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  1. #1
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    The other day in chat, Freypower informed me that Glenn had an affair with Joni Mitchell around 1973/1974, and that she even wrote two songs about him! Was I the only one who didn't know this? I think it's pretty cool. I can see how he would inspire a woman, though.


    ~

  2. #2

    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    Wow, I didn't know that. I have wondered about it after reading a quote in the Complete Greatest Hits booklet where Glenn mentions an acoustic guitar tuning that Joni had shown him. I mean it would have been hard not to under those circumstances - I know what it was like in the mid seventies lol! As for the songs, my imagination took a leap forward some time ago and I have often wondered if Joni was thinking of Glenn when she wrote 'See You Sometime', which is one of my favourites.


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    This way to happiness...

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    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    "Help Me" is one that Freypower told me Joni has confirmed that is about Glenn and, oddly enough, I heard the tail end of it over the speakers in Burlington Coat Factory yesterday! It sounded kind of bland, lol, but with great lyrics:



    Help me

    I think I’m falling

    In love again

    When I get that crazy feeling, I know

    I’m in trouble again

    I’m in trouble

    ’cause you’re a rambler and a gambler

    And a sweet-talking-ladies man

    And you love your lovin’

    But not like you love your freedom



    Help me

    I think I’m falling

    In love too fast

    It’s got me hoping for the future

    And worrying about the past

    ’cause I’ve seen some hot hot blazes

    Come down to smoke and ash

    We love our lovin’

    But not like we love our freedom



    Didn’t it feel good

    We were sitting there talking

    Or lying there not talking

    Didn’t it feel good

    You dance with the lady

    With the hole in her stocking

    Didn’t it feel good

    Didn’t it feel good



    Help me

    I think I’m falling

    In love with you

    Are you going to let me go there by myself

    That’s such a lonely thing to do

    Both of us flirting around

    Flirting and flirting

    Hurting too

    We love our lovin’

    But not like we love our freedom



    ----------------------------------



    Care for some song interpretation?


    ~

  4. #4

    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    Well, I sure know what I'm thinking about!

    Thanks for that, soda, that is really cool.


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  5. #5
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    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    ’cause you’re a rambler and a gambler

    And a sweet-talking-ladies man



    Yep, sounds about right! lol


    Or lying there not talking


    I actually don't think she is talking about sex here - it sounds more like they're just holding each other, which I find sweet.


    You dance with the lady

    With the hole in her stocking



    I love this line too. I take it to mean he likes those who are not necessarily perfect, flashy types. Joni Mitchell sure isn't one of those types, after all, but she's intelligent and talented and that's what he goes for (at least in this case - not always, as we know from his "teen king" days! lol)


    But she knew she couldn't hold him! He was too young and wild back then. He had to grow up first.



    P.S. Didn't she also date Jackson Browne? Wonder if that caused any awkwardness? lol


    ~

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    The other song which is allegedly about this affair is Car On A Hill, from the same album as Help Me, Court & Spark.


    Bob Seger's Still The Same, which is about a gambler (see Desperado) is also about Glenn, I am reliably informed. I always thought this was the case. Glenn was Seger's protege but really became a much bigger star than 'honest journeyman' Seger.


    Turning on the charm

    Just enough to get you by

    You're still the same

    You still aim high....



    ~~~

    There's talk on the street, it sounds so familiar
    Great expectations, everybody's watching you

  7. #7
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    That Seger song seems to be ambivalent about Glenn. Was there tension between them in the late seventies because of the student outshining the master?

    What I mean is, a lot of things can be taken more than one way - For instance, "Turning on the charm" can be said with affection or with derision. I find the last part, which I bolded, especially ambiguous as to whether it's positive or negative.



    ------

    You always won

    Every time you placed a bet

    You're still damn good

    No one's gotten to you yet

    Every time they were sure they had you caught

    You were quicker than they thought

    You'd just turn your back and walk

    You always said the cards would never do you wrong

    The trick you said was never play the game too long

    A gambler's share the only risk that you would take

    The only loss you could forsake

    The only bluff you couldn't fake



    And you're still the same

    I caught up with you yesterday

    Moving game to game

    No one standing in your way

    Turning on the charm

    Long enough to get you by

    You're still the same

    You still aim high



    There you stood

    Everybody watched you play

    I just turned and walked away

    I had nothing left to say



    'Cause you're still the same

    You're still the same

    Moving game to game

    Some things never change

    You're still the same





    ~

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    I think there is no doubt it's ambiguous. The praise is grudging at best. That's what makes it so intriguing.

    Anyone who has heard Glenn sing backup for Seger from Ramblin' Gamblin' Man to Shame On The Moon knows how good the two of them sound together, regardless of any tension between them, and I would love them to work together in some form.

    Glenn was supposed to sing Shakedown from Beverly Hills Cop II but he got laryngitis so Seger did it and it went to #1, whereas THIO only made #2. Glenn rang Seger & said 'at least we're keeping the money in Michigan'!

    Another rather ambiguous lyrical reference to Glenn is in Don's Nobody's Business, which concerns his drug bust after Glenn broke the Eagles up.


    Well I guess for some revenge is sweet

    Though it be once removed

    I hope you feel better

    I don't know what you proved


    and


    Well it sure makes you wonder

    The things that some people will say

    They can see black and white

    But they don't seem to notice the grey.


    But the song in the main is about the 'victimless crime' and Don doesn't spare himself either.


    ~~~

    There's talk on the street, it sounds so familiar
    Great expectations, everybody's watching you

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    I think there is no doubt it's ambiguous. The praise is grudging at best. That's what makes it so intriguing.
    True, that does add to its interest. Makes you wonder what exactly he's feeling.

    Another rather ambiguous lyrical reference to Glenn is in Don's Nobody's Business, which concerns his drug bust after Glenn broke the Eagles up.
    Yikes, that's bitter. Do we know that's about Glenn? It's so harsh! Why would Glenn want revenge on Don? He was the one who broke it off - seems like Don would be the one looking for revenge, if any were being sought.


    ~

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Glenn and Joni Mitchell

    I don't know for sure that it's about Glenn but Don probably thought at the time that Glenn felt some pleasure in what had happened. 'Revenge' here isn't used in its literal sense.


    ~~~

    There's talk on the street, it sounds so familiar
    Great expectations, everybody's watching you

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