by Ethan Ramak
Ask any female songwriter their opinion on Joni Mitchell’s critically acclaimed discography—I think it would be incredibly rare to find someone who hadn’t been impacted by the confessional, diaristic lyrical composition. The new generation of superstar pop girls—Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter—have all cited Mitchell as a reference in some way. Even Taylor Swift’s most diverse and congratulated record, Red, is a direct callback to Blue, her 1971 magnum opus. So how does this 54-year-old folk record continue to inspire a new generation of pop?
It is an impossible task to try and be Joni Mitchell. Her melodies are singular, unpredictable and unwritable to anyone, but her and her lyrics feel plucked from a diary entry. A diary entry that speaks on both her experienceand the political landscape of the early 1970’s, and how intrinsically linked the two are. However, with her essence is found laced throughout some of the biggest pop records of the 21st century. In Sabrina Carpenter’s Coincidence, it was widely rumoured to be heavily influenced by Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi. Songs such as girl I’ve always been (Olivia Rodrigo’s forte into folk-pop) and Amelie (Gracie Abrams’ guitar song about a girl she met once at a party) are also direct pipelines from Mitchell’s extensive catalogue.
Joni Mitchell was one of the first female artists to achieve long-term success and recognition from both the general public and the industry. There are various reasons for this everlasting stick. Firstly, she was one of the first female artists to bend the rules of songwriting. Before Mitchell, the industry standard was set: women were to adhere to what men wanted to hear from them—confessions of love, and little else). Joni Mitchell threw this perception on its head. Blue, has multiple songs that have little to nothing to do with men whatsoever. Little Green, for example, is a bittersweet ballad about Mitchell giving up her then infant daughter for adoption. In 1998, she explained: “An unhappy mother does not raise a happy child. It was difficult parting with the child, but I had to let her go.” Her California, about a European trip she took which led her to being homesick (“It gets so lonely / When you’re walking / And streets are full of strangers”).Even her most popular song River, was about her finally leaving a relationship during the Christmas season and feeling the overwhelming need to escape; contrasting the normal stereotypes of love and closeness of the season. Blue is one of the first breakup albums by a woman. It is a project which spans over many sparse topics while all linking back to the depressive state she was in at the time.
It is this exact inclination of Mitchell that is ever present. Her willingness and ability to be deemed as slightly unlikeable while being able to so easily win the audience back through her devastating turns of phrase and justifications of her decisions. I mean, in the 70’s, if a woman were to give her child up for adoption, they would be widely bullied—but not Mitchell. Why? Because she kept a veil of mystery over her work. It wasn’t until two decades later when discussions ramped up about her muse for the song. This is her common practice. It is still widely unknown who each song on her albums is about—Graham Nash, James Taylor, her daughter. This is the mould Olivia Rodrigo followed with the release of her anthemic, coming-of-age rock record GUTS, refusing to speak on which each song is about while letting herself be the main character. The songs are about her decisions and feelings, not the men who inspire them. Realistically, if the music is good, why should we care who it is about? It comes to be about us, our lives and our connections.
Mitchell’s music is also widely a plea for social justice. In Passion Play, she questions “Who you gonna get to do your dirty work / When all the slaves are free?” A song which recalls stories from the Bible while also commenting on the clear state of the world through both a racial and environmental perspective. This is not singular in her discography. One of her most widely covered songs, Big Yellow Taxi, is about a parking lot that was built in Hawaii which tarnished the natural beauty of the land. It is consistently relevant and speaks on the desire for us, as humans, to ruin the land for man-made creations. Joni Mitchell’s ability to be so progressive for so much of her career makes her an ideal role model for the young female artists’ arising today, especially compared to the widely controversial stars of similar times. It also makes us, a futuristic audience, question: why didn’t we listen to her warnings? She laid it out so clearly for all of us and yet, here we are, with the environment at an all-time-low (89 seconds until midnight on the Doomsday Clock), and with the rights of hundreds of American citizens being stripped under Trump’s presidency.
At the end of the day, Joni Mitchell’s lyrics are a time capsule that somehow, even opened over half a century later, are still resonant. The political pendulum is swinging heavily to the right and Mitchell’s plead to “give peace a chance” is more relevant now then it was ten, twenty and fifty years ago. I think it is clear that the new generation of pop superstars see Mitchell’s career model as ideal. The ability for them to be able to create diaristic art about their life and later, make it political to support minority groups which support them – women (through Planned Parenthood and the right to abortion), the LGBTQIA+ community and the environment, in general. Art is inherently political, and nobody wants to be on the wrong side of history. Women’s stories are being told at an overwhelming rate and their ability to politicise it, and force change is becoming more prevalent.
