Feature photo by William Green
Story by Emma Burden
Ann Powers didn’t aim to write a conventional biography about Joni Mitchell when she put pen to paper for “Traveling: On the Path with Joni Mitchell.” But, if a book chronicling the life and musical prowess of the influential songsmith isn’t a biography, what is it?
On Sept. 4, Powers, a music journalist and NPR correspondent, sat with Director of Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Popular Music and Professor of Musicology Dr. Greg Reish in MTSU’s State Farm Room to discuss her latest book. The attentive audience sat at the edge of their tapestry-upholstered seats, beginning to understand Powers’ overarching view of Mitchell: Her life has been defined as existing in a “broken middle.”
“She is, and she isn’t,” Powers said. “She isn’t jazz, folk, or pop; she’s all of them at once.”
Growing up, Powers didn’t connect to Mitchell like she did to other musicians. She preferred the rock sounds of Debbie Harry and Kate Bush to Mitchell’s folky discography. However, when approached to write about Mitchell, Powers decided to angle her work to a cultural and personal standpoint, exploring Mitchell’s life, art and work within the metaphor of a map — exploring how Mitchell’s artistry unfolded. This gave way to the title “Traveling: On the Path with Joni Mitchell.”
“A life that’s told through the different stops and byways along the way,” Powers said. “And the power of unexpected byways.”
Powers’ book is unconventional. In a way, it meanders through Mitchell’s life story just as Mitchell puts flowery speech into her lyrics. There’s a sense of personality in each of Powers’ words, in each story that she tells, aiming not only to state who Mitchell is, but how she got there.
Powers didn’t stop at stating that Mitchell is a music icon. She explained how Leonard Coen helped her inhabit a bohemian space and Judy Collins was the curator behind “Both Sides Now.” She didn’t discuss how Mitchell sings of activism and women’s empowerment — she put Mitchell’s music into the context of North America in the early 1970s.
When discussing Joni Mitchell’s most famous album, 1971’s “Blue,” Powers didn’t state Blue’s accolades, or cultural impact, but described in “Traveling,” that, “Blue [is] a wound; women bleed but men forge through… art of this caliber is made by both cut and suture.”
Even through Powers’ obvious praise of Joni Mitchell, she found the courage to critique her. Powers and Reish spent a significant amount of time discussing the cover of “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter,” where Mitchell appears in blackface.
“Where does this fit in the broken middle?” Powers asked. “Why aren’t we all talking about this?”
Powers wrote at length about Mitchell’s appearance in blackface. She didn’t excuse the behavior, but tried to explain its place in Mitchell’s life and the influences that brought her to that decision. Powers explained that people close to Mitchell were either accepting of the behavior or just didn’t talk about it.
“The freedom that makes her so great is also a great stumbling block,” Powers said.
“Traveling” compiles a cast of characters in Mitchell’s life. It dissects the meaning behind her work, rather than the process of its completion. Mitchell is described as being in a “fantasia in which she’s in a dancehall in semi-rural Canada.”
Though at times Powers’ discussion was long-winded, it remained compelling. Her words painted a story, as if everything in a Joni Mitchell song belongs to a canvas. Powers’ explanations of Mitchell’s work were similar to Mitchell’s work itself, where the performer craves an attempt at explaining the emotions that cannot be articulated or pinned down.
Emma Burden is a Reporter for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact the Lifestyles Editor, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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