Joni Mitchell was born on November 7, 1943. Her 80th birthday is an appropriate time to reflect on the considerable legacy of the Canadian singer-songwriter. She had a gift for writing introspective songs that tap into the human experience. Her music also reflected a social consciousness, especially during the later part of her career. Right now we will look at a sampling of ten of her songs which addressed various social ills.
The Fiddle and the Drum (1969)
This anti-Vietnam protest is from Mitchell’s sophomore album, Clouds. As a Canadian, she wrote it from an outsider’s perspective. She loved certain aspects of the USA such as the opportunities it afforded her to pursue her musical dreams, but she laments the warmongering ways of the government.
In 2004 the song was covered by Perfect Circle on their anti-war cover album eMOTIVe. The tune started to take on a renewed resonance with the Iraq war.
Woodstock (1970)
Mitchell first wrote and performed the song in 1969. The song was officially released on her 1970 album, Ladies of the Canyon. The song was written in a hotel room while watching televised reports about the iconic 1969 Woodstock music festival. The lyrics reflect the peaceful ideals of the counterculture.
The song ended up becoming a 1970 hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (who did perform at Woodstock).
Big Yellow Taxi (1970)
One of Mitchell’s more well-known tunes, it addresses environmental concerns. The song describes how “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot” and “They took all the trees, and put ’em in a tree museum / And charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em.” The lyrics also draw attention to the environmental dangers associated with DDT.
“Don’t it always seem to go / That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” is a sentiment that sadly still holds. If humans would consider the consequences ahead of time they would go in a different direction.
Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow (1975)
Even though Mitchell would distance herself from the label of feminist, she often touches upon issues of women’s empowerment and freedom of choice. This tune off of her seventh studio album The Hissing of Summer Lawns, deals with a woman standing up to male dominance and breaking free of the shackles of the patriarchy.
Tax Free (1985)
Mitchell’s 1985 album, Dog Eat Dog, marked the beginning of a more political direction in Mitchell’s music. One example is “Tax Free” which addresses the tax-exempt status of religion and how the clergy often exploits that status to line their own pockets. Lyrics such as “How can he speak for the Prince of Peace / When he’s hawk right militant” scathingly indict religious hypocrisy.
The Beat of Black Wings (1988)
This song is from Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm, one of Mitchell’s more political albums. “The Beat of Black Wings” deals with a bitter Vietnam veteran named Killer Kyle, who is suffering from PTSD.
Lyrics such as “The old hate the young / That’s the whole heartless thing / The old pick the wars / We die in ’em” sadly remain relevant.
Cherokee Louise (1991)
This tune from Mitchell’s 14th album Night Ride Home, relates the tragic experience of a childhood friend of Mitchell who was sexually assaulted by her foster dad. It is a harrowing tale of how a thirteen-year-old had their childhood innocence stolen from them by adults abusing their trust and authority.
The Magdalene Laundries (1994)
This song off Mitchell’s 15th album Turbulent Indigo, I previously wrote about as part of the 80 Years of Protest Song Project:
“The Magdalene Laundries” deals with the Magdalene laundries (also referred to as Magdalene’s asylums). These were church run institutions built to house women who were viewed as sexually promiscuous or were considered prostitutes. Often the women were unwed moms, who in some instances were victims of rape (“Most girls come here pregnant / Some by their own fathers / Bridget got that belly / By her parish priest.”) The women were forced to pay for their alleged sins through unpaid labor and harsh prison-like conditions.
The most prominent examples of these laundries took place in Ireland, where the last one didn’t close until 1996. There have been human rights investigations looking into the abuses of women and children at the hands of the nuns. In 1993, there was also a discovery of a mass grave at one of the laundry sites in Dublin (“They just stuffed her in a hole!” “One day I’m going to die here too / And they’ll plant me in the dirt”).
The song’s subject matter still resonates with the stigma associated with sex work, promiscuity, and with the vilifying of rape victims.”
Sex Kills (1994)
This topical tune from Turbulent Indigo covers a broad range of topics including AIDS, global warming, and consumerism. “Little kids packin’ guns to school” also continues to resonate.
Shine (2007)
This is the title track of Mitchell’s 19th and final studio album. This tune is a play on the old Sunday School tune, “This Little Light of Mine”. The lyrics alternates between the good and the bad that we experience throughout life. Some of the social ills highlighted include corporate greed, environmental damage, and political corruption.
The tune also addresses religious hypocrisy with lyrics such as “Shine on the Catholic Church /And the prisons that it owns / Shine on all the Churches / They all love less and less” and “Shine on mass destruction / In some God’s name!”
In contrast with the negative religious critique the lyrics positively refer to the Reverend Charlton Pearson who started to teach universal reconciliation and he openly questioned the existence of an eternal hell (“Shine on Reverend Pearson/ Who threw away / The vain old God”).