The Ira Awards Part 2
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Welcome to Part 2 of the Ira Awards! If you have no earthly idea of what the Ira Awards are, then go to Part 1 and find out. Besides, who would start anything with Part 2?
Joni Mitchell-Self Portrait
If you’ve already read Part 1, then welcome back! Tonight let’s start with Joni. In Part 1 I opened with the expression “A poem doth not a lyric make”. Joni Mitchell, in my book, comes the closest to writing poetry that works as lyrics. It is her genius to do so. Even though she can make it work sometimes, I still wouldn’t try it if I were you. Joni Mitchells only come along once in a lifetime.
Joni writes a lot like Paul Simon – she paints an impressionistic picture. She is a poet at work on a lyrical canvas. She sometimes tells a story, but that story often just has splotches of through line and she leaves it up to the listener to fill in the blanks. She is also, you may already know, an accomplished painter whose work often graces her album covers.
