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MUSIC: All I Want
by Joni Mitchell
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# I am on a lonely road and
3
00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,480
# I am travelling, travelling,
travelling, travelling
4
00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,400
# Looking for something
What can it be?
5
00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:23,760
# Oh, I hate you some,
I hate you some, I love you some
6
00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:29,520
# Oh, I love you
when I forget about me
7
00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,880
# I wanna be strong,
I wanna laugh along
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00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,280
# I wanna belong to the living
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00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,360
# Alive, alive,
I want to get up and jive
10
00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,880
# I want to wreck my stockings
in some jukebox dive... #
11
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,360
Joni Mitchell is a true poet.
12
00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:48,880
She can just steel an experience
or a feeling into song
13
00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:50,520
better than anyone.
14
00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,560
She is one of those ones
where the sparks all connect.
15
00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,400
You know, there's some magic
that took place there.
16
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:08,200
# I am on a lonely road
and I am travelling
17
00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,640
# Looking for the key to set me free
18
00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:15,320
# Oh, the jealousy... #
19
00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:18,920
The journey she's gone on in her
music has been really valuable
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and really unique
21
00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,960
because of the fact that she's
not going to put lipstick
22
00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:26,080
and make-up on the truth.
23
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"Here it is, here's what I've found.
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"Here's my letter home."
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# Wanna be the one
that you want to see
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00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:34,400
# I wanna knit you a sweater
27
00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,200
# I wanna write you a love letter
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# I wanna make you feel better
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# I wanna make you feel free
30
00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,960
# Mm hm, hm hm
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# Wanna make you feel free
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00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,680
# I wanna make you feel free. #
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She creates a musical world that
you can feel but you can't explain.
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00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,760
And, ultimately, you're changed
by the experience.
35
00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,840
MUSIC: Urge For Going
by Joni Mitchell
36
00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,880
Joni grew up in a small town
on the Canadian prairie.
37
00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:22,920
She was an only child and when she
was nine years old she got polio.
38
00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:25,760
I think she spent
a lot of time alone.
39
00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:31,680
# I awoke today and found
the frost perched on the town
40
00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:41,120
# It hovered in a frozen sky,
then it gobbled summer down... #
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I always had star eyes, I think.
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I mean, I always was
interested in glamour.
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But my childhood longing mostly
was to be a painter.
44
00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:51,800
You know, that was always
my ambition.
45
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:53,800
I was always the artist
in the classroom.
46
00:02:53,800 --> 00:03:02,600
# I get the urge for going
but I never seem to go... #
47
00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,800
You know, Joni was always a rebel.
48
00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,040
She told me she used to sneak out
to the wrong side of town for
49
00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:11,880
rock and roll dance contests.
50
00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,840
She really lived to dance.
51
00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,680
It's almost as if she was making up
for lost time.
52
00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,960
# And winter's closing in
53
00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:31,040
# Now the warriors of winter,
they gave a cold, triumphant shout
54
00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:39,560
# And all that stays is dying
All that lives is getting out... #
55
00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,000
When the war ended, my father
found us a little house
56
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,480
by the highway with a picture
window, and I think
57
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:52,160
that set up a permanent longing to
take off and go somewhere in me.
58
00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,920
Things coming and going past that
window left an impression upon me.
59
00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,320
"Here they come.
Where are they going?"
60
00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,560
# They get the urge for going
61
00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:11,880
# When the meadow grass
is turning brown
62
00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:20,840
# And summertime is
falling down... #
63
00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:29,000
Joni had this otherworldly view
of what was possible in her life
64
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,120
and that she was definitely going
to go out there and find it.
65
00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,200
I'm not sure that there was
a master plan.
66
00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,200
I think she may have been a young
woman with enormous talent,
67
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,280
anxious to see what was
over the next hill,
68
00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:44,480
and the guitar just kind of
afforded her a ticket.
69
00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,760
It was, in a way, an accident
because I went to art college
70
00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,640
and began to sing in this little
coffee house called
71
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:52,040
The Depression in Calgary.
72
00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:56,160
# An old man came courting me,
courting me, courting me
73
00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,320
# An old man came courting me
Faldaro dee... #
74
00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,720
You know, in the beginning I
mimicked Joan Baez and Judy Collins,
75
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,320
and I thought of myself
merely as a competent mimic.
76
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,520
But the idea of being a recording
artist was not anywhere in my mind.
77
00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:11,960
It was just a hobby.
78
00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,000
So I didn't think I had the gift to
take it any further than that.
79
00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,120
What happened to me then
in art school,
80
00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,360
I lost my virginity and became
pregnant at the same time.
81
00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,240
The main thing was to protect
my parents from the scandal.
82
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:31,000
You had to... What girls did, either
you got married to cover it up,
83
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:32,640
or you went into a home.
84
00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:34,120
Abortion was unheard of.
85
00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,200
MUSIC: Little Green
by Joni Mitchell
86
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So I entered onto the bad girl's
trail, you know,
87
00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,240
which was a trail of
shame and scandal.
88
00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,160
And I had to kind of
hide myself away.
89
00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,720
# Born with the moon in cancer
90
00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:59,120
# Choose her a name
she will answer to
91
00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,640
# Call her Green and
the winters cannot fade her
92
00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,120
# Call her Green for
the children who've made her
93
00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,360
# Little Green... #
94
00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,560
Two weeks after I gave birth
to my daughter,
95
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,040
I again went looking for work
because I had to put her
96
00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,720
into a foster home, and I was
penniless at the time.
97
00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:24,680
# Child with a child pretending
98
00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:33,400
# Weary of lies you are sending home
99
00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:38,800
# So you sign all the papers
in the family name
100
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:43,640
# You're sad and you're sorry,
but you're not ashamed
101
00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:49,840
# Little Green, have a happy ending
102
00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:51,440
# Just a little green... #
103
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,840
One night, while I was playing
in the Penny Farthing,
104
00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:55,240
I met Chuck Mitchell.
105
00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:58,760
We quickly became friends
and he said that he could get me
106
00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:00,480
work in the States.
107
00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,440
So with that optimism I went
and took a few gigs down there.
108
00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:09,560
Eventually I had to tell him that
my child was in the foster home,
109
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,640
and he said he would marry me.
110
00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,920
I was emotionally weak,
with a lot of things pulling me
111
00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,680
in all sorts of unattractive
directions.
112
00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,640
And this was a strong
pull in a certain direction,
113
00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:26,320
and somewhat of a solution.
114
00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,880
So we married each other, for all
the wrong reasons.
115
00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:36,400
We had no money.
116
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,480
I made my wedding dress and I made
my bridesmaids' dresses.
117
00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,720
One of my bridesmaids was his sister
Celia, who I barely knew.
118
00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:45,760
I barely knew any of these people.
119
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,680
And I walked down the aisle
brandishing my daisies,
120
00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,000
thinking, "I can get out of this."
121
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,840
But the moment we were married
he intimated strongly that
122
00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,600
he had no interest in raising
another man's child.
123
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:09,920
So I was trapped.
124
00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:21,800
Chuck insisted that we be a duo,
125
00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,440
but we were totally
unsuited to be a duo.
126
00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,880
# Blues in the bottle,
blues in the bottle... #
127
00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,160
He made more money with me
than he did without me.
128
00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,960
And he held the purse strings,
completely.
129
00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,200
# Where do you think you're at? #
130
00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,480
Because we were young
and attractive we were being
131
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,600
made into kind of
Detroit's golden couple.
132
00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:43,560
So we were living a lie.
133
00:08:43,560 --> 00:08:46,920
And I don't like to live a lie.
134
00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,880
You try to make the best of moments,
and I looked relatively happy.
135
00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:58,720
But I felt like I'd been betrayed.
136
00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:03,880
It was...
137
00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:05,840
..very difficult for me.
138
00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:07,600
So I began to write.
139
00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,360
I think I started writing just to
develop my own private world,
140
00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,080
and also because I was disturbed.
141
00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,840
# Rows and flows of angel hair
142
00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:30,000
# And ice-cream castles
in the air... #
143
00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,160
Both Sides Now was
one of the first songs.
144
00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,920
I was meditating on fantasy
and reality,
145
00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,640
childlike optimism and
adult reality.
146
00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,520
This was the work
of my childhood's end.
147
00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,960
# They rain and snow on everyone
148
00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:54,320
# So many things I would've done
149
00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:59,440
# But clouds got in my way
150
00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,160
# I've looked at clouds
from both sides now
151
00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:07,320
# From up and down
and still somehow... #
152
00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:13,480
And as my work began to mature
I began to long for my own growth.
153
00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,880
I felt that I couldn't grow
with Chuck,
154
00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:18,440
that we would never grow together,
155
00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,760
that I had to separate myself
from the duo,
156
00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,520
that I had to become
an individual in order to grow.
157
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,600
And as soon as the duo dissolved,
the marriage dissolved.
158
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:34,080
# Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
159
00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:39,080
# The dizzy dancing way you feel
160
00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,240
# As every fairy tale
comes real... #
161
00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:48,320
I think she had more understanding
than most people do of human beings.
162
00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,520
She had already been through
some hard things.
163
00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:57,360
And what makes human beings get
wisdom is paying dues.
164
00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:01,360
It's sort of like you arrive here
as a boulder and you knock
165
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,640
corners off yourself until you get
smooth like a river stone.
166
00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,320
And she was already
starting to get smooth.
167
00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,040
# I've looked at love
from both sides now
168
00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,760
# From give and take
and still somehow
169
00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:20,280
# It's love's illusions I recall
170
00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:24,800
# I really don't know love
171
00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:29,800
# At all. #
172
00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,160
I feel every bit of trouble I went
through I'm grateful for, you know?
173
00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,360
JONI LAUGHS
174
00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,160
Bad fortune changed the course
of my destiny.
175
00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:39,560
I became a musician.
176
00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,200
APPLAUSE
177
00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,920
You... You're just starting out,
sort of, aren't you?
178
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:51,080
Um...
179
00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,080
Actually, I've been singing
professionally now for two years.
180
00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,120
But I consider that I've only
started within the last year,
181
00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:02,200
because I've only felt that I've
begun to have my own way to go,
182
00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,360
my own songs and my own guitar style
183
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,040
and I'm starting to get
my own vocal styling now.
184
00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,920
How do you determine
when you've sort of arrived
185
00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,120
and are what you want to be
in this...?
186
00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:15,600
It's sort of a law of averages.
187
00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:16,800
It depends on...
188
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You don't bomb any more.
189
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:20,400
That's what it is!
190
00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,800
MUSIC: Night In The City
by Joni Mitchell
191
00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,400
# Light up, light up
192
00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,560
# Light up your lazy blue eyes... #
193
00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:35,880
And Manhattan's Greenwich Village,
it was a very gritty scene,
194
00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,480
you know, in terms of the outlook,
the streets, the whole vibe.
195
00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,640
There was, like, Bob Dylan
and Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs.
196
00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,480
And Joni, Leonard Cohen
and Townes Van Zandt,
197
00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,680
they kind of came next.
198
00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:51,520
So I went to New York, and I played
a lot of coffee houses.
199
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,200
I booked myself - I had no manager.
200
00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,920
I worked the bulk of the year,
you know, in club dates.
201
00:12:57,920 --> 00:12:59,720
# There are places to come from
202
00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,080
# And places to go
203
00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,240
# Night in the city looks
pretty to me
204
00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,960
# Night in the city looks fine... #
205
00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,280
I walked into a coffee house,
206
00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,680
and she was singing.
207
00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:16,840
And she just floored me.
208
00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,520
She rocked me back up against
the back wall of that place
209
00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,320
and I stood there just transfixed.
210
00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,000
I couldn't believe that there
was anybody that good.
211
00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:30,840
When I first saw her,
hardly anybody was there.
212
00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:32,600
I mean, the coffee house was empty.
213
00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,000
She was standing
almost a little pigeon-toed.
214
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,680
She was all involved in tuning
her guitar,
215
00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:43,680
and she covered her face
with her hair.
216
00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:47,040
It's almost like she wanted to
erase who she is...
217
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,120
..and just let the voice be...
218
00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,040
..let the songs be who she is.
219
00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,080
# I had a king in
a salt-rusted carriage
220
00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:02,360
# Who carried me off to his country
for marriage too soon... #
221
00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,760
And then she started to sing
I Had A King.
222
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,040
I was going through a divorce then.
223
00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:12,720
And I just felt... I don't know
what it was about that song.
224
00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:18,320
Talk about a new way of conveying -
through music, through words
225
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,160
- a new way of conveying
an existential reality,
226
00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,240
a thing, you know, like...
227
00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,440
Oh, I just started to sob.
228
00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,560
# I can't go back there any more
229
00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,960
# You know my keys won't
fit the door
230
00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:39,440
# You know my thoughts
don't fit the man
231
00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,520
# They never can... #
232
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,880
She sang it so real, so true,
as if she was singing for me.
233
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,080
She was my voice, you know?
234
00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,040
She was everybody's voice -
she was like a universal voice.
235
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:58,400
# They never can. #
236
00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,280
I was amazed that she was so young.
237
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,320
You know? There was so much
wisdom in her work.
238
00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,960
# Moonlight becomes you
239
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,080
# I'm thrilled at the sight... #
240
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,240
I loved the beautiful melodies which
belonged to the crooner era.
241
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,640
But those melodies had
very simple text.
242
00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,240
There wasn't room for much
poetic description.
243
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,240
# You're all dressed up
to go dreaming... #
244
00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:34,360
They're beautiful but they're
very direct English,
245
00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,080
and that's what suits
that kind of melody.
246
00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:41,720
But I like the more storytelling
quality of Dylan's work.
247
00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,880
# You've got a lot of nerve
248
00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,440
# To say you are my friend... #
249
00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,720
Bob Dylan had inspired me and it was
the idea of the personal narrative.
250
00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,120
He would speak as if to
one person in a song.
251
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,560
You know, like, "You've got a lot
of nerve to say you are my friend,"
252
00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,280
you know? I mean, nobody had ever
written anything like that
253
00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:04,160
in song form, you know?
254
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,000
Such a personal, strong statement.
255
00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,680
And his influence was to
personalise my work.
256
00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,760
"I feel this for you,"
257
00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,120
or "from you," or "because of you."
258
00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:22,800
That was the key.
259
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:24,640
"OK, this opens all the doors.
260
00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:26,840
"Now we can write about anything."
261
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,320
# There's a man who's been
out sailing
262
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,920
# In a decade full of dreams
263
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,760
# And he takes her to his schooner
264
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,480
# And he treats her like a queen
265
00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,240
# Bearing beads from California
266
00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,600
# With their amber stones
and green... #
267
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,880
The thing that I was reluctant
to let go of was
268
00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,480
the melodic, harmonic sense.
269
00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,480
Whereas Dylan, you could speak
in paragraphs,
270
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,800
but it was for the sacrifice
of music.
271
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:57,880
You get the plateaus upon
which to speak.
272
00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,440
# In the breaking and the breathing
273
00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,920
# Of the water weeds
274
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:12,680
# And she's so busy being free... #
275
00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:17,160
So it was my job to distil a hybrid
that allowed for a certain
276
00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,640
amount of melodic movement
and harmonic movement,
277
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:23,520
but with a certain amount of
plateaus in order to make
278
00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,360
the longer statement,
to be able to say more.
279
00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:28,920
# And he hopes her heart can hear
three thousand miles
280
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:30,640
# He calls again
281
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,520
# He can think her there beside him
282
00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:38,680
# He can miss her just the same... #
283
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,960
She was always more poetic
than most of her peers.
284
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,920
Even in the early songs like
The Circle Game and Both Sides Now,
285
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:51,320
there was a construction of images
and structure to her work
286
00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,640
and ingenuity of imagery that
nobody else had.
287
00:17:55,720 --> 00:18:04,160
# Yesterday a child came out
to wander
288
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:11,040
# Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
289
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:20,000
# Fearful when the sky was
full of thunder... #
290
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,920
Joni sent me a tape of six songs.
291
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,800
The last song, I remember
she says into the tape recorder,
292
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,280
"This song isn't done yet,
and it really sucks
293
00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,880
"and I don't even know why I'm
sending it to you, but here it is."
294
00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,120
And it was The Circle Game.
295
00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:36,400
# And the painted ponies go
up and down... #
296
00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,560
It was one of the best songs
I'd ever heard.
297
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:45,720
# We're captive on
the carousel of time... #
298
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,160
I was Buffy Sainte-Marie's agent.
299
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,800
And she'd recorded a new album,
and I had listened to the album
300
00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:54,200
and I called her up and I said,
301
00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,760
"I really loved that
song about the circle game."
302
00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,600
And she said, "That song was
written by Joni Mitchell."
303
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,640
That was the first time
I heard Joni Mitchell's name.
304
00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,200
The myth was starting about
her material,
305
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:08,840
and people wanted
Joni Mitchell songs.
306
00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:14,000
I told her I was a personal manager
and I'd kill to work with her.
307
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,120
And she said, "I'm leaving tomorrow
and I'm going on the road
308
00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:18,840
"for about three weeks."
309
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,160
And in those days
she booked herself,
310
00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,520
she travelled with her guitar,
she went alone on the road.
311
00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:26,400
And I said, "Can I go with you?"
312
00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,920
And she said, "Well, if you meet me
at the airport tomorrow,
313
00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:30,840
"I'm flying to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
314
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:33,760
"If you meet me at the airport and
you're there...", and she gave me
315
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,520
the flight number, "..and you pay
your own expenses,
316
00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:38,400
"you can come with me."
317
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,920
And we did. I went on the road
with her the next day.
318
00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,960
Elliot became wildly
excited about Joni,
319
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:50,280
and he introduced me to her,
and I became her agent.
320
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:52,600
And, you know, it was the beginning
of her career,
321
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,520
it was the beginning of our careers.
322
00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:57,560
You know, everything was
very small-time.
323
00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:01,600
When she first came out,
she had a backlog of 20, 25 songs
324
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,560
that were what most people would
dream that they would do
325
00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:06,720
in their entire career.
326
00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,840
She had already done it before
she had recorded.
327
00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:11,960
It was stunning.
328
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,560
APPLAUSE
329
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,320
# Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning
330
00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:27,880
# And the first thing that I heard
331
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,880
# Was a song outside my window
332
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,600
# And the traffic wrote the words
333
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,560
# It came a-ringing up like
Christmas bells
334
00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:42,960
# And rapping up like
pipes and drums
335
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,320
# Oh, won't you stay?
We'll put on the day
336
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:51,960
# And we'll wear it till
the night comes... #
337
00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,280
Joni invented everything
about her music,
338
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:56,520
including how to tune the guitar.
339
00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,680
From the beginning
of the process of writing it,
340
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:03,920
she's building the canvas, as well
as she is putting the paint on it.
341
00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,320
# The red, green and gold... #
342
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,800
No-one's trained her.
She's trained herself.
343
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,000
And even in these early
compositions,
344
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,680
she finds a harmony,
or a group of chords,
345
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,600
and, invariably, it's never
straight on.
346
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,760
# There's a sun show
every second... #
347
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,760
For years, everybody said, "Joni's
weird chords, Joni's weird chords,"
348
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,440
and I thought, "How can
there be weird chords?"
349
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,400
Chords are depictions of emotions.
350
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,560
These chords that I was getting
by twisting the knobs on the guitar
351
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:39,160
until I could get these chords that
I heard inside that suited me,
352
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,640
they feel like my feelings.
353
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:45,880
You know, I call them,
not knowing, chords of inquiry.
354
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,800
They have a question mark in them.
355
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,240
There were so many unresolved things
in me that those chords
356
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:58,320
suited me and I'd stay in unresolved
emotionality for days and days.
357
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,320
# The rainbow runs away
358
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,920
# I will bring you incense owls
by night
359
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:09,920
# By candlelight, by jewel-light
If only you will stay
360
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:11,880
# Pretty baby, won't you?
361
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:16,680
# Wake up,
it's a Chelsea morning... #
362
00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,000
It was a little daunting to be
a singer-songwriter in her presence
363
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,200
because she was so good. She does it
in a way that nobody else can do it.
364
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,680
She doesn't sound like anybody.
365
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,760
You hear her play and you say,
"Oh, that's Joni."
366
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:36,240
# De de-de de-de... #
367
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:38,920
JONI REACHES HIGH NOTE
368
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,240
APPLAUSE
369
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,840
# Trinna wears her wampum beads
370
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:02,720
# She fills her drawing book
with lines
371
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:06,400
# Sewing lace on widows' weeds
372
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:11,080
# And filigree on leaf and vine... #
373
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:15,240
Laurel Canyon in the late '60s
was an incredible place to be.
374
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,280
It was the time everyone was
coming out to California.
375
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,960
There was a camaraderie
among all the artists.
376
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,640
There was always people coming
over, up and down the canyon,
377
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:28,320
going from one house to another,
playing new songs for each other.
378
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:29,760
There was so much happening.
379
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,960
Electric music was starting to
happen. The acid rock was happening.
380
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,880
You know, the Byrds and the Airplane
and the Grateful Dead,
381
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,560
all of those groups were playing
all the small clubs.
382
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:42,640
# Annie sits you down to eat
383
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,640
# She always makes you... #
384
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,400
I can only liken it to Vienna
in the turn of the century
385
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,000
or Paris in the '30s.
386
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:55,600
Laurel Canyon was very similar in
that there was a freedom in the air.
387
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,680
There was a sense
that we could do anything.
388
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,200
We were scruffy kids that were,
in some small way,
389
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,280
changing the world, changing the way
people think about things,
390
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,360
and there was a sharing of ideas
391
00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:13,160
and a true love for being
392
00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:15,200
in the right place
at the right time.
393
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:21,000
# La la-la la-la la-la... #
394
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:25,880
There really was an ethic of peace
and love and art
395
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,520
and poetry amongst that crowd.
396
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:33,400
Poetry, even more than
musicality, was revered
397
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,280
and Joan was the best poet
at the time,
398
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,840
so it was the kind of period where
she had a lot to say
399
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:40,440
and everyone wanted to hear it.
400
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,520
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
401
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:49,320
# He'll drop his defences
402
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:55,480
# You'll see through the stone
to the heart of the man... #
403
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,840
I took her around to people that
I knew already loved music,
404
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,760
loved singer-songwriters,
and I said, "Listen to this,"
405
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:07,760
and I'd roll them a joint,
get them high and sit down
406
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:13,640
and ask Joni to play, and the word
spread pretty much like wildfire.
407
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,800
I'm finally going to make
a record. I...
408
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:20,920
APPLAUSE
409
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:24,760
I did produce her first record,
but I didn't do that great a job.
410
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:31,520
The only thing I did right was keep
almost everything off of it,
411
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:33,680
keep it to just Joni and the songs.
412
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,840
Creatively, she knew
where she wanted it to go
413
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,040
and what she wanted it to be.
414
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,640
She had a vision.
She wasn't looking for input.
415
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:48,280
# Marcie in a coat of flowers
416
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:52,200
# Stops inside a candy store
417
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,920
# Reds are sweet and greens are sour
418
00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:01,440
# Still no letter at her door... #
419
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,320
There's an innocence about this
first album.
420
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,800
Song To A Seagull is a very
rarefied, very pure,
421
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,120
very innocent musical experience.
422
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:16,080
It's a poetic experience.
423
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:24,080
# Wave another day goodbye
424
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,240
# Marcie's faucet needs a plumber
425
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,440
# Marcie's sorrow needs a man... #
426
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,360
David Crosby once told me that
427
00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:38,440
if I ever ran across Joni Mitchell
in my travels to introduce myself
428
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,360
because he thought that we would
get on...
429
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:44,520
..and get on we did.
430
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,160
INTRO TO CONVERSATION
431
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:02,920
# He comes for conversation... #
432
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:07,400
She later took me back to her hotel,
where she proceeded to play me
433
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,040
music that was...from
another planet.
434
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,400
# Comfort and consultation... #
435
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,680
I was looking at this woman who was
so beautiful,
436
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:20,800
surrounded by wonderful warm
objects, candles and pieces of silk
437
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:25,880
and tapestry, gargoyles outside
the window.
438
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,480
We were on the top floor.
439
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:34,480
Quite frankly, I'll never,
ever forget that night. Ever.
440
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:39,680
# He sees me when he pleases
441
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,560
# I see him in cafes... #
442
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,840
I fell completely in love with Joni
right then.
443
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,280
I had never heard, seen or met
a creature like this in my life.
444
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,120
It was something else.
445
00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:55,600
APPLAUSE
446
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,440
It's a long way from Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, to Carnegie Hall.
447
00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:04,200
LAUGHTER
448
00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,640
APPLAUSE
449
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,080
MAN SHOUTS: I love you!
450
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:14,320
The audience at Carnegie Hall were
ecstatic that Joni was there.
451
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:16,160
I think it was jammed
to the rafters.
452
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:22,400
# When morning comes to Morgantown
453
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,120
# The merchants roll
their awnings down... #
454
00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:30,560
It was Joan's coming out
in a really big way.
455
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:34,560
She brought her parents from Canada.
This was a big deal.
456
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,760
# Morning, Morgantown
457
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:43,120
# Buy your dreams a dollar down... #
458
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,280
Well, Carnegie Hall the first time
around was quite an event
459
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,000
on so many levels.
460
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:54,080
"New York loves you, Joni."
It was wonderful.
461
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,000
She was magnificent that night.
462
00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:00,720
She had reached a place in
her career that was indisputable.
463
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,160
APPLAUSE
464
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,680
A lot of the people
in my audience are very tired
465
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,640
because they came here,
I understand, from Woodstock
466
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,880
right here...
467
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,880
APPLAUSE
468
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,760
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had
been asked to play Woodstock,
469
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,720
as had Joni.
470
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,440
We had arrived at
La Guardia Airport
471
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:25,880
and I picked up the New York Times.
472
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,840
It said, "400,000 people sitting
in mud," and I said to Joni,
473
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,480
"Let's not go."
474
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:34,920
It was decided at the airport that
I couldn't go
475
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,800
because it would be difficult to
get me in and get me out
476
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,360
and I had to do a television show,
The Dick Cavett Show,
477
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:41,600
the following day.
478
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:45,800
It was her first national TV
and it was a big break.
479
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:49,000
The boys weren't going to miss out
on it. They rented a helicopter
480
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,440
and they got in, and not only did
they get in, but they got out
481
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,280
because they crashed the TV show
the next day.
482
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,280
Can I describe to you what it looked
like flying in on a helicopter, man?
483
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:02,160
Yes. It looked like an encampment
of the Macedonian army.
484
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:06,640
You know, when I look at that film,
my heart was just breaking.
485
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,040
This was like...
486
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:13,080
..the biggest event of my generation
and I got THAT close to going
487
00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:14,760
and being a part of it.
488
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:19,200
So, I stayed home in New York and
I watched it on television all day
489
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,120
and saw everybody there
playing and singing.
490
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:27,640
It was really a nice festival, I
guess, from the looks of everything.
491
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:32,600
Well, I wrote a little song
for my friends to sing,
492
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,240
and for myself to sing as well,
and it's called Woodstock.
493
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:37,680
It goes like this.
494
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,360
By the time we got back
to the hotel,
495
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,920
having gone through that tremendous
experience, the song Woodstock
496
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:52,800
had already been basically written.
497
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,120
# I came upon a child of God
498
00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,240
# He was walking along the road
499
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:05,600
# And I asked him
I said, "Where are you going?"
500
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:10,560
# And this he told me
501
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,840
# I'm going on down to
Yasgur's farm
502
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:21,240
# Gonna join in
a rock and roll band
503
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,840
# I'm gonna camp out on the land
504
00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:31,120
# Lord, I'm gonna try
and get my soul free
505
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,960
# We are stardust
506
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:40,040
# We are golden
507
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,080
# And we've got to get ourselves
508
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:50,480
# Back to the garden... #
509
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:54,920
She contributed more towards
people's understanding of that
510
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:56,880
event than anybody that was there.
511
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:05,760
I think, throughout her work, there
is an effort to make the music
512
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:10,040
be sky-bound, to relieve the body of
temporality
513
00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,440
and, when she gets there, oof!
514
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:17,400
It's almost a chant - this need
for release and transcendence.
515
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,240
To ride above the culture,
to be in the sky, to reflect,
516
00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:25,960
to not be in it,
but to look down upon it.
517
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,080
# I'll light the fire
518
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:40,920
# You place the flowers in the vase
519
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,640
# That you bought today
520
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:50,920
# Staring at the fire
521
00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:58,120
# For hours and hours
while I listen to you
522
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:01,680
# Play your love songs
523
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:07,800
# All night long for me
524
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:08,880
# Only for... #
525
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:10,440
It was an intense time.
526
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:14,360
It was an intense time of, "Who's
going to get to the piano first?
527
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:18,480
"Who's going to fill up the space
with their music first?"
528
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:22,520
I mean, we had two very creative
writers living in the same space
529
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,760
and it was an interesting clash of,
530
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:29,520
"I want to get as close to you as
possible, leave me alone to create."
531
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,160
# My old man
532
00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:39,040
# He's a singer in the park
533
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,280
# He's a walker in the rain
534
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:42,800
# He's a dancer in... #
535
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:47,160
Graham and I have been the source
of many songs for one another.
536
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:51,040
# We don't need no piece
of paper from the city hall... #
537
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,680
A lot of beautiful music
came from it
538
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:55,920
and a lot of beautiful times
came from it.
539
00:33:55,920 --> 00:34:01,280
# My old man, keeping away
my blues... #
540
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,280
How does a person write a song?
541
00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,520
A lot of it is being open, I think,
to encounter and, in a way,
542
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:09,040
in touch with the miraculous.
543
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,080
It has to do with the Irish blood,
I think, and luck,
544
00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,400
you know, whether the blarney is
flowing.
545
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,680
Some nights, if you listen to
the rattles of your own head,
546
00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:25,520
it's more linguistically colourful
or eccentric than other nights.
547
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,000
Is the blarney running or is it not?
548
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:37,440
You know, like, at any given time,
it's not like, one night,
549
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:40,760
you'll trip over your tongue,
you know, the words won't
550
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,800
come with the same facility, and,
another night, it's just with you.
551
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:48,240
Why? Is it your biorhythms?
Is it divine intervention,
552
00:34:48,240 --> 00:34:51,760
you know, saying,
"You can't have it tonight"?
553
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,400
Watching her write was
the most interesting process.
554
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,440
It's almost like she channels.
555
00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:00,920
She was gone for hours.
556
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,160
I mean, she was physically right
there, but she wasn't there.
557
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:09,280
She was gone. I'd say things to her
and she wasn't even listening.
558
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:12,240
She was gone.
And it was a great thing to see.
559
00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:15,520
Great thing to see somebody
taken away by vision.
560
00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:23,280
# You could have been more than
a name on the door
561
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:29,160
# On the 33rd floor in the air
562
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:32,960
# More than a credit card
563
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:39,000
# Swimming pool in the back yard
564
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,280
# While you still have the time
565
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:44,640
# You could get away and find
a better life
566
00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:49,640
# You know the grind is
so ungrateful
567
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,160
# Racing cars, whisky bars
568
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:59,080
# No-one cares who you really are
569
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,560
# You're the keeper of the cards
570
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:05,560
# Yes, I know it gets hard
571
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,400
# Keeping the wheels turning
572
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:14,160
# And the wife, she keeps
the keys... #
573
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:20,000
Joni looks for this magical riff,
this little piece of
574
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,200
rhythm and harmony and melody
that's going to set up
575
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,680
an extraordinary mood.
576
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,720
And when she finds it, you can
almost see her and feel her,
577
00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:35,880
and you hear that from the opening
of these tunes.
578
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:39,400
It envelops the listener,
579
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,760
but think how it envelops her
when she finds it.
580
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:47,920
# More than a consumer
Lying in some room... #
581
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:51,040
She lives with a great respect
for this mystery
582
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:54,840
and with an openness,
inviting this mystery.
583
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,680
This is her great strength
584
00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,840
because I think it requires
tremendous strength to really
585
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:05,320
believe in something that
you cannot put your finger on.
586
00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:31,120
# Love is but a song we sing
587
00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:40,080
# Fear's the way we die... #
588
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,400
I had sworn my heart to Graham
in a way that
589
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:48,400
I didn't think was possible
for myself.
590
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:49,880
And he wanted me to marry him.
591
00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:57,440
I'd agreed to it.
592
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:02,000
# Though the bird is
on the wing... #
593
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,360
And then I just started thinking.
594
00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:09,080
My grandmother was a frustrated
poet and musician.
595
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,880
She kicked the kitchen door
off of the hinges,
596
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:16,000
you know, on the farm. And I thought
about my paternal grandmother,
597
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,520
who wept for the last time in her
life at 14 behind some barn
598
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:20,920
because she wanted a piano
599
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,880
and said, "Dry your eyes, you silly
girl, you'll never have a piano,"
600
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:25,560
and I thought...
601
00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:29,280
..maybe I'm the one that got
the gene that has to make it
602
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:30,800
happen for these two women.
603
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,440
As much as I loved
and cared for Graham...
604
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:38,240
..I just thought, "I'm going
to end up like my grandmother,
605
00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:41,480
"kicking the door off the hinges."
You know what I mean? It's like...
606
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:44,720
..I'd better not.
And it broke my heart.
607
00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:49,000
This year, I took some time off
from touring and went off
608
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:54,040
on some adventures of my own, and
this is kind of a letter back home.
609
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,120
# Sitting in a park in Paris, France
610
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:00,880
# Reading the news and it's all bad
611
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:03,320
# They won't give peace a chance
612
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,320
# That was just a dream
some of us had... #
613
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,680
I remember getting a telegram
from Greece from Joan
614
00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,360
the last line of which was,
615
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:17,400
"If you hold sand too
tightly in your hand,
616
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:19,760
"it will run through your fingers."
617
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,720
It was Joan's way of saying
goodbye to me.
618
00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:26,840
PIANO INTRO TO BLUE
619
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:45,320
# Blue-ooh
620
00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:50,680
# Songs are like tattoos
621
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:55,600
# You know I've been to sea before
622
00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:00,920
# Crown and anchor me
623
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:06,160
# Or let me sail away
624
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:11,760
# Hey, Blue
625
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:15,920
# There is a song for you, too
626
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:18,120
# Ink on a pin
627
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:22,520
# Underneath the skin
628
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:27,920
# An empty space to fill in
629
00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:32,880
# Well, there're so many sinking
630
00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:34,880
# Now you've got to keep thinking
631
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:39,520
# You can make it through
these waves... #
632
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:43,840
Yeah, during the making of Blue
I was just so thin-skinned
633
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:47,160
and delicate that if anybody
looked at me,
634
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:48,840
I'd burst into tears.
635
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,120
I was so vulnerable and I felt
so naked in my work.
636
00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:57,440
# Everybody's saying that hell's
the hippest way to go
637
00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:59,880
# Well, I don't think so
638
00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:06,400
# But I'm gonna take
a look around it, though, Blue
639
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:13,040
# I love you
640
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:16,480
# I love you... #
641
00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:21,080
My individual psychological descent
coincided, ironically,
642
00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,720
with my ascent into the public eye.
643
00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,400
They were putting me on a pedestal
and I was wobbling.
644
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,520
# Blue
645
00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:31,560
# Here is a shell for you... #
646
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,080
So, you know,
I took it upon myself that
647
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:37,000
since I was a public voice and was
subject to this kind of weird
648
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:40,160
worship, that they should know who
they were worshipping.
649
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:56,400
# There is your song from me. #
650
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:03,800
I was demanding of myself a deeper
and greater honesty,
651
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:07,720
more and more revelation in my work,
652
00:42:07,720 --> 00:42:09,800
in order to give it
back to the people
653
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,400
where it goes into their lives and
nourishes them
654
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,280
and changes their direction
and, you know,
655
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:16,960
makes light bulbs
go off in their head,
656
00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:21,200
and makes them feel,
and, you know... And it isn't vague,
657
00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:24,720
it strikes against the very
nerves of their life, and in order
658
00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:27,920
to do that, you've to strike
against the very nerves of your own.
659
00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:34,960
# Just before our love got lost you
said
660
00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:38,400
# "I am as constant
as a northern star"
661
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:42,280
# And I said,
"Constantly in the darkness
662
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,360
# "Where's that at?
663
00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:48,520
# "If you want me
I'll be in the bar..." #
664
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:53,120
I remember playing it
for Kris Kristofferson and he was
665
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:55,480
kind of shocked by it, said, "Oh,
Joni," you know,
666
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:56,880
"save something of yourself."
667
00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:01,000
I think he'd felt that
I had gone too...
668
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:03,520
Revealed too much or something,
669
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:05,680
I'd leave myself too vulnerable.
670
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:12,360
I think she was very insecure
whether it was good, you know?
671
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:13,960
Whether she'd...
672
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:17,560
I think she felt basically she had
taken her skin and turned it inside
out.
673
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:23,600
# Oh, you're in my blood like holy
wine
674
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:28,080
# You taste so bitter and so sweet
675
00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:35,600
# Oh, I could drink a case of you,
darling
676
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:39,680
# And I would still be on my feet
677
00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:41,760
# I would still be on my feet... #
678
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:44,320
It was naked, pulsating,
great poetry.
679
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:47,840
Blue just went to a level of psychic
pain and honesty
680
00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:50,200
that no-one else had ever
written before
681
00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:52,320
and no-one else has written since.
682
00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:58,080
# Oh, I am a lonely painter
683
00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:02,120
# I live in a box of paints
684
00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:07,120
# I'm frightened by the devil
685
00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:14,520
# And I'm drawn to those ones
that ain't afraid
686
00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:18,600
# I remember that time
that you told me
687
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:23,400
# You said, "Love is touching souls"
688
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:25,880
# Surely you touched mine
689
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:30,920
# Cos part of you pours out of me
690
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:34,640
# In these lines from time to time
691
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:38,040
# Oh... #
692
00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:42,320
Blue turned forever on its head
the notion of what a songwriter
693
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:44,080
was expected to be.
694
00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:46,560
Joni became enormously popular
through that,
695
00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:49,920
and people didn't just love her
the way that people love
696
00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:52,680
the Rolling Stones and Motown,
697
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:57,480
they really felt this woman,
by the light of this record player,
698
00:44:57,480 --> 00:44:58,880
is looking into my soul.
699
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:03,320
You know, a very confusing place for
the artist to find herself, too.
700
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:08,720
APPLAUSE
701
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:14,360
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
702
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:18,680
The club thing was very informal
and kind of fun,
703
00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:21,960
whereas the big stage I hated from
the moment that I went up there.
704
00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:26,320
I didn't like that lofty adoration.
705
00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,000
It seemed deluded.
706
00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:33,360
The idea of people at my knees was
just horrifying to me.
707
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:38,280
# Now me, I play for fortunes
708
00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:47,000
# And those velvet curtain calls
709
00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:53,480
# I've got a black limousine
710
00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:57,200
# And two gentlemen
711
00:45:57,200 --> 00:46:05,720
# Escorting me to the halls
712
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:14,240
# Now, I play if you have the money
713
00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:23,040
# Or if you're a friend to me
714
00:46:24,240 --> 00:46:27,600
# But the one-man band
715
00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:30,720
# By the quick lunch stand
716
00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:35,040
# He was playing real good
717
00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:43,760
# For free... #
718
00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:51,440
VOICEOVER: Fame made me really
nervous and uncomfortable.
719
00:46:51,440 --> 00:46:53,440
You know, maybe I'm kind of weird
but, you know,
720
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,280
when I'm sitting up here and playing
721
00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:58,760
and I hear all those people growling
out there and people saying,
722
00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:02,280
"Joni, smile for Amsterdam," and
stuff, it really puts me uptight
723
00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:05,720
and I forget the words, and then I
get nervous and it's really a drag.
724
00:47:05,720 --> 00:47:09,480
VOICEOVER: I began to dislike, more
and more, being a public person.
725
00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:12,360
Give me a little help, will you,
so that I can...
726
00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:14,480
VOICEOVER: So I isolated myself
727
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:17,520
and I made my attempt to get back to
the garden.
728
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:21,520
# It's coming on Christmas
729
00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:23,760
# They're cutting down trees
730
00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:25,680
# They're putting up reindeer
731
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:28,720
# And singing songs of joy and peace
732
00:47:28,720 --> 00:47:31,720
# Oh, I wish I had a river
733
00:47:31,720 --> 00:47:36,280
# I could skate away on
734
00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:40,040
# But it don't snow here
735
00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:41,880
# It stays pretty green
736
00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:43,680
# I'm going to make a lot of money
737
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:46,920
# Then I'm going to quit
this crazy scene
738
00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:49,760
# I wish I had a river
739
00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:53,760
# I could skate away on... #
740
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:56,280
I moved up into the Canadian back
bush to a small sanctuary
741
00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:57,760
where I could be alone.
742
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:02,120
Lived with kerosene, stayed away
from electricity for about a year.
743
00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:03,680
I turned to nature.
744
00:48:06,240 --> 00:48:07,280
I was going down,
745
00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:10,960
and with that came a tremendous
sense of knowing nothing.
746
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:14,000
Western psychology might call it
a nervous breakdown,
747
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:17,520
but in certain cultures they call it
a shamanic conversion.
748
00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:23,520
I read nearly every psychological
book that I could lay my hands on
749
00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:26,080
and threw them all
against the wall, basically.
750
00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:32,840
But depression can be the sand
that makes the pearl.
751
00:48:32,840 --> 00:48:34,880
Most of my best work came out of it.
752
00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:37,400
# It's coming on Christmas... #
753
00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:40,160
If you get rid of the demons,
or the disturbing things,
754
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:43,960
if you get rid of them
then the angels fly off, too.
755
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:48,480
So there is a possibility, in that
mire, of an epiphany.
756
00:48:48,480 --> 00:48:55,240
# I could skate away on. #
757
00:49:07,320 --> 00:49:10,560
# I heard it in the wind last night
758
00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:13,440
# It sounded like applause
759
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:18,160
# Did you get a round
resounding for you way up here?
760
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:22,160
# Seems like many dim years ago
761
00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:24,760
# Since I heard that face-to-face
762
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:26,920
# Or seen you face-to-face
763
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:29,920
# Though tonight
I can feel you here... #
764
00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:33,960
I took my own advice
and I got myself back to the garden.
765
00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:38,000
Well, I am too urban,
as it turns out,
766
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:41,280
and in a year or so
I was back in the cities again.
767
00:49:42,560 --> 00:49:44,600
# I guess I seem ungrateful
768
00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:47,720
# With my teeth sunk in the hand
769
00:49:47,720 --> 00:49:49,600
# That brings me things
770
00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:52,560
# I really can't
give up just yet... #
771
00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:56,040
When I came back, I came to stay
with David Geffen as a guest,
772
00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:58,680
and was kind of the woman who
came to dinner.
773
00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:03,680
I ended up staying on for a while.
774
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:05,160
We were roommates.
775
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:07,240
It was a very heady time, you know?
776
00:50:07,240 --> 00:50:10,920
It was very tumultuous
and a lot of fun, and '70s.
777
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:23,760
I kept on telling Joni I wanted
her to write a hit,
778
00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:26,680
and she was always kind of making
fun of me, you know, about the idea
779
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:30,000
that she should have a hit, but I
wanted her to sell a lot of records.
780
00:50:31,280 --> 00:50:36,280
# If you're driving into town with
a dark cloud above you
781
00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:40,240
# Dial in the number who's
bound to love you
782
00:50:40,240 --> 00:50:42,720
# Oh, honey, you turn me on
783
00:50:42,720 --> 00:50:45,080
# I'm a radio
784
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:47,680
# I'm a country station
785
00:50:47,680 --> 00:50:49,720
# I'm a little bit corny... #
786
00:50:49,720 --> 00:50:52,320
I remember when she sang it to me,
you know?
787
00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:54,560
I mean, it was almost with a kind
of, like,
788
00:50:54,560 --> 00:50:58,240
making fun of my attempt for her to
write a hit record.
789
00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:01,960
# I'm a country station,
I'm a little bit corny... #
790
00:51:01,960 --> 00:51:03,600
# If your head says forget it
791
00:51:03,600 --> 00:51:06,200
# But your heart's still
smoking... #
792
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:09,080
I wrote a song called
You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio,
793
00:51:09,080 --> 00:51:13,040
out of blatant commercial...
794
00:51:09,080 --> 00:51:13,040
SHE GIGGLES
795
00:51:13,040 --> 00:51:14,200
I just thought...
796
00:51:14,200 --> 00:51:16,880
I thought it would have a certain
amount of disc jockey appeal
797
00:51:16,880 --> 00:51:20,920
since it was full of things like the
recording tower and, you know,
798
00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:23,800
"call me at the station"
and everything, and it was just,
799
00:51:23,800 --> 00:51:27,480
like, sort of my own peculiar
warped sense of humour.
800
00:51:27,480 --> 00:51:29,360
# Feeling all right
801
00:51:29,360 --> 00:51:31,960
# Oh
802
00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:35,680
# I'm not feeling too good myself
803
00:51:35,680 --> 00:51:38,440
# Oh
804
00:51:39,480 --> 00:51:41,480
# Feeling all right
805
00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:42,960
# All right
806
00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:44,560
# All right
807
00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:46,400
# All right... #
808
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:48,840
Joni has always wanted to be
part of the gang.
809
00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:53,120
As feminine as she is, she's always
wanted to be one of the boys.
810
00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:57,080
And when she played with the
L.A. Express,
811
00:51:57,080 --> 00:51:59,960
she probably just created her
own little gang.
812
00:51:59,960 --> 00:52:04,200
# He was sitting in the lounge... #
813
00:52:04,200 --> 00:52:06,680
She loved the camaraderie of all
these guys who were great,
814
00:52:06,680 --> 00:52:11,040
great players and who recognised
what a great guitar player she was,
815
00:52:11,040 --> 00:52:13,800
and the joy of just having
a killer rhythm section.
816
00:52:13,800 --> 00:52:15,320
It was so much more fun.
817
00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:16,600
# Let me sit down
818
00:52:16,600 --> 00:52:19,440
# You know, drinkin' alone's a
shame... #
819
00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:23,440
Now being on a stage with a group of
people, I can go back and I can say,
820
00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:25,480
"Weren't we great?" if we were,
821
00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:28,360
or, "Ooh, weren't we awful?"
if we weren't.
822
00:52:28,360 --> 00:52:29,960
So it's not such a lonely thing.
823
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:36,560
Her image was the vulnerable blonde.
824
00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:42,800
And when she went with a band, there
was something masculine about it.
825
00:52:42,800 --> 00:52:44,600
There was a certain power
826
00:52:44,600 --> 00:52:48,400
and confidence that was conveyed
827
00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:52,000
through the bass and the drums,
828
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:54,840
and nobody ever heard her
sing like this before.
829
00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:02,040
# Come up to my kitchen,
I'll show you my best recipe... #
830
00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:05,200
REPORTER: Do you think that the fact
that you're singing with a band now,
831
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:10,160
you might lose something by
losing that vulnerable image?
832
00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:12,400
Well, I don't want to be
vulnerable any more.
833
00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:15,880
THEY LAUGH
834
00:53:15,880 --> 00:53:20,080
I think people have this image and
idea of this fragile Nordic goddess
835
00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:22,440
who's descending from the mountains,
like...
836
00:53:22,440 --> 00:53:25,160
..wisps of Wagner and...
837
00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:27,760
..Tiffany wind chimes behind her.
838
00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:30,920
But later on, you know, I think
when she got infected
839
00:53:30,920 --> 00:53:32,760
with rock and roll, she turned into,
like,
840
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:34,320
a red-hot mama, flesh and blood.
841
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:40,520
# Come home with me, honey, I ain't
asking for no full-length mink coat
842
00:53:40,520 --> 00:53:42,920
# Hey, where you going?
843
00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:44,240
# Don't go yet
844
00:53:44,240 --> 00:53:46,600
# Your glass ain't empty
and we just met
845
00:53:46,600 --> 00:53:48,520
# You're mean when you're loaded
846
00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:51,600
# I was raised on robbery... #
847
00:53:53,120 --> 00:53:57,240
I shouldn't be stereotyped
as a magic princess,
848
00:53:57,240 --> 00:53:59,240
as I got earlier in my career,
you know?
849
00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:02,520
The sort of Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star kind of attitude, you know?
850
00:54:02,520 --> 00:54:04,480
I didn't like that feeling.
851
00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:08,080
And I think that the band will only
show that there is another
852
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:09,720
side to the music.
853
00:54:09,720 --> 00:54:11,240
I think it's a good expansion.
854
00:54:16,200 --> 00:54:18,640
Court And Spark was a great
achievement for Joni.
855
00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:22,080
It catapulted her into the forefront
of recording stars.
856
00:54:23,760 --> 00:54:24,800
It was a triumph.
857
00:54:34,400 --> 00:54:36,840
Court And Spark was
a discourse on romantic love
858
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:39,760
against the backdrops
of its time.
859
00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:43,280
# Again and again the same situation
860
00:54:43,280 --> 00:54:46,920
# For so many years
861
00:54:46,920 --> 00:54:50,200
# Tethered to a ringing telephone
862
00:54:50,200 --> 00:54:54,440
# In a room full of mirrors... #
863
00:54:55,600 --> 00:54:57,160
John Guerin and I fell in love
864
00:54:57,160 --> 00:54:59,760
during the making of
Court And Spark.
865
00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:03,880
He was a drummer,
and we courted and sparked.
866
00:55:05,800 --> 00:55:10,120
# I asked myself when you said
that you loved me
867
00:55:10,120 --> 00:55:14,360
# "Do you think this can be real?"
868
00:55:17,680 --> 00:55:20,640
# You've had lots of lovely women
869
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:24,080
# Now you turn your gaze to me... #
870
00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:27,480
In order to get the right
spirit into the music,
871
00:55:27,480 --> 00:55:30,400
there's got to be more than
a working relationship.
872
00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:32,440
There has to be a sense of passion,
873
00:55:32,440 --> 00:55:36,120
there has to be something
there for the heart,
874
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:38,720
there has to be something
there for the intellect,
875
00:55:38,720 --> 00:55:42,880
there has to be something there
for the sensuality and sensation.
876
00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:46,400
# Sometimes you turn it on me
like a weapon, though
877
00:55:46,400 --> 00:55:51,720
# And I need your approval... #
878
00:55:51,720 --> 00:55:56,120
A major theme in her work, the
struggle between wanting to settle
879
00:55:56,120 --> 00:56:01,040
down with a man, longing for love
and this desire for independence.
880
00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:05,320
# I said, "Send me somebody
881
00:56:05,320 --> 00:56:09,960
# "Who's strong and somewhat
sincere"
882
00:56:09,960 --> 00:56:14,400
# With the millions of the lost
and lonely ones
883
00:56:14,400 --> 00:56:19,040
# I called out to be released
884
00:56:21,120 --> 00:56:24,760
# Caught in my struggle for higher
achievement
885
00:56:24,760 --> 00:56:31,640
# And my search for a love that
don't seem to cease... #
886
00:56:31,640 --> 00:56:35,280
It defines her life all the way
through,
887
00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:40,160
this need for love and this sense of
obligation to her art,
888
00:56:40,160 --> 00:56:42,640
to follow her muse.
889
00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:47,160
It's an ongoing conflict in her life
and, of course, it fuels the art.
890
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:57,280
Anything which moves me,
influences me.
891
00:57:00,320 --> 00:57:02,160
Now, at this time in my life,
I'm going
892
00:57:02,160 --> 00:57:05,520
through a strong musical change
from playing with this band
893
00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:08,640
whose chordal sense comes
predominantly from jazz.
894
00:57:11,400 --> 00:57:14,280
# I'm travelling in some vehicle
895
00:57:17,120 --> 00:57:20,800
# I'm sitting in some cafe
896
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:25,760
# A defector from the petty wars
897
00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:28,680
# That shellshocked love away... #
898
00:57:29,960 --> 00:57:32,920
The need to innovate or to be fresh
or to be original
899
00:57:32,920 --> 00:57:34,560
is very strong in me.
900
00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:36,400
# There's comfort in melancholy... #
901
00:57:36,400 --> 00:57:39,920
She has this great need for this new
language.
902
00:57:41,280 --> 00:57:44,000
When she finishes through
a set of feelings,
903
00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:47,560
she has to invent yet another
language to keep going.
904
00:57:49,560 --> 00:57:53,200
She understood that she was going
to need the sounds
905
00:57:53,200 --> 00:57:58,080
and talents of these other
artists to keep the language going.
906
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:02,520
# So much could not
be expressed... #
907
00:58:02,520 --> 00:58:05,480
And so she surrounded herself with
people like her engineer,
908
00:58:05,480 --> 00:58:11,080
her musicians, who allowed her to
change, to be original,
909
00:58:11,080 --> 00:58:12,880
and Henry was one of those.
910
00:58:12,880 --> 00:58:16,560
Henry Lewy was Joni's engineer for
many years,
911
00:58:16,560 --> 00:58:18,480
and was a big influence.
912
00:58:19,480 --> 00:58:23,720
Henry and I had a dialogue that
I guess had gotten fairly cryptic.
913
00:58:23,720 --> 00:58:25,920
I never learned the proper
names for things
914
00:58:25,920 --> 00:58:27,560
and gave everything nicknames.
915
00:58:27,560 --> 00:58:31,560
"Put a little more Elvis on it,"
for instance, a little more echo.
916
00:58:31,560 --> 00:58:33,760
And somebody turned to
Henry, I forget who it was,
917
00:58:33,760 --> 00:58:35,920
and said, "Do you understand what
she's saying?"
918
00:58:35,920 --> 00:58:37,880
And he smiled,
and he said, "Every word."
919
00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:42,760
The lovely thing is to watch her
grow, year after year,
920
00:58:42,760 --> 00:58:46,280
as a human being,
as a musician, as a poet.
921
00:58:46,280 --> 00:58:49,680
She started out being a poetess
and a painter,
922
00:58:49,680 --> 00:58:51,440
so now it's gotten to the
stage where she's,
923
00:58:51,440 --> 00:58:53,800
like, painting with a large
palette of oil colours,
924
00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:56,920
instead of just a very small
palette of watercolours.
925
00:58:58,720 --> 00:59:01,960
# You know it never has been easy
926
00:59:04,200 --> 00:59:08,280
# Whether you do or
you do not resign
927
00:59:08,280 --> 00:59:12,040
# Whether you travel
the breadth of extremities
928
00:59:12,040 --> 00:59:16,320
# Or stick to some straighter
line... #
929
00:59:16,320 --> 00:59:21,160
I had tried all along to add other
musicians to my music.
930
00:59:21,160 --> 00:59:24,600
Nearly every bass player that
I tried did the same thing.
931
00:59:24,600 --> 00:59:27,360
They would put up a dark picket
fence through my music
932
00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:30,560
and I thought, "Why does it have to
go ploddy, ploddy, ploddy?"
933
00:59:33,000 --> 00:59:34,480
Finally, one guy said to me,
934
00:59:34,480 --> 00:59:36,960
"Joni, you'd better play with jazz
musicians."
935
00:59:36,960 --> 00:59:39,680
With Hejira there was a real
collaboration with
936
00:59:39,680 --> 00:59:44,840
Jaco Pastorius, the jazz bass
player, in which his bass
937
00:59:44,840 --> 00:59:50,040
and her voice became a man-woman
duet, an extremely intimate,
938
00:59:50,040 --> 00:59:54,000
deep dialogue between two musicians.
939
00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:56,000
# Coyote's in the coffee shop
940
00:59:56,000 --> 00:59:59,320
# He's staring a hole in his
scrambled eggs
941
00:59:59,320 --> 01:00:02,760
# He picks up my scent
on his fingers
942
01:00:02,760 --> 01:00:05,320
# While he's watching the
waitresses' legs... #
943
01:00:05,320 --> 01:00:09,960
Joni always looked way beyond
whatever genre she seemed to be in.
944
01:00:09,960 --> 01:00:13,640
She just kept exploring new
boundaries, new frontiers.
945
01:00:13,640 --> 01:00:17,720
She was really one of the first, if
not the first mainstream musician
946
01:00:17,720 --> 01:00:21,080
to plunge into what hadn't even
been called world music yet,
947
01:00:21,080 --> 01:00:22,760
but really was world music,
948
01:00:22,760 --> 01:00:25,800
and really explore it,
bring it into her vocabulary.
949
01:00:25,800 --> 01:00:31,040
BASS SOLO
950
01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:37,440
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
951
01:00:37,440 --> 01:00:40,920
MUSIC: Cotton Avenue
by Joni Mitchell
952
01:00:44,200 --> 01:00:49,960
# A red sun came
rolling down a grey sky... #
953
01:00:49,960 --> 01:00:53,040
One of my favourite compliments that
I ever received was from
954
01:00:53,040 --> 01:00:55,240
a black blind piano player, and he
said to me,
955
01:00:55,240 --> 01:00:57,960
"Joni, you make genderless, raceless
music,"
956
01:00:57,960 --> 01:01:00,960
and I thought, well, I hadn't set
out, you know, saying,
957
01:01:00,960 --> 01:01:03,320
"I'm going to make genderless,
raceless music,"
958
01:01:03,320 --> 01:01:06,360
but I did want to make music that
crossed...
959
01:01:06,360 --> 01:01:08,800
I never really liked lines,
class lines,
960
01:01:08,800 --> 01:01:12,960
social structure lines,
and I ignored them always.
961
01:01:19,680 --> 01:01:24,000
Mingus called me from his deathbed
to do his last project with him.
962
01:01:25,480 --> 01:01:28,920
He'd heard
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
963
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:31,000
and was intrigued by it.
964
01:01:31,000 --> 01:01:34,120
And I think because I was dressed
like a black man on it,
965
01:01:34,120 --> 01:01:38,640
he was totally intrigued with, you
know, the audacity of that act.
966
01:01:38,640 --> 01:01:44,080
Joan was flattered that, "My God,
this man who I so admire
967
01:01:44,080 --> 01:01:47,160
"and has been such a
ground-setter and trend-setter,
968
01:01:47,160 --> 01:01:51,640
"and has been such an important
influence in his genre for so long,
969
01:01:51,640 --> 01:01:54,280
"picked me to do his
last project."
970
01:01:55,720 --> 01:01:57,040
Management begged me,
971
01:01:57,040 --> 01:02:00,400
"Don't do this, you're just going to
plummet into obscurity."
972
01:02:00,400 --> 01:02:03,680
We talked about it at that time,
"It's going to offend some people,
973
01:02:03,680 --> 01:02:05,960
"and it's not going to get radio
play,"
974
01:02:05,960 --> 01:02:08,480
but there was no thinking about it
for Joan.
975
01:02:08,480 --> 01:02:10,120
She would not be marketed
976
01:02:10,120 --> 01:02:13,320
and she would not let the marketing
affect what she was going to do.
977
01:02:14,680 --> 01:02:18,840
That was a great opportunity to
study with a great teacher.
978
01:02:18,840 --> 01:02:21,520
I felt that it was meant to be,
979
01:02:21,520 --> 01:02:25,880
in that I've been sticking my big
toe into the lake of jazz,
980
01:02:25,880 --> 01:02:29,320
metaphorically, and Charles
pushed me right in.
981
01:02:32,320 --> 01:02:36,760
JAZZ KEYBOARD PLAYS
982
01:02:36,760 --> 01:02:38,360
I went to see him
983
01:02:38,360 --> 01:02:40,480
and I came through the door of his
apartment
984
01:02:40,480 --> 01:02:42,480
and all I saw was this hulking
figure,
985
01:02:42,480 --> 01:02:43,880
from behind in this wheelchair.
986
01:02:43,880 --> 01:02:47,920
When I came around in front of him,
whoa, man, this face was, like,
987
01:02:47,920 --> 01:02:50,880
glowing full of the devil
and beautiful light
988
01:02:50,880 --> 01:02:55,840
and, you know,
just this beautiful open face.
989
01:02:56,840 --> 01:02:59,040
He gave me a tape with six
melodies
990
01:02:59,040 --> 01:03:02,760
which he called Joni one, two,
three, four, five, six,
991
01:03:02,760 --> 01:03:05,960
and the first song was a bit of a
Rumpelstiltskin puzzle.
992
01:03:05,960 --> 01:03:08,680
I said to Charles, "What do you feel
this piece of music is about?"
993
01:03:08,680 --> 01:03:11,000
He said, "Well, this is about the
things I'm going to miss
994
01:03:11,000 --> 01:03:12,760
"and the things I wish I'd done,"
995
01:03:12,760 --> 01:03:14,520
and I looked at him
and he looked at me
996
01:03:14,520 --> 01:03:17,640
and I thought, "He must have a
million pieces of music left
997
01:03:17,640 --> 01:03:21,400
"in his head unfulfilled, plus
the adventure is slipping away."
998
01:03:21,400 --> 01:03:28,320
# Debating this sentence,
biding my time
999
01:03:31,560 --> 01:03:34,680
# In memories
1000
01:03:34,680 --> 01:03:39,200
# Of old friends of mine... #
1001
01:03:39,200 --> 01:03:42,560
When I finished it, I think he was
very surprised that I would
1002
01:03:42,560 --> 01:03:45,760
have that insight into him, and yet,
at the same time, intuitively,
1003
01:03:45,760 --> 01:03:49,800
he knew I would. He must have,
otherwise he wouldn't have called.
1004
01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:52,840
# Burning up the bandstand... #
1005
01:03:52,840 --> 01:03:55,160
I went and cut it with the band of
my dreams,
1006
01:03:55,160 --> 01:03:58,840
and with the concept that we would
all be so braided together
1007
01:03:58,840 --> 01:04:01,520
that you couldn't take it apart,
it would be a sheet of sound.
1008
01:04:01,520 --> 01:04:04,240
That was the concept.
1009
01:04:04,240 --> 01:04:07,320
# I'm down to a roll of dimes
1010
01:04:07,320 --> 01:04:09,800
# I'm stalking the slot that's hot
1011
01:04:09,800 --> 01:04:12,200
# I keep hearing bells all around me
1012
01:04:12,200 --> 01:04:14,880
# Jingling the lucky jackpots
1013
01:04:14,880 --> 01:04:16,120
# They keep you tantalised
1014
01:04:16,120 --> 01:04:18,240
# They keep you reaching for your
wallet
1015
01:04:18,240 --> 01:04:19,920
# Here in fool's paradise... #
1016
01:04:19,920 --> 01:04:26,320
I had no idea she had that much
of a kind of freedom
1017
01:04:26,320 --> 01:04:31,280
in her approach to the music that
was so compatible with jazz.
1018
01:04:31,280 --> 01:04:33,120
# I dropped a dime, I blew it
1019
01:04:33,120 --> 01:04:35,200
# He kept ringing bells... #
1020
01:04:35,200 --> 01:04:38,600
She could see putting another kind
of dressing around the music,
1021
01:04:38,600 --> 01:04:43,080
another way to kind of weave a
different kind of tapestry,
1022
01:04:43,080 --> 01:04:47,960
and still capture the essence of
Charlie Mingus, but her way.
1023
01:04:47,960 --> 01:04:49,920
# It's all luck, it's just luck
1024
01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:53,400
# You get a little lucky
and you make a little money... #
1025
01:04:53,400 --> 01:04:58,240
She wanted to realise the freedom of
creation, and when we recorded,
1026
01:04:58,240 --> 01:05:04,440
we tried to make the music, like,
deliver that feeling of adventure.
1027
01:05:04,440 --> 01:05:07,880
# We came up from the subway
1028
01:05:07,880 --> 01:05:11,360
# On the music midnight makes... #
1029
01:05:11,360 --> 01:05:13,760
The press just thought I'd lost my
marbles, I think.
1030
01:05:13,760 --> 01:05:15,920
You know, "What is she doing now?"
You know.
1031
01:05:15,920 --> 01:05:19,040
She was very disappointed when
people did not understand
1032
01:05:19,040 --> 01:05:20,520
her change of musical direction,
1033
01:05:20,520 --> 01:05:23,160
and I think it brought Joan a lot
of pain that she wasn't
1034
01:05:23,160 --> 01:05:27,440
seen as the creative free-form
artist that she really is,
1035
01:05:27,440 --> 01:05:30,840
that she was pigeonholed into being
this blonde folk singer image
1036
01:05:30,840 --> 01:05:33,760
that she has been trying to escape
for years
1037
01:05:33,760 --> 01:05:35,560
and years and years and years.
1038
01:05:35,560 --> 01:05:38,880
# Music, do-do... #
1039
01:05:38,880 --> 01:05:42,160
Joni was exercising
something called freedom.
1040
01:05:42,160 --> 01:05:44,360
And inclusion instead of exclusion.
1041
01:05:44,360 --> 01:05:48,960
# Dancing outside this
crowded black bar... #
1042
01:05:48,960 --> 01:05:51,800
It's not about style,
it's about her artistic commitment,
1043
01:05:51,800 --> 01:05:54,320
it's about her musical
exploration.
1044
01:05:54,320 --> 01:05:56,840
It doesn't matter what you
draw from, who cares?
1045
01:05:56,840 --> 01:05:59,920
A bit from jazz, a bit from...
What's the difference?
1046
01:05:59,920 --> 01:06:01,520
It's hers.
1047
01:06:02,960 --> 01:06:10,720
# And there were two brand-new
little musicians dancing there
1048
01:06:10,720 --> 01:06:16,280
# Tonight. #
1049
01:06:17,880 --> 01:06:22,200
MUSIC: A Chair In The Sky
by Joni Mitchell
1050
01:06:26,840 --> 01:06:32,680
Any time I make a record,
it's followed by a painting period.
1051
01:06:32,680 --> 01:06:34,600
It's good crop rotation.
1052
01:06:36,120 --> 01:06:40,200
I keep the creative juices going
by switching from one to the other,
1053
01:06:40,200 --> 01:06:46,080
so that when the music or
the writing dries up, I paint.
1054
01:06:46,080 --> 01:06:49,240
You rest the ear a while
and you rest the inner mind,
1055
01:06:49,240 --> 01:06:52,200
because poetry takes
a lot of plumbing the depths.
1056
01:06:52,200 --> 01:06:55,440
I mean, the way I write, anyway,
it takes a lot of meditation.
1057
01:06:57,640 --> 01:07:02,160
Without the painting to clear the
head, I don't think I could do it.
1058
01:07:05,160 --> 01:07:09,920
It's almost as if painting
completely takes her out of being
1059
01:07:09,920 --> 01:07:12,440
who she is, even though her
paintings are also
1060
01:07:12,440 --> 01:07:14,800
a great part of who she is.
1061
01:07:14,800 --> 01:07:17,600
SHE SCATS
1062
01:07:25,560 --> 01:07:29,320
There were three things Picasso did
in order to create a new period.
1063
01:07:29,320 --> 01:07:32,280
One, he would return home to Spain -
that always did it.
1064
01:07:32,280 --> 01:07:33,960
Two, he would get a new house.
1065
01:07:33,960 --> 01:07:35,600
Three, he would get a new woman.
1066
01:07:35,600 --> 01:07:36,840
LAUGHS
1067
01:07:36,840 --> 01:07:38,440
UPBEAT '80S ROCK MUSIC
1068
01:07:48,240 --> 01:07:50,280
# He came, she smiled
1069
01:07:50,280 --> 01:07:52,120
# She thought she had... #
1070
01:07:52,120 --> 01:07:56,720
When I began working with her, the
songs that she was writing
1071
01:07:56,720 --> 01:07:59,440
were born out of a desire to adopt
1072
01:07:59,440 --> 01:08:04,840
a more direct method of
communicating what she was thinking.
1073
01:08:04,840 --> 01:08:07,360
# In the dark, he could see... #
1074
01:08:07,360 --> 01:08:09,520
The response to Mingus was very
negative,
1075
01:08:09,520 --> 01:08:13,000
and I think that she felt that she
needed to go back a little bit
1076
01:08:13,000 --> 01:08:15,720
more towards the traditional song.
1077
01:08:15,720 --> 01:08:20,240
# Wild things run fast... #
1078
01:08:20,240 --> 01:08:21,960
With Wild Things,
1079
01:08:21,960 --> 01:08:24,840
we had put together a rock band with
tremendous virtuosity
1080
01:08:24,840 --> 01:08:28,400
in that band, and a lot of the music
written about that
1081
01:08:28,400 --> 01:08:32,920
was the celebration of this
friendship between Klein and I,
1082
01:08:32,920 --> 01:08:35,440
which had turned into love.
1083
01:08:35,440 --> 01:08:41,720
MUSIC: Underneath The Streetlight
by Joni Mitchell
1084
01:08:41,720 --> 01:08:46,240
Being in love is extremely
important to her muse.
1085
01:08:46,240 --> 01:08:51,880
A lot of her creative impulses come
from whatever that phenomenon is
1086
01:08:51,880 --> 01:08:54,600
that happens to us when we fall in
love.
1087
01:08:54,600 --> 01:08:57,040
# Yes, I do, I love ya!
1088
01:08:57,040 --> 01:08:59,920
# I swear on the blinkin' planes
above, I do
1089
01:08:59,920 --> 01:09:02,640
# I swear on the truck
at the stoplight... #
1090
01:09:02,640 --> 01:09:05,520
I was writing about romantic love,
1091
01:09:05,520 --> 01:09:09,520
but the '80s were not romantic
times.
1092
01:09:09,520 --> 01:09:14,400
The press said, "She used the L-word
44 times on this record."
1093
01:09:14,400 --> 01:09:17,520
Nobody could handle the fact that
there was a celebration of love
1094
01:09:17,520 --> 01:09:25,320
going on, and they were in this
deadly cold-hearted period.
1095
01:09:25,320 --> 01:09:28,920
ACOUSTIC GUITAR AND SYNTH PLAY
1096
01:09:38,920 --> 01:09:44,600
# Back in 1957,
we had to dance a foot apart
1097
01:09:47,320 --> 01:09:52,000
# And they hawk-eyed
us from the sidelines
1098
01:09:52,000 --> 01:09:57,360
# Holding their rulers
without a heart... #
1099
01:09:57,360 --> 01:10:00,120
The writing has been an exercise,
1100
01:10:00,120 --> 01:10:02,640
trying to work my way
towards clarity.
1101
01:10:02,640 --> 01:10:05,280
Get out the pen and face the beast
yourself,
1102
01:10:05,280 --> 01:10:06,840
and what's bothering you, and...
1103
01:10:06,840 --> 01:10:08,920
"Right, well, that's not exactly
it." You know?
1104
01:10:08,920 --> 01:10:11,880
"OK, let's go a little deeper.
Well, that's not exactly it..."
1105
01:10:11,880 --> 01:10:15,120
Very hard peeling
the layers off your own onion.
1106
01:10:15,120 --> 01:10:18,920
# Was just to come
in from the cold... #
1107
01:10:18,920 --> 01:10:24,120
When you get to the truth, you know,
do I want to say that in public?
1108
01:10:24,120 --> 01:10:28,360
# I am not some stone commission
1109
01:10:28,360 --> 01:10:31,720
# Like a statue in a park
1110
01:10:34,200 --> 01:10:39,480
# I am flesh and blood and vision
1111
01:10:39,480 --> 01:10:43,360
# I am howling in the dark... #
1112
01:10:43,360 --> 01:10:47,200
So you're really doing a tightrope
walk to keep your heart alive,
1113
01:10:47,200 --> 01:10:52,520
to keep your art alive, to keep
it vital and useful to others.
1114
01:10:52,520 --> 01:10:54,920
This is now useful because we've
hit upon a human truth.
1115
01:10:54,920 --> 01:10:57,520
# But all I ever wanted
1116
01:10:58,680 --> 01:11:02,560
# Was just to come in
from the cold... #
1117
01:11:02,560 --> 01:11:04,200
She tells the truth about herself,
1118
01:11:04,200 --> 01:11:07,480
she tells the truth about what
she observes in the world.
1119
01:11:07,480 --> 01:11:10,240
It's almost like a welder,
1120
01:11:10,240 --> 01:11:13,280
when you see them when they put
those visors down
1121
01:11:13,280 --> 01:11:17,080
and you see that welding torch and
that heat and that point of contact
1122
01:11:17,080 --> 01:11:19,480
between the flame and the object...
1123
01:11:19,480 --> 01:11:22,040
I think that's where Joni likes to
live,
1124
01:11:22,040 --> 01:11:25,200
right, right in that essence.
1125
01:11:25,200 --> 01:11:31,200
CROWD APPLAUD
BAND BEGINS TO PLAY
1126
01:11:40,960 --> 01:11:44,560
# I pulled up behind a Cadillac
1127
01:11:44,560 --> 01:11:47,480
# I was waiting for the light
1128
01:11:48,720 --> 01:11:51,920
# I took a look at his licence plate
1129
01:11:51,920 --> 01:11:56,360
# And it said "Just Ice"
1130
01:11:56,360 --> 01:11:59,760
# Is justice just ice?
1131
01:11:59,760 --> 01:12:03,040
# Governed by greed and lust?
1132
01:12:03,040 --> 01:12:08,120
# Just the strong doing what they
can
1133
01:12:08,120 --> 01:12:11,680
# And the weak suffering what
they must?
1134
01:12:11,680 --> 01:12:15,480
# And the gas leaks
1135
01:12:15,480 --> 01:12:17,960
# And the oil spills
1136
01:12:19,320 --> 01:12:21,760
# And sex sells everything
1137
01:12:23,200 --> 01:12:26,200
# And sex kills
1138
01:12:28,800 --> 01:12:30,960
# Oh, sex kills
1139
01:12:38,760 --> 01:12:41,560
# Doctor's pills give you
brand-new ills and...
1140
01:12:41,560 --> 01:12:46,080
# The bills bury you like an
avalanche
1141
01:12:46,080 --> 01:12:48,840
# And lawyers haven't been
this popular
1142
01:12:48,840 --> 01:12:52,280
# Since Robespierre
slaughtered half of France... #
1143
01:12:52,280 --> 01:12:54,960
The artist is the canary in the
coalmine.
1144
01:12:54,960 --> 01:12:57,440
I mean, we're supposed to be
out there on the fringes
1145
01:12:57,440 --> 01:12:58,720
with an overview.
1146
01:12:58,720 --> 01:13:01,360
If we are doing our work, we should
be a little ahead of the stripe,
1147
01:13:01,360 --> 01:13:02,840
but people kept saying things
like,
1148
01:13:02,840 --> 01:13:04,360
"Aren't you being very negative?"
1149
01:13:04,360 --> 01:13:06,200
I'd said, "No, I'm just being
realistic.
1150
01:13:06,200 --> 01:13:08,680
"Aren't you being a bit of an
ostrich, you know?"
1151
01:13:08,680 --> 01:13:10,960
# And the gas leaks
1152
01:13:12,520 --> 01:13:15,760
# And the oil spills
1153
01:13:15,760 --> 01:13:19,840
# And sex sells everything
1154
01:13:19,840 --> 01:13:22,880
# And sex kills... #
1155
01:13:25,440 --> 01:13:28,760
After we started making
Turbulent Indigo,
1156
01:13:28,760 --> 01:13:32,920
we just reached a point where we
were just not good for each other
1157
01:13:32,920 --> 01:13:34,320
as husband and wife.
1158
01:13:34,320 --> 01:13:37,800
You know, the thing that carries you
through in a relationship
1159
01:13:37,800 --> 01:13:41,520
is not romantic love. We started
out as friends,
1160
01:13:41,520 --> 01:13:45,160
and that's what ended up carrying us
through ten years,
1161
01:13:45,160 --> 01:13:47,960
which is not a bad run.
1162
01:13:47,960 --> 01:13:51,520
When we split up,
we got back to being friends,
1163
01:13:51,520 --> 01:13:54,040
and now I would say
she's my best friend.
1164
01:13:57,360 --> 01:14:00,600
MUSIC: Tiger Bones
by Joni Mitchell
1165
01:14:08,240 --> 01:14:10,480
Well, in the '90s,
they really started giving Joni
1166
01:14:10,480 --> 01:14:12,400
every kind of honour and award,
1167
01:14:12,400 --> 01:14:14,840
they really rolled out the red
carpet.
1168
01:14:14,840 --> 01:14:18,480
But I think she probably figured
they were honouring her
1169
01:14:18,480 --> 01:14:19,920
for the wrong things.
1170
01:14:19,920 --> 01:14:24,200
Once one was given to me, the others
felt the necessity to do it,
1171
01:14:24,200 --> 01:14:26,640
but they didn't really know why.
1172
01:14:26,640 --> 01:14:29,560
The day after I won the Grammy
for Turbulent Indigo,
1173
01:14:29,560 --> 01:14:32,280
there was an article that came out
in a newspaper that said,
1174
01:14:32,280 --> 01:14:34,200
"Singer-Songwriters: Then and Now."
1175
01:14:34,200 --> 01:14:35,960
This was a day after I won a
Grammy,
1176
01:14:35,960 --> 01:14:37,440
and I was in the "then" column.
1177
01:14:38,840 --> 01:14:40,640
I do some interviews and they go,
1178
01:14:40,640 --> 01:14:43,440
"You, you know, you're that folk
singer from the '60s."
1179
01:14:43,440 --> 01:14:45,360
I said, "Look, I just won three...
1180
01:14:45,360 --> 01:14:48,320
"We are in the '90s now,
I've won Grammys like all...
1181
01:14:48,320 --> 01:14:50,960
"Doesn't that
make me an artist of the '90s?"
1182
01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:53,240
# Accolades and honours
1183
01:14:53,240 --> 01:14:55,680
# One false move
and you're a goner... #
1184
01:14:55,680 --> 01:14:57,840
There's been a tremendous
amount of growth.
1185
01:14:57,840 --> 01:15:02,120
An actress is not expected to
continue to play her ingenue roles.
1186
01:15:02,120 --> 01:15:05,800
You know, I've written roles
for myself to grow into gracefully,
1187
01:15:05,800 --> 01:15:08,960
but there is no growing
into gracefully in the pop world.
1188
01:15:10,480 --> 01:15:13,000
Basically, the reason I'm
so unruly in this business
1189
01:15:13,000 --> 01:15:15,880
is because I never wanted to be
a human jukebox.
1190
01:15:19,960 --> 01:15:22,240
She never set out to be
a popular artist.
1191
01:15:22,240 --> 01:15:24,560
This is the real key to
understanding her.
1192
01:15:26,440 --> 01:15:30,520
# The moon shed light
on my hopeless plight
1193
01:15:30,520 --> 01:15:35,440
# As the radio blared so bland
1194
01:15:35,440 --> 01:15:38,400
# Every disc a poker chip
1195
01:15:38,400 --> 01:15:43,320
# Every song just a one-night stand
1196
01:15:44,560 --> 01:15:48,480
# Formula music, girlie guile
1197
01:15:48,480 --> 01:15:53,240
# Genuine junk food for juveniles
1198
01:15:53,240 --> 01:15:57,080
# Up and down the dial
1199
01:15:57,080 --> 01:16:00,520
# Mercenary style... #
1200
01:16:00,520 --> 01:16:02,640
She never sold out.
1201
01:16:02,640 --> 01:16:06,200
She had the courage to really
follow her muse,
1202
01:16:06,200 --> 01:16:09,200
to follow what came out of her,
1203
01:16:09,200 --> 01:16:11,880
no matter what the
marketplace demanded.
1204
01:16:11,880 --> 01:16:15,600
I tried to train myself to be a
realist.
1205
01:16:15,600 --> 01:16:18,080
I'm not cynical.
To me, it's like,
1206
01:16:18,080 --> 01:16:20,520
"Can you get through this life
with a good heart?"
1207
01:16:20,520 --> 01:16:22,040
And that's been my struggle.
1208
01:16:22,040 --> 01:16:24,160
You know, with all the injustice
and everything
1209
01:16:24,160 --> 01:16:25,960
and the things that piss you off,
you know,
1210
01:16:25,960 --> 01:16:28,160
is to try and get the heart to
rebound
1211
01:16:28,160 --> 01:16:31,240
and come back and bloom again, you
know?
1212
01:16:38,320 --> 01:16:40,120
Joan has always had a lot of guilt
1213
01:16:40,120 --> 01:16:43,360
surrounding the whole
situation with her child
1214
01:16:43,360 --> 01:16:47,120
and this incredibly strong drive to
find her.
1215
01:16:48,120 --> 01:16:53,840
I had the great fortune to see
her in Vancouver, Canada,
1216
01:16:53,840 --> 01:16:57,840
when she was with her
daughter for the first time.
1217
01:17:00,040 --> 01:17:02,840
She was so overjoyed,
she was like a little kid.
1218
01:17:04,840 --> 01:17:07,920
Joni's face had changed.
1219
01:17:07,920 --> 01:17:10,560
# This is really something
1220
01:17:10,560 --> 01:17:13,520
# People will be envious
1221
01:17:13,520 --> 01:17:16,680
# But our roles aren't clear
So we mustn't rush
1222
01:17:16,680 --> 01:17:19,400
# Still, we're burning brightly
1223
01:17:19,400 --> 01:17:22,240
# Clinging like fire to fuel
1224
01:17:22,240 --> 01:17:25,400
# I'm burning like a fool
1225
01:17:25,400 --> 01:17:27,200
# Stay in touch... #
1226
01:17:27,200 --> 01:17:30,680
We both were very excited about
meeting.
1227
01:17:30,680 --> 01:17:33,600
I'm thinking, you know,
"What if she doesn't like me?
1228
01:17:33,600 --> 01:17:34,920
"Probably she won't like me."
1229
01:17:34,920 --> 01:17:37,040
You know,
"There's going to be issues here."
1230
01:17:38,040 --> 01:17:40,400
# Stay in touch... #
1231
01:17:42,600 --> 01:17:46,040
She arrived and I was upstairs
and I was painting.
1232
01:17:46,040 --> 01:17:48,480
So I walked out on the balcony of
the house
1233
01:17:48,480 --> 01:17:51,400
and I saw her kind of in the dark.
1234
01:17:51,400 --> 01:17:53,560
It was like Romeo and Juliet.
1235
01:17:53,560 --> 01:17:56,160
She had some paintbrushes in
her hand,
1236
01:17:56,160 --> 01:18:01,360
and when we met at the front door
in the kitchen with hugs,
1237
01:18:01,360 --> 01:18:05,040
it felt like I had gone away on a
trip for a couple months
1238
01:18:05,040 --> 01:18:07,360
and I was coming home.
1239
01:18:07,360 --> 01:18:11,000
# During times like these,
the wise or influential
1240
01:18:11,000 --> 01:18:14,160
# They can bear
the imperfections... #
1241
01:18:14,160 --> 01:18:15,840
Joni doesn't look
like a grandmother,
1242
01:18:15,840 --> 01:18:17,600
or act like a grandmother,
1243
01:18:17,600 --> 01:18:19,720
she's like a mother of the three of
us.
1244
01:18:21,600 --> 01:18:25,960
# No doubt that's always been
a tricky one for me
1245
01:18:25,960 --> 01:18:28,080
# So we should just surrender
1246
01:18:28,080 --> 01:18:30,400
# Let fate and duty shape us... #
1247
01:18:30,400 --> 01:18:32,960
It's like the master's class in
love,
1248
01:18:32,960 --> 01:18:35,800
true altruistic love.
1249
01:18:35,800 --> 01:18:37,720
She is going through that now.
1250
01:18:37,720 --> 01:18:41,320
She's really exploring and finding
her way through
1251
01:18:41,320 --> 01:18:45,160
a process of discovery that you can
only experience
1252
01:18:45,160 --> 01:18:47,320
through your relationship with a
child.
1253
01:18:48,880 --> 01:18:51,920
It was a healing thing.
Yes, it was very cathartic.
1254
01:18:51,920 --> 01:18:53,280
It was coming full circle.
1255
01:18:55,800 --> 01:18:58,360
She was always truthful in her work,
1256
01:18:58,360 --> 01:19:02,280
and maybe the fact that she had not
wanted to acknowledge
1257
01:19:02,280 --> 01:19:06,520
that she had a child publicly was
the missing piece,
1258
01:19:06,520 --> 01:19:08,320
and with this piece complete,
1259
01:19:08,320 --> 01:19:10,400
not only was her family complete,
1260
01:19:10,400 --> 01:19:13,520
but in a weird way,
her work was complete.
1261
01:19:13,520 --> 01:19:17,400
STRINGS PLAY
1262
01:19:17,400 --> 01:19:22,160
# Rows and flows of angel hair
1263
01:19:24,760 --> 01:19:29,160
# And ice-cream castles in the air
1264
01:19:31,000 --> 01:19:34,680
# And feather canyons everywhere
1265
01:19:36,800 --> 01:19:40,080
# Looked at clouds that way
1266
01:19:43,520 --> 01:19:49,840
# But now they only block the sun
1267
01:19:49,840 --> 01:19:56,000
# They rain and they snow on
everyone
1268
01:19:56,000 --> 01:20:01,880
# So many things I would have done
1269
01:20:03,160 --> 01:20:07,360
# But clouds got in my way
1270
01:20:09,320 --> 01:20:15,960
# I've looked at clouds
from both sides now
1271
01:20:15,960 --> 01:20:18,040
# From up and down
1272
01:20:18,040 --> 01:20:21,680
# And still somehow
1273
01:20:21,680 --> 01:20:28,760
# It's cloud illusions I recall
1274
01:20:28,760 --> 01:20:31,320
# I really don't know clouds
1275
01:20:35,880 --> 01:20:38,320
# At all... #
1276
01:20:38,320 --> 01:20:42,000
On her first album,
there is the song Cactus Tree,
1277
01:20:42,000 --> 01:20:45,520
about choosing to leave the roads
that were possible,
1278
01:20:45,520 --> 01:20:48,840
you know, college, marriage,
motherhood, everything,
1279
01:20:48,840 --> 01:20:51,080
and go off on her own journey.
1280
01:20:53,680 --> 01:20:59,280
Years later, in Hejira, an album
about leaving behind entanglements
1281
01:20:59,280 --> 01:21:01,680
and following the next horizon,
1282
01:21:01,680 --> 01:21:04,720
she at the end pulls into
the Cactus Tree Motel
1283
01:21:04,720 --> 01:21:07,200
to wash off the dust of the
road,
1284
01:21:07,200 --> 01:21:10,880
and you're very aware that for all
of the changes,
1285
01:21:10,880 --> 01:21:12,600
superficial and real,
1286
01:21:12,600 --> 01:21:16,000
that she's gone through
and her music has gone through
1287
01:21:16,000 --> 01:21:18,160
and her audience has gone
through in that time,
1288
01:21:18,160 --> 01:21:21,400
this is still a continuation of that
journey she started,
1289
01:21:21,400 --> 01:21:23,880
she is still writing her map as she
drives.
1290
01:21:23,880 --> 01:21:26,920
# But something's gained
1291
01:21:26,920 --> 01:21:30,560
# In living every day
1292
01:21:31,960 --> 01:21:39,280
# I have looked at life from both
sides now
1293
01:21:39,280 --> 01:21:45,600
# From win and lose
and still somehow
1294
01:21:45,600 --> 01:21:50,120
# It's life's illusions I recall
1295
01:21:53,200 --> 01:21:55,720
# I really don't know life
1296
01:21:58,240 --> 01:22:01,760
# At all
1297
01:22:15,600 --> 01:22:22,680
# It's life's illusions
that I recall
1298
01:22:26,120 --> 01:22:31,840
# I really don't know life
1299
01:22:31,840 --> 01:22:38,920
# I really don't know life at all. #
1300
01:22:45,920 --> 01:22:49,760
For me, it's been a very kind of
subjective,
1301
01:22:49,760 --> 01:22:52,000
I guess you'd say, journey.
1302
01:22:52,000 --> 01:22:54,560
Subjective but hopefully universal.
1303
01:22:54,560 --> 01:22:57,920
That was always my optimism,
that if I described my own changes
1304
01:22:57,920 --> 01:23:01,040
through whatever the decade was
throwing at us,
1305
01:23:01,040 --> 01:23:02,720
that there were others like me,
1306
01:23:02,720 --> 01:23:04,720
and it turns out that there were.
1307
01:23:04,720 --> 01:23:09,120
BIRDSONG
1308
01:23:09,120 --> 01:23:14,520
ACOUSTIC GUITAR PLAYS
1309
01:23:14,520 --> 01:23:19,760
# They paved paradise,
put up a parking lot
1310
01:23:19,760 --> 01:23:24,880
# With a pink hotel, a boutique
and a swingin' hot spot
1311
01:23:25,920 --> 01:23:28,200
# Don't it always seem to go
1312
01:23:28,200 --> 01:23:31,400
# You don't know what you've
got till it's gone?
1313
01:23:31,400 --> 01:23:34,800
# They paved paradise,
put up a parking lot
1314
01:23:36,880 --> 01:23:40,000
# They paved paradise,
put up a parking lot
1315
01:23:42,080 --> 01:23:43,880
HIGH VOICE:
# They paved paradise
1316
01:23:43,880 --> 01:23:45,760
DEEP VOICE:
# Put up a parking lot. #
1317
01:23:45,760 --> 01:23:47,520
CHUCKLES
1318
01:23:47,520 --> 01:23:54,880
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
102430
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