Figurative language – i.e. the usage of similes, metaphors, allusions, personifications and hyperboles – is arguably the greatest tool at a songwriter’s disposal outside of words themselves. That’s because practically every song you hear, no...
Joni Mitchell was making a name for herself right around the time the legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held in 1969. Also, she is akin to one of those kinds of counter-cultural artists...
“Harry” would logically be the primary male subject of “Harry’s House/Centerpiece”. And he is not an individual per se but rather a personification. And what he personifies, most simply explained, is men who are caught...
To proclaim that you’re looking at a matter “from both sides now” is another way of saying that unlike the past, currently you’re able to perceive both the good and the bad of the...
Before the days of Taylor Swift, there were female singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell whose artistry was also influenced by their actual romantic experiences. And in her youth Joni dated just as many dudes, if not...
The best way of describing this song is by first noting that the titular “Sugar Mountain” is obviously a symbolic location. And what it symbolizes and idealizes is youth. So when the singer promotes “oh,...
A major female artist like Lana Del Rey dropping an album subthemed on the drawbacks of fame and success, as is “Chemtrails Over the Country Club”, may feel revolutionary in 2021. But under the sun, Joni...
Upon reading the lyrics of Janet Jackson’s “Got ‘Til It’s Gone”, the idea being presented in this song is quite simple. It is based on an ideology, as Janet Jackson explained in her own word,...
The era that “Big Yellow Taxi” came out, the year 1970 in particular, was one in which musicians were very environmentally-conscious. This was largely due to America experiencing a couple of ecological disasters which made people more...
Late Night, Maudlin Street is the sixth track from singer Morrissey‘s 1988 debut solo album entitled Viva Hate. The song, which is extremely self-pitying and to a certain degree humorous, talks about a number...
