Roberta Joan Anderson was born on November 7, 1943, in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada.
As a teen she listened to rock-n-roll radio broadcasts out of Texas. She bought herself a baritone ukelele for $36 because she couldn’t afford a guitar.
“In a hundred years, when they ask who was the greatest songwriter of the era, it’s got to be her or Dylan. I think it’s her. And she’s a better musician than Bob.”~David Crosby
“She took the clay and moulded it in a way we hadn’t seen before. If you really sort of analyse songwriting at that time, male or female, what she was doing with her structures and her use of melody and her poetry and the voice too, you know that’s just one of the gifts that we’ve had.” ~Tori Amos
Sometimes change comes at you
like a broadside accident
There is chaos to the order
Random things you can’t prevent
There could be trouble around the corner
There could be beauty down the street
Synchronized like magic
Good friends you and me.
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As ev’ry fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way
But now it’s just another show
You leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away
I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all
Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say “I love you” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way
But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all.
As a child I spoke as a child–
I thought and I understood as a child–
But when I became a woman–
I put away childish things
And began to see through a glass darkly.
Where, as a child, I saw it face to face
Now, I only know it in part
Fractions in me
Of faith and hope and love
And of these great three
Love’s the greatest beauty…
You may know her as singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell.
I’m in with More by Andrew Peterson. A tribute for my great-aunt Betty.
I adore Joni Mitchell! I spent hours listening to her as a teen and that song in particular runs through my mind often. Thanks for posting it today!
“baritone ukelele” I had no idea that such things existed! I discovered Joni’s music a few years back. It is so unique.
I can’t read the lyrics without hearing Judy Collins’ voice. I wore out that track on Colors of the Day.