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Joni Mitchell has learned to walk three times. The first as a toddler; the next as a wheelchair-ridden 9-year-old<\/a> recovering from post-polio syndrome; and once more after she survived a nearly fatal brain aneurysm<\/a> in her early seventies in 2015.<\/p>\n The polio, as it turns out, weakened her left hand and forced her to develop alternative tunings<\/a> on guitar which might explain the haunting, melodic sound that\u2019s won 10 Grammys. Then came a 20-year musical hiatus.<\/p>\n Perhaps these are the clouds, or life\u2019s illusions, that 80-year-old Mitchell mused on in her Grammy performance<\/a> of \u201cBoth Sides Now\u201d this year, which also won a Grammy<\/a> for best folk song in 1970.\u00a0<\/p>\n The aneurysm reduced Mitchell\u2019s life\u2019s work of singing and playing to memories that she spent years relearning, often by watching her hands play guitar in videos of previous performances. In the most female-dominated<\/a> Grammy ceremony in history, Joni Mitchell\u2019s comeback demonstrates the impact her introspective songwriting has had on generations<\/a> of today\u2019s pop stars. From Lana Del Rey\u2019s melancholic dark pop to indie pop stars Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers. emotionally intelligent songs, which Mitchell paved the way to, are gaining popularity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn today\u2019s music landscape, there\u2019s a growing appreciation for songs that offer emotional depth and complexity,\u201d said Jos\u00e9 Ruiz-Resto, the program director of music business at the University of Florida<\/a> and a four-time Latin Grammy winner<\/a>. \u201cMitchell has given way to many other artists as a master of lyricism, and set a high standard of songwriting in the industry early on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Mitchell is \u201cregarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time,\u201d said Ruiz-Resto, adding that the \u201cpoetic lyrics, intricate melodies and emotional depth,\u201d has influenced \u201ccountless artists and genres from folk, rock, pop and jazz.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Shifts in musical chart-toppers reveal changes in listeners preferences, and a big shift lately includes more love for personal, introspective storytelling. Lana Del Rey\u2019s stardom began after her song \u201cVideo Games,\u201d praised for its authentic feel<\/a>, went viral<\/a> and was named song of the decade<\/a> at the Q Awards in London. Good lyricism also helps explain Taylor Swift\u2019s massive fan base. As just one example, look at Reddit<\/a>, where scores of fans describe how coming across lines they could relate to feels like discovering gems and \u201cmakes you want to keep going back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Grammy ceremony, Mitchell performed one of her best-known songs\u2013a meditation of perspectives on life, love and loss accompanied by a drifting melody\u2013and sang lyrics that are now decades old: \u201cI\u2019ve looked at life from both sides now, from win and lose, and still somehow it\u2019s life\u2019s illusions I recall.\u201d Side by side with the tumult of her life in the 70s\u2013including road trips<\/a> she took without a driver\u2019s license, love affairs with greats like Leonard Cohen<\/a> and Graham Nash<\/a>, and nights out dancing to jazz<\/a>\u2014they\u2019re heartbreaking lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sung in her voice, a tumbling, fluttering instrument toned throughout her life, her introspective lyricism and blues guitar riffs account for why she took home her 10th Grammy<\/a> for best folk album<\/a> this year. The album<\/a>, called At Newport<\/em>, is a live recording of her first concert<\/a> in over two decades<\/a>\u2014and the first since her aneurysm. It\u2019s named for her unannounced surprise performance with fellow folk singer Brandi Carlile at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival<\/a>. If Mitchell\u2019s voice was a rarity to hear in the sunshine of her fame in the 70s, it\u2019s even more singular today.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Her lyrics are more than 50 years old<\/a> but her eccentric style continues to captivate. At the ceremony, the singer took the stage seated on a golden throne, surrounded by musicians and her good friend, Carlile. It\u2019s a style she calls a \u2018Joni Jam<\/a>,\u2019 reflecting the intimate gatherings she hosted with Carlile while recoveringfrom brain surgery<\/a>. The low-key gatherings while she recovered included<\/a> Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Harry Styles. The Grammy audience\u2019s standing ovation for her proves that her songwriting magic continues to influence<\/a> some of today\u2019s most successful artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many musicians credit<\/a> Mitchell\u2019s influence<\/a> on their sound, including album of the year winner Taylor Swift, who also made history as the only artist who\u2019s won the top prize four times<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lana Del Rey, who was also nominated for the award and 11 other nominations<\/a> in categories like song of the year and best alternative music album, recorded a cover of Mitchell\u2019s song, \u2018For Free,\u2019 which contrasts the velvet-curtained venues Mitchell would perform at with a street busker\u2019s hustle, in her 2021 album Chemtrails over the Country Club<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> Del Rey said in an interview with Mojo Magazine<\/a> that she could relate to the song when she was earlier in her career and also playing music for free.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t even get famous \u2019til I was, like, 27 and until then, I sang for less than free,\u201d she told the magazine, adding that Mitchell\u2019s song means \u201ceverything\u201d to her. She also paid homage to the singer\u2019s hit album Ladies of the Canyon<\/em> in another of her songs, \u201cBartender.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Mitchell\u2019s ability to write introspective songs with lyricism that pulls listeners into the depths of her emotions is one of her most admired qualities<\/a>. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame<\/a> in 1997; Neil Young called her one of the best artists<\/a> of this generation; Leonard Cohen said<\/a> she\u2019s \u201csome kind of musical monster,\u201d and that \u201cher gift somehow put her in another category from the other folk singers.\u201d<\/p>\n The Grammys, Ruiz-Resto noted, measure an artist\u2019s success through their social, political and industry impact as opposed to the Billboard<\/a>, which ranks success based on revenue and sales of songs. The award measures how much a song or album has influenced the industry, as well as\u00a0 \u201cquality of the production, innovation, and its impact on society at local and global levels.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A lot of songs have been tools for artists to demonstrate social positions, Ruiz-Resto said, and much of the world\u2019s most reverberant sounds have been those that \u201creach people face to face, eye to eye, and heart to heart.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The same goes for Mitchell\u2019s discography, replete with anthems of activism. \u201cThe Fiddle and the Drum,\u201d is an anti-Vietnam war protest<\/a>; \u201cWoodstock,\u201d is about the counterculture movement<\/a> for peace; \u201cDon\u2019t Interrupt the Sorrow\u201d is about women\u2019s empowerment; and of course, \u201cBig Yellow Taxi<\/a>,\u201d demands that farmers put away the DDT now.<\/p>\n In 2022, after Neil Young pulled<\/a> his music from Spotify<\/a> in protest of the streaming service\u2019s\u00a0 distribution of Joe Rogan\u2019s podcast, which was criticized by doctors and medical experts for spreading misinformation about the pandemic, Mitchell removed her songs<\/a> too.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIrresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,\u201d she wrote in a statement<\/a>. \u201cI stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.\u201d\u00a0\nAn industry-wide impact<\/strong><\/h2>\n
An activist and feminist history\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mitchell\u2019s success is undeniable, but her journey was sometimes choppy. She tried to quit music several times, the most recent attempt in 2002<\/a>, which marked the start of a two-decade hiatus in recording and performing. Now, she has a nearly 60-year history<\/a> of winning Grammys and even announced two shows<\/a>, her first headliner in over 24 years, in Los Angeles later this October. It\u2019s enough to prove that there\u2019s still many ears hungry to hear her voice sing her poetic lines to the jazz and blues beats that are characteristically Joni Mitchell.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n