Studies in song: Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides, Now' (1)

The initial inspiration for the lyrics of ‘Both Sides, Now’ came from Saul Bellow’s 1959 novel Henderson the Rain King. Mitchell recalls penning the first verse on an aeroplane in 1966, after having read a passage in which the novel’s protagonist, Eugene Henderson, is ruminating on clouds and existence as he flies over Africa. ‘He’s up in a plane, looking down on clouds, and I go, “Huh! I’m up on a plane looking down at clouds.” I put the book down, I look out the window, and I start to write’ (Marom, 2014, p.25). A year later, in 1967, ‘Both Sides, Now’ was brought to the attention of the public at large by Judy Collins, who included a version of the song on her album Wildflowers; when it was released as a single in 1968, it was a commercial success in both the United States and Canada. Mitchell’s first recording of ‘Both Sides, Now’ is found on the artist’s second studio album Clouds (1969). In 2000, Mitchell revisited and re-recorded the song with an orchestral accompaniment; it became the closing track on her concept album of the same year, itself entitled Both Sides Now.

The song’s lyrics are in first-person and take the form of a soliloquy, in which the speaker meditates on themes such as love and loss, impermanence, and the transition from the idealised realm of youth into that of adulthood, where complications and insecurities arise. It would appear that, at least to an extent, ‘Both Sides, Now’ is autobiographical, and thus the speaker can be considered as the artist herself. Mitchell (who by the time Clouds was released, had given birth, got married, and divorced) has spoken about the relationship between her personal life, her experiences up to then, and the song, stating that ‘Both Sides, Now’ was ‘triggered by a broken heart, the loss of my child… I had, in fact, seen quite a bit of the “I’ve looked at life from both sides now.” I had some serious battles for a twenty-one-year-old’ (Marom, 2014, p.25).

The opening four lines of the first verse describe clouds using fantastical imagery. Both Mitchell’s painterly and writerly aptitudes are evident here: vivid images are paired with sense-based language and various literary devices, such as assonance and internal rhyme (‘rows and floes’), as well as consonance and sibilance (‘ice-cream castles’), are employed to create musicality. An internal refrain — ‘I’ve looked at clouds [which becomes ‘love’ then ‘life’ in verses two and three, respectively] that way’ — closes the first half of the verse. The conjunction ‘but’ then introduces a second four-line section that contrasts with the first. Clouds are now viewed as adverse and obstructive, and considered from a coldly meteorological perspective: ‘They [clouds] rain and snow on everyone / So many things I could have done / But clouds got in my way.’

‘Both Sides, Now’ follows an AB song structure; each verse (A section) is succeeded by a chorus (B section). Since the final chorus is repeated, the complete form could be expressed as ABABABB. This structural outline is further embellished by instrumental passages, such as the introduction and coda. The AB song form was a prevalent choice with North American songwriters during the 1960s, and Mitchell uses the emphasis which it places on the chorus as a means of recapitulating and concluding the subject explored in the preceding verse. To exemplify, as the second verse deals with the topic of love, so the chorus which follows is adapted in order to summarise the content of the A section: Verse II: ‘The dizzy dancing way you feel / As every fairy-tale comes real / I’ve looked at love that way / But now, it’s just another show’; Chorus II: ‘I’ve looked at love from both sides now / From give and take, and still somehow / It’s love’s illusions I recall / I really don’t know love at all.’

The chorus section consists of two end-rhymed couplets (AABB), with each line containing eight syllables. The couplets and symmetry present in the chorus lend it a balanced and conclusive quality that enriches the summative nature of the lyrics; it therefore serves a purpose that harks back to the chorus of Attic tragedy, the role of which was to review and comment upon the action and events that had taken place in the drama beforehand and highlight the play’s thematic content. The rhyme pattern established in the first verse (AAABAAAB) is maintained throughout the subsequent verses, as are certain sonic patterns. The opening line of each verse, for instance, preserves the assonance and internal rhyme of ‘rows and floes’: ‘moons and Junes’; ‘tears and fears.’ Likewise, the volta, which divides each verse into two parts with distinct moods, continues to be present. In line with the song’s title and the phrase adapted from Henderson the Rain King, each overarching topic — clouds, love, life — is explored, albeit briefly, from ‘both sides.’

References:

Marom, M. (2014). Both Sides Now: Conversations with Joni Mitchell. London: Ominbus Press.

Mitchell, J. (1969). Clouds. U.S.: Reprise Records

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Carl Stevens is an English language specialist, creative linguist and travel writer based in Siena, Italy. He has a BA in Creative Writing and English Literature and an MA in Songwriting from Bath Spa University, Bath, UK. He also has a surfboard and a Siamese cat.