Folk has never been a genre to shy away from the more detailed and subject matter of its artists. Heavy on storytelling and interpersonal relationships, many of folk's greatest releases have been the most vulnerable ones... and who better to represent this than a reluctant singer-songwriter with serious stagefright and a handful of breakups under her name? Joni Mitchell certainly isn't who you'd call a traditional folk singer, as her odd songwriting choices and unusual voice could prove. But what really hits home for many, especially during her 70s heyday, is the pure honesty and earnestness of what she writes. Like any great folk artist, most of her lyricism comes from vividly recounting her own experiences, particularly relationships and their ups and downs. Sure, relationships have been recounted in too many songs to name here, but Mitchell doesn't B.S. the listener with sappy romanticism nor does she try too hard to act sad. Well, in 1971, she was sure to let people know how one of the darkest times in her life went.
Blue is a deceptively complex album. In its ten-song run, Joni Mitchell's voice is accompanied only by her guitar, piano, and occasionally some bass and percussion here and there. It's all very sparse when you first listen to it, but it reveals its true complexity and impact with each listen. "California," for instance, adds a beautiful pedal steel guitar accompaniment to the folk mix to create a more lighthearted feel, while the same instrument adds tension to the melancholic "This Flight Tonight."
Blue is a genuine exercise in musical contrast, fitting in with Mitchell's moody singing and lyrics as well as her odd guitar tunings and chord progressions. Piano ballad "My Old Man" is just absurd in how many quick key changes it goes through while keeping its mood intact, and "All I Want" goes through some very bizarre acoustic guitar chords before slipping into the first verse as if nothing happened.
One of
Blue's greatest qualities is that it can sound so natural and appealing while retaining an experimental and bare-bones aesthetic about it. The mix between acoustic and piano tunes is a healthy balance, and there are just enough surprises to keep you invested. Hell, there's a weird washed-out portion of "This Flight Tonight" that almost sounds as though it was going to transform into a Beach Boys-influenced rock n' roll song! But it passes by quickly and the song proves that it never lost its focus, just like
Blue itself. However, there's a reason that the album has aged so well and held its own against legions of newer folk acts, and that's because there are no frills. I can't stress enough that there is no gimmicky bull*** on
Blue; Mitchell herself once said (and I'm just paraphrasing) that the strength of the album is that she had no more personal defenses when creating it. And when Joni lets out her most depressing number "The Last Time I Saw Richard" (a song most likely detailing her first marriage), with her painful-sounding wails over its dark piano lines, one is left with a really dark but telling conclusion of Mitchell's bittersweet experiences.
The way
Blue weaves in and out of each emotion and songwriting quirk is just stunning. Despite the lack of instrumentation, it's the songwriting itself that delivers on all fronts, from the occasional polyrhythmic vocal/guitar moment in "All I Want" to the constant shifts between minor and major-key piano playing in "The Last Time I Saw Richard." The closest a song truly gets to "folk rock" would be "Carey," and even that one's not very loud or intense, but the volume does shift around when it needs to. The piano songs are definitely of a louder production than the acoustic guitar tunes, which makes sense as it sounds like a grand piano is being used. And despite the bleak nature of much of the album, the whole thing is quite immersive and involving at the same time. It's like Joni Mitchell is sad about her heartbreak and loss, but she does her best to relate these losses with other listeners who might be going through similar sadness. With that said, songs like "River" and "Little Green" do have a more comforting and uplifting vibe in their melodies, so it balances out.
While I've said a great deal about
Blue, there are just certain things that can't be explained about it. There's a certain magic when every element comes together, and the beauty is tough to describe when the instrumentation is so simple. But that's what
Blue is: beautiful simplicity. Not in its songwriting, but the way everything is presented. It still isn't dated after over 40 years because Joni Mitchell laid everything out as honestly and passionately as she could, nothing feeling artificial or trendy. This is folk in its purest form, and the result is just perfect.
