In the early seventies, there was a law that sensitive teenage girls had to be Joni Mitchell fans. And I’m nothing if not law-abiding. Actually, I’m many things if not law-abiding, but this was more like a law of nature. Like gravity or the phone ringing as soon as you sit down to eat.
Anyway, by the late seventies, Joni was changing her style and losing the top of her vocal range, and most of her fans were abandoning ship. 1976’s Hejira was the last album I heard get any radio play until the late nineties.
The turning point for me was Hejira; the first Joni Mitchell album I didn’t buy. A lot of fans jumped off one back, and didn’t buy Hissing of Summer Lawns, but not me, I loved that album. Loved it. Loved. It. There were songs I didn’t like as much as other songs, but I still played its little vinyl grooves to death.
So from time to time, I purchase old vinyl favorites on CD, and not long ago Hissing of Summer Lawns got the upgrade. Alas.
Listen, Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow is still a flippin’ great song. Great. But it’s early (track 4) and I’m listening to the whole CD while writing, and after a while I think “This is pretentious.” And then I think “This is way pretentious.” And then I think “This is shit.”
Ah, the heartbreak. I tell you, right now I am afraid to pull out any other old favorites.
(Cross-posted at If I Ran the Zoo. Just cuz.)
