5 Nearly Perfect Joni Mitchell Songs That Deserve A New Generation Of Fans

Every so often, a Joni Mitchell resurgence happens, and the world remembers how much of a contribution she made to the singer-songwriter format. Many of her songs are mainstays in the musical sphere, but others can be overlooked in favor of "Both Sides Now" and "The Circle Game," so it's high time to introduce a new generation to some of the finest music ever created by this revered artist. They may not be as familiar as "Big Yellow Taxi," but they deserve a modern fan following just the same.

In making our choices, we've considered those songs that resonate with listeners now as much as they did when they were released. Seemingly brittle love songs like "A Case of You" showcase a younger Mitchell's artful way of telling difficult truths, a mode she pioneered for the confessional singer-songwriters of today. Later recordings like "Free Man in Paris" applied a maturity to the subject matter, revealing the complexities of love and life that seem immutable from age to age. Certainly, matters of the heart will always be timeless, but we've also included Mitchell's take on the darker themes of war and the ever-present struggle for power, in which she used classic poetry wrapped in backing tracks that crackle like a thunderstorm. All's fair in love and war, and Mitchell's honest writing casts both in sharp relief.

Heartbreak takes on a solemn glow in the stark and haunting "A Case of You," a song so sublime that no less a genius than Prince offered a cover that captured the magic of Joni Mitchell's original, but with a jazzy, torch-song twist. Mitchell's original lays her dulcet tones next to a strummed dulcimer, which provides a folk spirit that defies the torchy brilliance of the lyrics. "Oh, you are in my blood like holy wine / You taste so bitter and so sweet / Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling," Mitchell proposes, "And I would still be on my feet." Her imagery captures the all-encompassing love that intoxicates even as it comes to a close, and it holds up as one of the purest pop ballads of the '70s.

As with many Mitchell masterworks, "A Case of You" unfolds like a short story, with a literary soul that uses trim language and evocative imagery to build an emotional world that only lasts about four-and-a-half minutes. But the impression it leaves on listeners lingers long afterward. What open-minded music fan couldn't use another unforgettable melodic tale of pining and lost love, especially one as magical as this unmistakable Mitchell jewel?

Joni Mitchell takes on the role of close friend and music impresario David Geffen in 1974's "Free Man in Paris," from her jazz-tinged "Court and Spark" album. Her lyrics explain the life of the famous figure and his influential spot in the music world in the '70s. It rolls out like a conversation: "The way I see it, he said, you just can't win it / Everybody's in it for their own gain / You can't please 'em all." It's a sharp criticism coming from a musician on the other side of the deal-making desk, demonstrating Mitchell's fearlessness at calling out the messy nature of the industry that made her wealthy and famous. Her description of "I deal in dreamers and telephone screamers" predates social media stardom by decades, but new listeners will recognize the same bratty spirit and bad behavior from the influencers they've become accustomed to in their feeds.

When Mitchell reaches the sublime chorus of "I was a free man in Paris, I felt unfettered and alive," it becomes a release that modern listeners can relate to. We'd all love to throw off the shackles of our daily grind and run off to find our bliss, especially in a world where the screws keep getting tighter and tighter. If only we could all get back to the place where we were free, Paris or elsewhere.

One of Joni Mitchell's light-and-lofty jazz-influenced tunes, "Help Me" is nothing more than a love song given a jaunty rhythm, with time-signature shifts that make the simple structure feel cosmopolitan and urbane. "Help me, I think I'm falling in love too fast," Mitchell confesses in the verse before admitting, "We love our lovin' / But not like we love our freedom." It's not exactly a savory character getting her attention either: "I'm in trouble 'cause you're a rambler and a gambler / And a sweet-talking ladies man." It's the sort of open-diary honest songwriting that set a path for the Taylor Swifts of the world to walk, whether they or their fan base realize who laid down the pavers.

Flutes and horns provide orchestration that enriches the guitar-centric sonic field Mitchell's lithe voice plays in. Listening to how deceptively easily it all comes together, it's easy to see why Mitchell's works are some of the most covered songs in the music world. In an age where earthy analog instrumentation feels as new-retro as the resurrection of vinyl and turntables, this tune should have a welcome spot in the collection of connoisseurs who pride themselves on owning the classics. 

From Joni Mitchell's timeless "Blue" album, "All I Want" offers another version of unrequited love destined to end in sorrow, but in the loveliest way possible. Lines like "I wanna knit you a sweater / Wanna write you a love letter / I wanna make you feel better / I wanna make you feel free" show what a master Mitchell was at combining mundane details with colossal emotions to show that love lives in the minutiae.

You can hear similar themes in contemporary artists as vastly different as Alanis Morissette and Sara Bareilles, songwriters who favor this small-is-grand principle. Even nouveau pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo has her own song titled "All I Want" about finding a good and proper love; could the influence be percolating through to the Gen Z set? It's not impossible to imagine, especially with Rodrigo citing Mitchell as an influence and covering her wintertime heartbreaker "River," another beloved Mitchell gem.

Maybe that's why relistening to Mitchell reminds us so much of modern singer-songwriters: she was instrumental in setting the mold they've been cast in. She used her folk-style music beginnings as a launchpad for more personal explorations, telling truths with sensitivity and strength that became her hallmarks. "All I Want" boils it all down to a semi-stream-of-consciousness tune that gets your toes tapping while it breaks your heart.

Using a reworked version of W.B. Yeats' famous poem "The Second Coming" for the lyrics, Joni Mitchell slips out of her comfort zone of love and loss to create a thunderous stroke of gothic folk horror with "Slouching Towards Bethlehem." The topic is biblical apocalypse, told in images that take on a different yet equally vivid meaning in the 21st century. 

The song was part of Mitchell's striking 1991 semi-comeback album, "Night Ride Home," released in the wake of Operation Desert Storm. The association with a Middle Eastern setting as the backdrop for both spiritual awakening and war arising is timeless, as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago, with its description of a monstrous golem "Vexed to a nightmare out of a stony sleep / By a rocking cradle by the Sea of Galilee." Mitchell's eerie refrain "Head of a man, shape of a lion" weaves in between hammered drums and chiming guitars to remind listeners that something sinister lies beneath the beauty.

This may seem like an unusual choice for a new generation to latch onto. But ongoing social unrest around the world is something Mitchell, as a truth teller from the era of hippie protests, understood well. For Gen Z activists watching ongoing wars erupt on the opposite side of the globe, it's a bold reminder that there is nothing new under the sun, only new lenses trained on age-old struggles.