Blue By Joni Mitchell example essay topic

Blue, songs are like tattoos You know I've been to sea before Crown and anchor me Or let me sail away Hey Blue, there is a song for you Ink on a pin Underneath the skin An empty space to fill in Well there " re so many sinking now You " ve got to keep thinking You can make it through these waves Acid, booze, and ass Needles, guns, and grass Lots of laughs, lots of laughs Everybody's saying that hell's the hippest way to go Well I don't think so But I'm gonna take a look around it though Blue, I love you. Blue, here is a shell for you Inside you " ll hear a sound A foggy lullaby There is your song from me. ("Blue", Joni Mitchell) As an act of creation, writing a song or playing a passage of music is a development for the artist, a birth. Intercourse begins the artistic cycle, allowing the artist to take into herself the experiences necessary for creation. With time and through tribulations, the artist's carried experiences takes shape. The crescendo climaxes with the pain of birth and the creation of art.

This view reveals a lot about the nature of art. For one, art is not created in a vacuum; art draws off of experiences in the artists life. Art also takes time, and involves some pain. The most important and difficult concept for any parent to accept is that child, once outside of the womb, will develop into his or her own person. In this same way, once art is produced, it will have interactions with people other than its creator that are far beyond the scope of what was originally intended. "Blue", by Joni Mitchell, is no exception, as it is art.

It will always have an intimate relationship to Joni Mitchell, but is also capable of provoking emotion in other people, such as myself. Born November 7, 1943 in Fort McLeod, Alberta, Canada, Joni Mitchell is one of Canada's most prominent celebrities. I don't quite know what experiences she draws on to create blue; all I know are what experiences I draw on when listening to it. "Blue, song are like tattoos". With this line I get a feeling of the power of music in general. Tattoos are permanent, just like music is permanent.

I can't help but be changed by a song after I listen to it, because it is part of the nature of song. As I implied above, it is important to realize that these statements hold true about the artist as well as the audience. However, it is also important to note that the truth derived from any line of song is not necessarily the literal meaning of the words, and is thus highly subjective. This makes sense in regards to the next line, "You know I've been to sea before". I have never been to sea before, does that mean that I can no longer find any value in the text? Obviously, this is not true, the meaning is just different than the literal meaning.

I read this entire song as an apostrophe to Blue. Who Blue is is the most important part of interpreting this piece. I believe that Blue can change depending on who is listening to the song, or even when and where the song is being listened to. Meaning of any piece of art is based on experience of the audience, but also on the context of the audience.

I've listened to this song on good days and bad days, on sunny days and on sad days, and I view it differently every time. For example, I obtained the CD "Blue" from a friend, and listened to it while driving home. I know that I really wanted to like it, even before I listened to it, just because of who had given me the CD. However, even though I do enjoy the CD now, it wasn't because I really wanted to.

There was a much better chance, because of who gave it to me, that I would like it because, as a friend, we have similar taste in music. If, on the other hand, I had gotten a CD from someone that I like less, there would have been less of a chance of not only liking the CD, but also actually giving it a chance. So, already, even before I had listened to it, the music of Joni Mitchell had all sorts of experiences tied to it. Driving home, listening for the first time, if I had been asked for the identity of Blue, without really paying attention to the lyrics, just basing my answer on the pre-listening experiences of the day, I would have given an answer dull happiness. This would have been a response based entirely on my emotions about receiving the CD. On another day though, when I was disappointed by some friends not coming through for me, and I had almost died in a car accident, I listened to "Blue" a little differently.

"Acid, booze and ass / Needles, guns and grass / Lots of laughs, lots of laughs", was perhaps the most bitter line I had ever heard. Already feeling badly, I took comfort in the awful sarcasm that Joni seemed to have. Blue would have to be that feeling of sadness, present in everyone's life, that Joni speaks to. In my mind, this brings up two points. The first is that both the pleasant and unpleasant interpretation used the music as nothing more than a catalyst. If i am feeling a certain way, that will affect my interpretations.

I will see in the music no more than what I want to see. Thus, when I see the music for what it really is, then I have broken down a sort of barrier, and ascended to a new level of understanding. This is perhaps the most important trait of art, as a catalyst for the development of the artist and more importantly, the individual separate from the artist. The second point, is that music as an art form is incomplete using just lyrics as a reference.

The chord progression, the feel of the piece, every nuance of her voice, all of these are directly related to the interpretation of the piece as well. However, the interpretation of "the feel of the piece" is also something that is subjective. In the two examples that I gave above, the song would have had a different feel on both days. I believe that this discrepancy only makes even more clear the transient nature of art. If I, as one person, in a span of only one month could have such radically different interpretations of the same, then it only makes sense that other people could have other varying opinions if they are in different situations. There is something fluid about art; it is impossible to nail down a concrete meaning because of the ambiguity and multiplicity that art represents.

Prolonged exposure to any piece of art will get an individual closer to a single meaning, and by doing so it will limit his / her interpretation. The most all encompassing view of a piece of art is to not even know that the piece exists. Only then are you at a point where the ambiguity of the piece is at a maximum. As I have listened to "Blue" over a hundred times, I have been exposed to it enough to say that, more times than not, "Blue" is a sad song. Blue really is the emotion that I mentioned before. With this interpretation in my head, it would be almost impossible, if not impossible, to forget my feelings on the song.

To me, "Blue" will be ever sad and beautiful. I am limited entirely to my current view of the song. Also though, this is because I am limited by my experience with the song. Maybe I am just a sad person, and the song is like a mirror, where I reflect my insides out. Even so, the importance of experience and art can not be underestimated. It is very likely that I view "Blue" how I do because my experience tells me that sadness and pain are the ways of the world, and that Joni is just being honest.

Unmentioned above is that if the creation of art is as intimate as sex and childbirth, then it is just as much of a gift. Sex is unitive as well as pro-creative. Joni Mitchell has brought me closer to her thorough her art, which is very important. What is more important, though, is the development of other relationships completely unbeknown to Joni Mitchell. As I said before, I received Joni Mitchell from a friend. Automatically this creates a bond, albeit a small one, yet one that can be built upon nonetheless.

Additionally, anyone that has driven with me in my car and talked about Joni furthers my relationship with that person. Joni, brings people together. Thus, art is, in and of itself, pro-creative. As it is pro-creative by nature, it is part of the creative process. Experience is necessary for the artistic cycle to begin. For me, Joni Mitchell's "Blue" is one such experience.

It is fuel for my own creativity, just as something that came before "Blue" was its inspiration. The is perhaps the most important and confusing element of art. Nothing is completely original, yet no two things are ever the same. All art draws on previous pieces and experiences, so there is an element of similarity behind all pieces of art.

Joni Mitchell, like all artists, still has some degree of uniqueness, which is what I love. I can fully appreciate the positive effects that Joni Mitchell's "Blue" has had on my life, even if my interpretation is somewhat bleak. The positive effect of psychological proximity between any two people is something I have experienced through Joni Mitchell.