Art and ?Blue?by Joni Mitchell

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Blue, songs are like tattoos
You know I've been to sea before
Crown and anchor me
Or let me sail away
Hey Blue, there is a song for you
Ink on a pin
Underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in
Well there're so many sinking now
You've got to keep thinking
You can make it through these waves
Acid, booze, and ass
Needles, guns, and grass
Lots of laughs, lots of laughs
Everybody's saying that hell's the hippest way to go
Well I don't think so
But I'm gonna take a look around it though
Blue, I love you.

Blue, here is a shell for you
Inside you'll hear a sound
A foggy lullaby
There is your song from me.
(“Blue”, Joni Mitchell)

As an act of creation, writing a song or playing a passage of music is a development for the artist, a birth. Intercourse begins the artistic cycle, allowing the artist to take into herself the experiences necessary for creation. With time and through tribulations, the artist's carried experiences takes shape. The crescendo climaxes with the pain of birth and the creation of art. This view reveals a lot about the nature of art. For one, art is not created in a vacuum; art draws off of experiences in the artists life. Art also takes time, and involves some pain. The most important and difficult concept for any parent to accept is that child, once outside of the womb, will develop into his or her own person. In this same way, once art is produced, it will have interactions with people other than its creator that are far beyond the scope of what was originally intended. “Blue,” by Joni Mitchell, is no exception, as it is art. It will always have an intimate relationship to Joni Mitchell, but is also capable of provoking emotion in other people, such as myself.
Born November 7, 1943 in Fort McLeod, Alberta, Canada, Joni Mitchell is one of Canada's most prominent celebrities. I don't quite know what experiences she draws on to create blue; all I know are what experiences I draw on when listening to it. “Blue, song are like tattoos.” With this line I get a feeling of the power of music in general. Tattoos are permanent, just like music is permanent. I can't help but be changed by a song after I listen to it, because it is part of the nature of song. As I implied above, it is important to realize that these statements hold true about the artist as well as the audience.

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