Essaying Joni

by Robin Lippincott

I am writing to understand why, for over fifty years, Joni Mitchell has been such an important part of my life, has meant more to me than any other popular artist.

I grew up in Central Florida in the 1960s and ‘70s. The center of my hometown was a gas station, and most roads were unpaved. The population was around a thousand. I had never even heard of Picasso.

In 1971, I was with two acquaintances I looked up to, both older, in their early twenties; one was a singer and the other an actor. The room was dark. There was a lit candle; there may have been wine. They were discussing, in reverent tones, a singer, and more specifically, a song. The singer was Joni Mitchell, and the song, “A Case of You.” They mentioned octaves (a word I didn’t know), particularly that moment…