“Both Sides Now” (Judy Collins/Joni Mitchell)

Yesterday’s classic song of the day (“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes“) was written about Judy Collins, so it’s fitting that today’s classic song of the day was made famous by Ms. Collins. The song is “Both Sides Now” and it was a #8 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart) for Ms. Collins in 1968. It also won Ms. Collins the Grammy for Best Folk Performance that year.

“Both Sides Now” was written by Joni Mitchell sometime in 1966; there’s actually a live recording out there of her performing it on November 17, 1966, at a club in Philadelphia. Ms. Mitchell didn’t put in on record until 1969, however, on her album Clouds. Ms. Collins’ cover, released in October of 1968, predated Ms. Mitchell’s recording by about six months.

Joni Mitchell said she came up with the during a plane flight:

“I was reading Saul Bellows’ Henderson the Rain King on a plane and early in the book Henderson… is also up in a plane. He’s on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds. I put down the book, looked out the window and saw clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song. I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did.”

Even though Ms. Mitchell was a big fan of Ms. Collins and Ms. Collin’s recording of “Both Sides Now” helped to establish Ms. Mitchell as a songwriter, Ms. Mitchell allegedly disliked Ms. Collins’ version of the song. Like it or not, Judy Collins’ version became the version most people people were familiar with, even though the song was a staple of Ms. Mitchell’s live sets for years and was even reimagined by the songwriter in a lushly orchestrated version on her 2000 album, Both Sides Now.

Joni Mitchell was just 23 years old when she wrote “Both Sides Now.” The song, like most of her songs, shows a remarkable maturity for someone of that age, reflecting on the fact that there are two sides to most everything in life and that our viewpoints change as we age and mature. We start out looking at the world in childlike wonder but eventually see the world as a more complex place. I’ll let Ms. Mitchell’s words speak for themselves:

Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I’ve looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way

But now it’s just another show
And you leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away

I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions that I recall
I really don’t know love
Really don’t know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say, “I love you” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way

Oh, but now old friends they’re acting strange
And they shake their heads and they tell me that I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

In 2022, 78 year-old Joni Mitchell returned to the Newport Folk Festival for her first full concert in 22 years; she’d been sidelined by age and a debilitating brain aneurysm. Contemporary singer/songwriter Brandi Carlisle orchestrated her return to the stage and one of the highlights of that set was a deeply moving performance of “Both Sides Now.” With Ms. Mitchell’s voice deepened by age and experience, the song took on an even deeper meaning than before, especially for all the aging boomers in the audience. It’s a remarkable song, then or now, and touches all of us greatly.