music for the miserable?

i've just seen an add for an article entitled 'music for the miserable' and one of the featured artists was joni mitchell. now, before i go on to defend her, let me be honest and say that i wouldn't call myself intimately familiar with all of her work - mostly the blue album and selected other songs. but, i do have a mix cd in my car right now - one that i have been listening to for days, and one that i, myself, made with care - with several of her songs on it. this is not one of those mix cds that one makes with sweet, satisfying sadness in mind, either. i know, i've made several of those. in fact, written on the topside of the cd in silver sharpie is the title 'sunny day ladies'!



now that i've convinced you that joni mitchell is not, at least not in my mind, depressing, let me tell you why i love her. her music is unique, honest and tells stories over the whole spectrum of human emotion- some might be characterized as sad, but what human has no experiences of sadness? no one that i've ever met. (hopefully that's not a reflection of my effect on people : / ) further more, others of her pieces, i would characterize as downright playful.


let me use this joni mitchell discussion to segway into a somewhat related topic - music snobbery. i can't stand it. now, i'm sure that i have done my fair share of judging people based on their 'music' section on facebook, but in my heart of hearts, i want my ears to be ignorant of nothing. why? well, because i think that music is an excellent avenue for human expression, and that every song betrays some sort of real human emotion or experience, despite how shallow, deep, cliche, or unique that emotion or experience might be. for every genre, there is a group of people who sit in their cars and think "they get me, this artist totally gets me". so, if i deny myself a particular genre completely, then i am saying to that group of people - "your feelings aren't real and they don't deserve my consideration". what i am encouraging here and what i probably don't do a very good job of myself, is a well-rounded understanding of the art form and how it relates to all people.


i am not innocent. let me be candid here - i do not like country music because i find it vapid and cliche. i do not like some rap/pop music because it hurts my feminine heart. i do not like some harder music because it hurts my human heart. those things being as they are (admittedly horrid generalizations), i cannot deny that there are real people who connect with those things.


(i do enjoy much pop music; not necessarily for its emotional clarity, but for its singability and dancability. i refused to have this taken from me, or from anyone else by music elitists. music can and should sometimes be fun and only fun.<(period) because life itself can and should sometimes be fun and only fun - it's good for the human spirit.) i like (most of) my art true and beautiful (with the exception of the occasional guilty-pleasure-on-the-radio-solo-dance-party-in-my-car and other such blissful frivolity), but i acknowledge that it is my truth and my beauty that i seek. if i do not share these things with another person, i cannot expect them to value the same anything, including art. this brings me back to joni mitchell. do not judge her, or me for listening to her. i am not miserable, i just like what i like and "you're a mean old daddy, but i like you." : )



p.s. that last one was from 'cary' by joni mitchell, hopefully appearing at an open mic night near you. (i'm working on it).

i recorded this song today (7/1/10), almost a year and a half after this post was written, and thought it appropriate to add the video. i'm not sure if this is a blogging faux pas. i hope not. i hate those.