Turbulent Indigo Explained

Turbulent Indigo
Type:	studio
Artist:	Joni Mitchell
Cover:	Joni Mitchell - Turbulent Indigo.png
Released:	October 25, 1994
Recorded:	1993
Studio:	The Kiva (Los Angeles, California)
Genre:	Adult alternative
Length:	43:06
Label:	Reprise
Producer:	Joni Mitchell, Larry Klein
Prev Title:	Night Ride Home
Prev Year:	1991
Next Title:	Hits
Next Year:	1996

Turbulent Indigo is the 15th album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Released in 1994, it won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Album. John Milward, writing for Rolling Stone, wrote that it was Mitchell's "best album since the mid-'70s".^[1]

The album marked her return to Warner Music (formerly WEA) distribution after her previous album, Night Ride Home, was distributed by MCA for its then-newly purchased subsidiary Geffen Records (which, prior to the sale to MCA, had distributed through WEA).

The album takes inspiration from the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh for Mitchell's self-portrait on the cover. The song "Turbulent Indigo" references van Gogh, while describing the mental turmoil both he and Mitchell face in the creative process. The song "Not to Blame" was rumored to be about Mitchell's fellow singer-songwriter and former lover Jackson Browne, who was alleged to have beaten his girlfriend, actress Daryl Hannah.^{[2] [3]}

Mitchell also takes in non-personal issues, notably in the song "Magdalene Laundries", which recounts the sufferings of Irish women once consigned to Magdalen Asylums run by the Roman Catholic Church and made to work in the asylums' laundries. Similarly, the song "Sex Kills" referenced a number of late 20th century topical issues, including violence, AIDS, global warming and consumerism.

, the album has sold 311,000 copies in the US.^[4]

Critical reception

Turbulent Indigo received critical acclaim. Qs Tom Doyle called the album a "welcome return to the atmospherics and acoustic terrain she's best known for", further writing that "The majority of the tracks here recall the wafting soundscapes of 1976's Hejira, with gentle, controlled feedback, Pastorius-styled bass, Wayne Shorter's tumbling saxophone patterns and walls of acoustic guitars providing a dramatic backdrop for Mitchell's bold lyrical imagery."^[5]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Joni Mitchell; except where indicated

1. "Sunny Sunday" – 2:21
2. "Sex Kills" – 3:56
3. "How Do You Stop" (Charlie Midnight, Dan Hartman) – 4:09
4. "Turbulent Indigo" – 3:34
5. "Last Chance Lost" – 3:14
6. "The Magdalene Laundries" – 4:02
7. "Not to Blame" – 4:18
8. "Borderline" – 4:48
9. "Yvette in English" (Mitchell, David Crosby) – 5:16
10. "The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)" – 7:08

Personnel

• Joni Mitchell – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Larry Klein – organ, bass
• Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone on tracks: 1, 4, 7, 9, 10
• Jim Keltner – drums on "Sunny Sunday"
• Carlos Vega – drums on tracks: 3, 4, 7
• Michael Landau – electric guitar on tracks: 2, 3
• Greg Leisz – pedal steel guitar on tracks: 7, 8
• Steuart Smith – guitar on "How Do You Stop"
• Seal – vocals on "How Do You Stop"
• Bill Dillon – synthesizer on "Yvette in English"
• Charles Valentino – backing vocals on "Yvette in English"
• Kris Kello – backing vocals on "Yvette in English"

Charts

Chart (1994)! scope="col"

Peak position
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums^[6]	42

Notes and References

1. Rolling Stone magazine . John Milward . . December 15, 1994 . February 11, 2012.
2. Web site: Jackson Browne casts "Blame' back at Mitchell . Tampa Bay Times . March 6, 2022 . en . September 30, 1997.
3. Web site: Taylor . Tom . 11 November 2023 . The “very ill” Joni Mitchell song that Jackson Browne says was “beneath her” . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231119224647if_/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-very-ill-joni-mitchell-song-that-jackson-browne-says-was-beneath-her/ . 19 November 2023 . 20 November 2023 . faroutmagazine.co.uk.
4. Ask Billboard. . Keith. Caulfield. December 21, 2007 . May 19, 2018.
5. Q, December 1994
6. Cash Box Top 100 Albums . Cash Box. November 12, 1994. 8. 16 July 2024.