Sunday, May 1, 2016

BATTLE OF THE BANDS FROM 'BOTH SIDES'



Here we are, May 1st, and I’m wondering; ‘How did that happen?’ I’m not sure where the last two weeks went, but I sure know that I lived them, and I’m still standing, but I don’t know how.

First, I need to make a few apologies. I really appreciate all the well wishes regarding my move. I scheduled that post to go up the day my Internet was turned off. It was supposed to be turned back on a week later, but that didn’t happen; surprise, surprise! I didn’t have Internet until this past Monday, 4/25 therefore I simply didn’t have the time to reply to all of your comments. Also, I listened to most of the BOTB contests on my phone, but the smart phone doesn’t let me make comments, so I was unable to vote. I hope y’all had a real good time without me.

It took me almost the full two weeks to get everything moved. Yesterday, I had an interesting realization; for the first time in six years all of my possessions are in the same place. Six years ago when I moved to the Caribbean, I took very few things with me and left a lot behind in Idaho. Then when I came back to the States and moved to Nevada, I brought those things from the islands and got some of my things from Idaho, But as of two days ago, all of my things are in one place. YIKES!

I have boxes and boxes of things from my parent’s house, which I cleaned out and sold after my dad died. It may take me a year to get through everything, but I am determined to look into every box and keep only those things that are the most sentimental. I don’t think I can make another move quite like this last one.

ANYWAY…All of this has caused me to look at things a little differently. Quite possibly from ‘both sides’. So, let’s get to BATTLE OF THE BANDS. 

I have an interesting contest for you today, the contestants are the same person, doing the same song separated by about thirty-one years. There are some interesting nuances in this tune and it’s kind of a bittersweet concept. But enough of my yakking. I’ll let you have a listen and tell me what you think.

First up Miss Joni Mitchell in 1969 singing ‘Both Sides Now’



Next I have Miss Joni Mitchell in 2000 singing the same song, but with maybe, a little different perspective


A great big thank you to one of my faithful followers Mr. Sheboyganboy Six for suggesting this BATTLE. Personally, I think it’s a good one.

When you finish up here, head on over to the home of Mr. Stephen T. McCarthy where you’ll find the list of all BOTB participants. Please try to visit everyone.

I’ll be back on the 7th with my vote and the final tally. Until that time… Happy Trails!

                                                                                   

48 comments:

  1. You're probably wondering how you managed to accumulate so much over the years!
    Her voice is definitely deeper in the second one. Think I prefer the first.

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    1. You're right, especially considering that six years ago when I left the country, I got rid of so much. I think these 'things' breed in the closets.

      Young Joni for you.

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  2. I didn't envy you your move. I know what a bitch moving is and it's not fun at all! Congrats on getting it done and getting through it unscathed.
    Re: your battle, I definitely prefer Joni in 1969 so please give my vote to the first one.

    Michele at Angels Bark

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    1. 'Bitch' does not begin to describe it. I am glad all of my stuff is in one place. Now the fun (sorting) begins. I promise myself to reduce the clutter by at least half. Ha, ha, ha!

      Another vote for the younger version.

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  3. I know how tough that moving can be. It's good that you've gotten some of that past you, but I can understand what you have ahead of you. I've still got boxes that I took after we cleaned out my mother's house last year that I need to go through. I know it's the same with my siblings. Good luck with you stuff you've yet to do.

    I like "Both Sides Now". It's one of those songs on my someday BOTB list, but it's probably far off for me if I do use it. I much prefer Joni's more matured mellower and deeper voice. I have never been the biggest fan of Joni as a singer, but she's a fine songwriter.

    The voice and the orchestration of the second version are very good, but it all seems too draggy. Maybe it's just the time of morning when I'm listening to this. But I'm going to forego the wonderful jazziness of the latter version--don't get me wrong, I think it's outstanding, but overly dramatized for me at the moment.

    I'm going with Joni's earlier version with just her and her guitar. Wistfully sweet and simple.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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    1. You're right about how tough moving can be. The sorting through my parents things will be even rougher. It's hard to dispose of those things that they thought to save for so long, but some of it simply has to go.

      There are a lot of versions of this song and since the song is so great, I don't think there is a bad one. It's all a matter of personal choice. For you it's the 'wistfully sweet and simple younger Joni'.

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  4. haha when everything is together it can sure pile up. I think I like the first one she did better. So #1 it is.

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    1. About that pile of stuff...you ain't a kiddin.

      A big #1 for you!

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  5. Welcome back and welcome home, FAE!

    I have always really liked this song, and I'm old enough to remember when it was a Judy Collins hit and got played on AM radio constantly.

    It was while yakking with you recently about this contest that I learned 'BOTH SIDES NOW' was written by Joni Mitchell. The things one learns by way of BOTB.

    I was sincerely thinking (and hoping) that I'd break up this shutout for you but... sadly, I can't. I'm going with the crowd on this one.

    Although I too like Joni's older voice, the second recording is just too blasted slow. When a song gets slowed down to such a degree as that, it really loses most of the melody and the vocals begin to sound more like talking than singing.

    Unfortunately, I didn't care for the instrumentation either. It just never seemed to "go anywhere" - it was just this continual droning as Joni sort of half-yakked / half-sang her way through an almost melody-less song.

    Yep. Gotta vote for JONI MITCHELL '69 in this Battle. Great concept though!

    ~ D-FensDogG
    'Loyal American Underground'

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    1. Judy had the hit, but everybody and their dog covered this one. It is that great of a song.

      No worries about a shut-out on this one. I knew some folks would get the emotion in the 'older' version aside from the dirge like quality. I think it's that slowness that actually makes it more meaningful.

      No matter, you like what you like and it's another vote for the young Joni Mitchell.

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  6. Moving is such a drag. Hopefully I'll be here for a very long time. Best of luck with unpacking and sorting now.

    Bravo - love this battle. And though I understand the reasons most are choosing the first version, but her second version took me to 'soulful land,' a place where time mellows you and causes you to slow it down for contemplation. It almost brought me to tears, (smile).

    My vote is for Joni 2000.

    Have a great week, Fae.

    @dcrelief from

    dcrelief - Battle of the Bands

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    1. Ah, Dixie you heard what I did. That second one might be slowed waaay down, and Joni may be talking more than singing, but it the 'soulfulness' of it that moves me.

      A vote for the older and maybe wiser Joni of 2000.

      You're right about moving and I hope for your sake you can stay put. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to. I really like the space I'm living in now, so I'm hopeful. Besides another move like this past one would probably kill me.

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  7. Sorry, but the updated version was too dirge-like for me. Gimme 1969, if you would, and glad your move is complete!

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    1. Tkanks Chris, and another vote for the younger version.

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  8. Joni Mitchell's voice always bothered me back in the early days, but it sounds much smoother and I like the lower pitch better as she's gotten older (and endued some health issues). My vote is for Joni 2000.

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    1. OK John, got you down for the older smoother version of Joni.

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  9. The arrangements are different and Joni seems to struggle a bit with the melodies, but I still like her recent version better as it reflects her becoming older and wiser, and her voice is deeper. I think they slowed the music down too much, but still. I did listen to Joni in her younger days but her high pitched singing used to irritate me. Her lyrics however never fail. Older Joni gets my vote!

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    1. Another person who felt what I did here. I guess I'm giving my vote away, but at this point who cares.

      Thanks D.G. got you down for the non-irritating older version.

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  10. First.....you will get through all the boxes and I bet you will find some real gems that you had forgotten and other stuff you wonder why you kept it. I always love hearing the same person sing the same song but at different times in their life. When you get a chance try and find Judy Garland, in the mid 50's, in a hobo get-up from her previous song, sing Over The Rainbow. It made me cry. Joni is a Canadian icon and this is an amazing song. I have to go with the older version even with a few wonky styling so far her voice, she truly captures the meaning behind the words. The older version is my vote but in a rare experience, my hubby heard both and he likes the younger version due to the strength of her voice.

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    1. Hey Birgit, I have already come across some things I had forgotten I saved, and am I ever glad I did. Also, while inadvertently going through some of the things from my dad's house (I had planned to get through my own stuff first), I found the old 8mm movies (every Christmas starting from when I was about 3 years old). I had thought they had been lost to time. Now I need to find the funds to have them converted to DVD.

      I have seen and heard that version of 'Rainbow' by Judy and you're absolutely right; hard to get through it without a few tears escaping. I too really enjoying seeing personal growth and with songs like this one, how can you help it.

      Another vote for the old gal.

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  11. All this talk of moving is giving me an anxiety attack. My house closes at the end of June and I haven't found one yet. Which means, I may have to move twice! Sold my house without it being on the market and without me mentally ready, ha ha. NOOOOOOO...

    Why am I here?? OH, YES! Give my voice to YOUNG JONI. Then tell her to sing The Circle Game for me.

    Nice job, FAE!

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    1. YIKES! moving is bad enough when you're prepared, but being totally unprepared and not really knowing where you're going...I can't even imagine, although I have 'been there and done that', just not sure how. Best of luck to ya.

      OK, you're request is in and the young Joni thanks you.

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  12. I am sorry about you having to make a move. If I were there, I'd help you. I always try to help people move because it is such a pain, especially without help!

    BOTB: I love this song, and I love Joni Mitchell. (I never cared for Joan Collins, or her version.) I suspect this will be a massive blowout in favor of the one everyone knows… though I see it has started to turn around, at least a little bit.

    Joni Mitchell was always one of my very favorites. She is a tremendous songwriter - one of the best. I was always amazed at her insight into the introspective side of humanity. (She missed, I think, on the brutal side of our personalities - The Who filled that musical role for me.) There was a period when I listened to her all the time. I think my favorite songs she wrote are “For Free” and “Conversation”… back-to-back numbers on her Ladies of the Canyon album. And the entire Court and Spark album is a top five favorite LP of all time.

    I love both versions of the this song. The writing shows incredible depth of soul for someone so young. The early version feels like a young person who has learned a lesson about love; it is a bit bouncy and upbeat, emoting the feeling of someone who has felt the pangs and swings of a lost romance… but who still has a life ahead of her to figure it out and find more romance.

    The second, as an old woman in 2000: the same words, but it has a VERY different feeling and interpretation.  It is slow and ponderous on the surface, but one needs to give the version a chance.  It is very moving. It has a depth that I feel a connection with - as someone with some extra candles on the cake. She sings as an old person who is looking back with tremendous introspection nearer then end of her life, and has realized the import of things taken for granted in youth. Things we often never figure out. Things we realize later we missed and will never find again.

    In the Youtube comment section “Ray C” says:
    “This rendition is beyond music, Joni sang with her life and the joys, and fears, and tears, and hopes, and despairs, and dreams, and all the bittersweets. I first heard the original song when I was a young lad who tries to find the meaning of life. So many years later, I hear this song and I recalled all the illusions in the past, I realized that I still don't know life at all.”

    I love them both, but I REALLY love the second version.

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    1. I saved my reply to your comment for last, because there was a lot I wanted to say, but now the big thunderstorms that are rumbling through Tahoe today are closing back in, so I need to shut down my computer. I promise to be back shortly with a reply to your comment with some secrets to disclose.

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  13. Welcome back! This is a tough one. I loved her first rendition, remember singing it on the school bus with friends. There's a depth to that second one that's missing from the first, but it sure takes a long time to get there. I'll abstain. :)

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    1. Thanks Donna, I understand completely, because there is a lot to like about both versions. Almost seems like two different songs, at the very least it is two very different people singing, even if they both inhabit the same body, but separated by almost forty years.

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  14. I heard this for the first time back in high school. It really touched me... so much so that I made a point of learning all the words to it. I think I was coming into contact with the illusions and felt I really didn't know life at all, either.

    But, one of the things I always loved about this song is the dichotomy of it. It sounds happy if you don't listen to the words. Almost bouncy. And then when you listen to the words, you realize the irony that is there. She wrote this happy song with these extremely thoughtful lyrics that are really rather sad.

    And that's what that second version loses, though I like it more than I thought when it started. I listened to it twice to give my ears the opportunity to adjust to it.

    In the end, I still like the 1969 version best. I like that you think you're getting one thing while you're actually getting another. The happy in the melody is another one of the illusions.

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    1. Very interesting analysis. I would have to agree that the original song is truly another illusion, happy melody, with very deep and soulful lyrics. Kind of an enigma.

      What this leaves me to wonder is if all of the people who have already voted and like the younger version better really listened to the words as you did? Does everybody see the illusion? Did Joni do that intentionally? Something to ponder.

      Thanks for the thoughtful comment and the vote.

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  15. Isn't it a nice feeling to know you have all your stuff? So the move went well?
    Nice battle, I like this song. I was hoping the updated version I was going to like as well, unfortunately, I didn't like it so much as the original. I think had it been sung to the same style as the original, I would have liked it better.
    Please place my vote for the earlier incarnation of Joni Mitchell

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    1. It is nice to have all of my stuff under one roof. I plan to go through everything and do a lot of weeding out, if for no other reason than not to have to make such a 'big' move ever again. Basically it went well. I had a lot of help (thank goodness), but it's still very tiring.

      Got you down for the Younger version.

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  16. I can tell you where those two weeks went. In fact, I can tell you where the last four of them have gone. Have you heard of a little thing called the #atozChallenge?

    Anyway, that's done and now I'm ready to vote for Joni.

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    1. Yeah, April is kind of a wash for everyone. I did the A to Z once and that was enough for me, but usually I do enjoy hopping around and following many of the interesting themes. This year I had no time and two weeks without the Internet. I do have to admit that it was kind of nice to be unplugged for a time there.

      OK, I got your vote for Joni, but still need to know which one; young or old.

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  17. Moving is not fun at all. I have to make a move myself in a few months as well and I am not looking forward to it.
    As for the battle, I prefer the 1969 version.

    Mary
    Battle of the Bands: Plant vs Plant

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    1. Good Luck with your move, Mary. You're are exactly correct, it's no fun at all.

      Got you down as a vote for the younger version of Joni.

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  18. Fae, I'm slightly envious of your move. I mean, I'd like to move someday into my dream home. But, I know what a headache that will be when or if ever we are blessed to do it. I can't imagine the kind of moves you've made, though. I may have to ask your advice when it comes time to move, as I'm sure you have some helpful suggestions to pass on. No worries about the last battle. I fell behind terribly. The A2Z challenge had me pinned to the wall and now I'm playing catch up. Oh well...let's talk about your song choice. I like that you're using the same artist from two separate decades. The sound of each song is different, both nice, but I prefer the first version the best ~ sweeter vocals and folksy sound really makes this song IMO. So, give my vote to Joni Mitchell's 1969. Good battle!

    It's Magic #BoTB showdown

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    1. Thanks Cathy, I like the perspective of this BATTLE, also. I've counted your vote for the younger version of Joni.

      When it comes time for you to move, please do give me a call. I'll be happy to pass along any tidbits I've learned, but basically you just have to put your head down and get through it. The packing is the worst. I felt as though things were breeding in my closets.

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  19. I'm glad your move was successful and that you're finally settled. (more or less)

    Maybe it's because I'm *older* and the years ahead are far fewer than the years gone by... but I love the second version, a bitter-sweet looking back. 'nough said.

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    1. 'Settled'...ha,ha,ha!

      a little perspective makes a world of difference don't ya think? Nough said!

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  20. I thought of doing this exact battle, so of course I think it's brilliant. Ah, Mama Cass and Mary and Joni . . . enough to break my heart. I am old, and two of them are gone. I vote for young Joni because I love the sweetness of her soprano. I can't sing with older Joni because her voice is too low for my soprano. Congratulations on having everything in one place. I don't think that will ever happen for me again. *sigh* Divorce.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. This BATTLE was suggested to me by a friend, but I agree it's a great one. I love the idea of the different perspective by the same person. I have another BATTLE planned using a clip from that same TV show with Mama Cass, Mary Travis, and Joni. I think you'll like that one too.

      Got your vote counted for the sweet soprano of young Joni.

      Divorce is the great divider of so many things and some of them are things. Sorry to hear that this is an issue for you. I lost many things in a divorce, but got out with my life and that was the good part.

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  21. I liked the older Joni; her voice had a maturity which made the song much more nostalgic. Experience sure makes some lessons more bearable.

    I'm so glad the move went well, and you have all of YOU in one place now. I know how that feels :)

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    1. Having all of me in one place, gives me a sense of togetherness that I don't usually feel. Not as scattered as this dumb blonde normally is, eh?

      Finally another vote for the older more experienced Joni and her 'take' on the illusions of life.

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  22. We're glad to hear that your move was successful and that all of your crap is in one location. My crap is still scattered around, and I need to fix that... but my lazy side says nah, maybe next year.

    As for the battle, the two of us are with many of the others here that say the second one is just a bit too slowed down. We both vote for the first Joni.

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    1. You probably have parents nearby and I'll bet a lot of your stuff is still with them. In my case, my parents are both passed on and I not only had years (more than you have been alive) of my own accumulations to deal with, but all of their stuff (not to mention those things I still had left behind at their house). Anyway...finally it is ALL going to get looked at and disposed of one way or another. (Ha! I should live so long.)

      B & B cast two votes for the young Joni. Why am I not surprised?

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  23. Moving is hell but it's also exciting to be in a new place and setting things up the way you want them. The hard part is over, at least.

    Interesting battle! I love the lower register and huskiness of older Joanie's voice and the lush orchestration, but the tempo was slowed down too much, as others mentioned. Please give my vote to younger Joanie.

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    1. You're right, it is excited to be starting over and setting things up in a great space the way I want them.

      Glad you enjoyed this BATTLE. Got your vote in place for the young Joni.

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  24. I go with the old version. Joni sings with all memories and hopes and regrets. It speaks of experience.

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    1. Thanks Susan, and, another vote for the older and wiser Joni.

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