Both Sides, Now Explained

Both Sides, Now
Artist:Joni Mitchell
Album:Clouds
Released:1969
Studio:A&M, Hollywood, California
Genre:Folk rock
Length:4:32
Label:Reprise
Producer:Joni Mitchell, Paul A. Rothchild

"Both Sides, Now" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. One of the first recordings is by Judy Collins, whose version appeared on the US singles chart during the fall of 1968. (The earliest commercial release was by Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters, under the title "Clouds", released in June, 1967.) The next year it was included on Mitchell's album Clouds, and became one of her best-known songs. It has since been recorded by dozens of artists, including Dion in 1968, Clannad with Paul Young in 1991, and Mitchell herself, who re-recorded the song with an orchestral arrangement on her 2000 album Both Sides Now.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked "Both Sides, Now" at number 170 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs.[1]

Background

Mitchell has said that "Both Sides, Now" was inspired by a passage in Henderson the Rain King, a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow.

I was reading ... 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.[2] [3]

"Both Sides, Now" appears in the album Joni Mitchell: Live at the Second Fret 1966 (2014, All Access Records, AACD0120), a live performance on November 17, 1966, from The Second Fret in Philadelphia, PA, which was broadcast live by WRTI, Temple University's radio station. This suggests that Mitchell wrote the song before 1967 (the year of composition cited in the Los Angeles Times article above) and precedes the first Judy Collins release in 1967.

"Both Sides, Now" is written in F-sharp major. Mitchell used a guitar tuning of D-A-D-F#-A-D with a capo at the fourth fret. The song uses a modified I–IV–V chord progression.[4]

2000 re-recording

Mitchell re-recorded the song in a lush, orchestrated fashion for her 2000 album Both Sides Now. The recording won arranger Vince Mendoza a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s).[5]

In April 2000, two months after the album's release, Mitchell sang the song with a 70-piece orchestra at the end of an all-star celebration for her at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.[6]

The 2000 version is played during an emotional scene featuring Emma Thompson in the 2003 film Love Actually.[7] It was also played during the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, and in the closing scene of the final episode of the Ricky Gervais-written Netflix show, After Life.[8]

Certifications

Judy Collins version

Both Sides Now
Cover:Judy Collins both sides now.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Judy Collins
Album:Wildflowers
B-Side:Who Knows Where the Time Goes (US)
Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (UK)
Released:October 1968
Genre:Folk rock[9]
Length:3:14
Label:Elektra
Producer:Mark Abramson
Prev Title:Hard Lovin' Loser
Prev Year:1967
Next Title:Someday Soon
Next Year:1969

Shortly after Mitchell wrote the song, Judy Collins recorded the first commercially released version for her 1967 Wildflowers album. In October 1968 the same version was released as a single, reaching number 8 on the U.S pop singles charts by December. It reached number 6 in Canada.[10] In early 1969 it won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance.[11] The record peaked at number 3 on Billboards Easy Listening survey and "Both Sides, Now" has become one of Collins' signature songs. Mitchell disliked Collins' recording of the song, despite the publicity that its success generated for Mitchell's own career.[12] The Collins version is featured as the opening title music of the 2014 romantic comedy And So It Goes,[13] and as the end title music of the 2018 supernatural horror film Hereditary.[14] It also features in the first teaser trailer for Toy Story 4.[15] The song features prominently in the season 6 finale of TV show Mad Men, and signals a moment of anagnorisis between Don Draper and his daughter Sally.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1968–70)Peak
position
Australia KMR[16] 37
Canada RPM Top Singles[17] 6
New Zealand[18] 7
UK[19] 14
US Billboard Hot 100[20] 8
US Billboard Adult Contemporary3
US Cash Box Top 1008

Year-end charts

Chart (1968)Rank
Canada[21] 96
US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[22] 82

Notable recordings

Mitchell's song has been recorded by many other artists over the decades. Among the best-known versions are:

Notes and References

  1. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: #170 Joni Mitchell, 'Both Sides Now' . . 11 December 2003 . 17 February 2021.
  2. News: Hilburn . Robert. Both Sides, Later. Los Angeles Times. December 8, 1996. 12 July 2011.
  3. Book: Bellow, Saul . Henderson the Rain King . Penguin Books . 1985 . 0-14-007269-1 . 280 . We are the first generation to see the clouds from both sides.. Saul Bellow. "... more likely 'And I dreamed down at the clouds, and thought that when I was a kid I had dreamed up at them, and having dreamed at the clouds from both sides as no other generation of men has done, one should be able to accept his death very easily. Chapter 5, paragraph 7.
  4. Book: Whitesell, Lloyd . 2008 . The Music of Joni Mitchell . New York . Oxford University Press . 43–44.
  5. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vince-mendoza-mn0000177173/awards Vince Mendoza: Awards
  6. News: Joni's Jamboree: 19 singers use 15 songs & show why Mitchell matters . Jim . Farber . . April 16, 2000 . September 3, 2016 . Joni Mitchell Library.
  7. Web site: Emma Thompson on acting Love Actually betrayal: 'I had my heart very badly broken by Kenneth Branagh'. Hedges-Stocks. Zoah. 28 February 2018. Yahoo! Entertainment. 3 April 2020.
  8. Vancouver Olympics Opening Ceremony: Best and Worst . Entertainment Weekly . Mandi . Bierly . February 13, 2010.
  9. Book: Unterberger . Richie . Richie Unterberger . Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution . 2002 . Backbeat Books . San Francisco . 0-87930-703-X . registration . 274.
  10. Web site: Image: RPM Weekly . Library and Archives Canada . 17 July 2013 . 3 September 2016.
  11. Web site: Wildflowers - Judy Collins: Awards . AllMusic . 23 June 2012.
  12. Book: Yaffe, David . David Yaffe (music critic) . 2017 . Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell. 49–50.
  13. REVIEW: Another Grumpy Old Man Finds Love in And So It Goes. Richard. Corliss. Richard Corliss. July 25, 2014. May 26, 2019. Time.
  14. Web site: 'Hereditary' Director Unpacks The Movie's Plot And Responds To The People Who Hated It. Matthew. Jacobs. June 27, 2018. May 26, 2019. HuffPost.
  15. Web site: What Song Is In The Toy Story 4 Teaser Trailer?. Chris. Agar. November 12, 2018. May 26, 2019. Screen Rant.
  16. Web site: Australian Chart Book . austchartbook.com . 3 September 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305064644/http://www.austchartbook.com.au/ . 5 March 2016 .
  17. Web site: Image: RPM Weekly . 17 July 2013 . Library and Archives Canada . 11 July 2017.
  18. Web site: Both Sides, Now . Flavour of New Zealand .
  19. Web site: JUDY COLLINS - full Official Chart History . Official Charts Company . 3 September 2016.
  20. Whitburn, Joel, Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
  21. Web site: Item Display - RPM . Library and Archives Canada . 11 July 2017.
  22. Book: Whitburn, Joel . 1999 . Pop Annual . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin . Record Research Inc. . 0-89820-142-X.
  23. Web site: Euson - Both Sides Now . Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 . 11 July 2017.
  24. . 1 . 54 . 14 . September 7, 1991 . Hot Hits.
  25. Web site: Rapp . Allison. How Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' Got Selected for 'CODA' Film . Ultimate Classic Rock . 2 March 2022 . Townsquare Media, Inc. . 17 April 2023 . en.
  26. Emilia Jones - Both Sides Now (Full Performance - Live at the 75th British Academy Film Awards) . Emilia Jones Videos . . 31 March 2022 . 1 March 2023.
  27. Web site: Emilia Jones has viewers 'sobbing' over emotional BAFTA performance . Colderick . Stephanie . . 13 March 2022 . 15 March 2022 . 15 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220315055615/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/emilia-jones-viewers-sobbing-over-23376815 . live.
  28. Web site: Labonte . Rachel . Joni Mitchell Reacts To Incredible Cover Of Her Song In CODA . ScreenRant . Valnet Inc. . 17 April 2023 . en . 9 February 2022.