancobb]

Love her tuning the E down to a C.  No guitar techs for Miss Joni. Saw her on this tour. Jackson Browne (just him) opening act. Sublime.

[karenscoffeefarm]

Joni was a genius composer 20th century icon

[commonthread2]

Gawd I can sure appreciate this song ,,,,its very intense if you have ever been around junkies its pretty Angelic compared to that addiction and its evils ///////

[beelzabubba]

Joni had and still has something that cannot be measured..... the 5th element, the intangible force, whatever you want to call it...... the first line of this song is: Cold Blue Steel out of Money, one eye for the Pig Police....... Joni got away with calling cops pigs more than anyone..... I'll even kiss a sunset pig... California I'm comin' home....

[scotpens]

@beelzabubba : It's a great song, one of the most subtly chilling and bleak songs about drug addiction.

But the line is "One eye for the beat police." Not "pig."

[blakedawg76]

Is it just my imagination or does her gentle, angelic delivery get gentler and more angelic the darker the lyrics get? I'm in unabashed awe of this performance.

[dmcwalkinghorse]

Joni is one of a kind!! I totally get her. and Its like this...either you do or you don't get what she is about. and if you don't I feel sorry for your empty soul. she is stardust.

[dmcwalkinghorse]

come with me I know the way.. she said "It's down down down the dark ladder!

[brianallancobb]

@dmcwalkinghorse

I came with her, she knew the way, it was down, down the dark ladder.

Not smack, but because I had no access to smack.

[gnukev]

I love how she slows down the tempo. Joni got soul!

[Zougie72]

Tim Curry covered this when he was a rock'n'roller, before his acting career took off with Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[brianallancobb]

@dvs1572

This is not spam.

No clue why somebody flagged it.

"Pin cushion prick this poor bad dreamer."

One of the better lyrics ever written.

[blakedawg76]

@brianallancobb Yes, you are right. I'm unspamming it every time I come back here.

[brianallancobb]

Maybe it's a first for girls, but Joni was to me always first a guitar player.

Then a poet.

Then a singer.

Then a girl.

[brianallancobb]

Love the coda on guitar, just her on guitar, no voice.

Love the tinkly laugh.

They don't make girls like her anymore.

[brianallancobb]

Love the guitar.

Joni had chops on the guitar

[brianallancobb]

Just imagine if this concert had been recorded other than by somebody with a Panasonic.

[brianallancobb]

This was how I first heard this song, March, 1972, DAR Constitution Hall, just Joni on acoustic and her soprano, six months before the studio version (on For The Roses) was released.

[darost]

a beautiful performance of one of my favorite sons by one of my favorite artists, who is also beautiful in the best way

[custardflan]

Awesome.