The darker side of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”

What do you think when you hear Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Both Sides, Now”?

…a happy song about big white, fluffy clouds in sunny, blue skies…ice cream castles and fairy tales and Ferris wheels?

Or do you think of dark, gloomy clouds and cold rain and snow?

 

 

 

Sure, the song DOES have a happy side – but as the title suggests it has both sides – an opposite side. That’s the dark beauty of the song.

When I teach creative writing and poetic devices, I often refer to the words of this song and the structure as a fine example of construction.

Each verse contains a happy, optimistic start then a more mature and more ‘world weary’ ‘mirror image’. The happy part of each verse pivots with the words: ‘but now…” to a less positive side of clouds…then, love…then, life.

 

The song has been covered by so many artists and loved by so many fans – but many seem to just see the happy, fluffy clouds part of the song. In fact, many think the song is called ‘Clouds’.

In fact, many think the song is called ‘Clouds’.

The happy ice cream castles part is just the first part of the first verse. As you may know, Joni says she was inspired to write the song after looking at clouds out of the window of a plane.

Clouds are a powerful symbol of things that can be seen from different sides –  big soft, fluffy feathered canyons or dark clouds blocking the sun or carrying rain or snow.

Clouds, of course, are unfixed and change quickly too – like love…and life!

I like her original recording of the song with her lighter, sweeter voice – but I prefer later recordings with the older Jonie singing it.

I loved this song when I was a young and optimistic  university student and probably only ‘saw’ the happy, whimsical part. But now, as a university teacher, I love it even more for its dark beauty and ‘truth’!

 

In future posts, I’ll write about other virtues of this song – the disciplined, crafted and repeated structure and rhymes and visual writing that creates images in your mind’s eye.