Joni is also someone that I never had a taste for. I always fi=ound her voice to be a little too thin and high for me. That really prevented me from accessing her music. I often think that some time there is some portal song that will get you through this type of barrier. Think of someone that everyone thinks is really great and you can't stand. Now, the idea is that there is a possibility that there is a song in that artists catalogue that will cause the whole thing to click into place for you. That after you hear it, all of the materiel will suddenlt make sense and you can listen to and hear it in all of it's gloy. That has happened to me on more than one occasion. Sometimes it takes a few listens of the right song and sometimes you will just hear it right away. It happened to me with Coldplay. It was a song in a movie, so my deffences were down. The song The Scientist came on and I thought that's great. I got the album and suddenly I am a Coldplay fan.
The River was the song of Joni's that did that to me. I have James Taylor's version of the song and never knew it was even written by her. When I put this album on for the first time, I felt nothing until it came to that song. Suddenly, I got it. Here was a song that I loved when James Taylor was singing it. Now hearing Joni's version, I can't listen to James' anymore. At least not the same way. Joni's voice is perfect for the song. Every little inflection and falsetto is beautiful. It made not just the album come to life for me, but her as an artist. I can now say that I am a huge Joni fan. Although, I do think this is still her strongest album. Every track belongs together and takes you someplace deep inside yourself. A sort of melencholy place, but a safe one. There is sadness and desperation in her voice, but there is also comfort and reassurance that everything is going to be OK or if it's not OK at least you will have company.
The song might be different for everyone, so if that doesn't work, try a different one. Sometimes it is also helpful to put on a record while you are doing something else. Sometimes, when your gaurd is down, it will hit you. I am really working on lowering that gaurd and pretension about things the older I get. I think that is the main reason for this project. Not just to better appreciate music, but everything.
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