Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto, Ontario. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition. In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music". NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made by Women.
Mitchell switched labels and began exploring more jazz-influenced melodic ideas, by way of lush pop textures, on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris" and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975. Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002 and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.
Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums. A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th and last album of original songs in 2007. Mitchell has designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".
People's Parties
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They've got a lot of style
They've got stamps of many countries
They've got passport smiles
Some are friendly
Some are cutting
Some are watching it from the wings
Some are standing in the centre
Photo Beauty gets attention
Then her eye paint's running down
She's got a rose in her teeth
And a lampshade crown
One minute she's so happy
Then she's crying on someone's knee
Saying, laughing and crying
You know it's the same release
I told you when I met you
I was crazy
Cry for us all, Beauty
Cry for Eddie in the corner
Thinking he's nobody
And Jack behind his joker
And stone-cold Grace behind her fan
And me in my frightened silence
Thinking I don't understand
I feel like I'm sleeping
Can you wake me?
You seem to have a broader sensibility
I'm just living on nerves and feelings
With a weak and a lazy mind
And coming to people's parties
Fumbling deaf dumb and blind
I wish I had more sense of humor
Keeping the sadness at bay
Throwing the lightness on these things
Laughing it all away
Laughing it all away
Laughing it all away
Joni Mitchell's song "People's Parties" is an introspective observation about social gatherings and the many characters that one can encounter in such events. Mitchell's use of contrasting elements such as different personalities, emotions, and attitudes of the party-goers creates a whole picture of the human experience. She sings of people who have "a lot of style," but also encounter those who are "nobody" and standing on the fringes of the party. She then juxtaposes Photo Beauty's fleeting happiness and spontaneous vulnerability, crying on someone's lap, with the stoic, silent Grace hidden behind her fan. Mitchell also references her own anxiety and struggles with understanding people and fitting in, singing the line, "And me in my frightened silence/Thinking I don't understand."
Mitchell also reflects on the futility of superficiality in social gatherings. She humorously critiques the idea of Photo Beauty, who cries after her eye makeup runs, yet wearing a lampshade as a crown. She suggests that there is buried sadness that often accompanies the glamour of beauty and social standing. From Eddie in the corner who thinks he's "nobody" to Jack behind his "joker" facade, even the most seemingly "put together" people are not immune to loneliness and anxiety. Mitchell brings all these characters together in the chorus, where they cry for the same release- a cathartic, emotional outpouring that often happens in social gatherings.
Line by Line Meaning
All the people at this party
Everyone at this gathering
They've got a lot of style
They appear fashionable
They've got stamps of many countries
Some have been to different parts of the world
They've got passport smiles
Their smiles reflect travel experience
Some are friendly
A few are amicable
Some are cutting
Some are sarcastic or caustic
Some are watching it from the wings
Some are observing from a distance
Some are standing in the centre
Some are in the middle of the action
Giving to get something
They're socializing with an agenda
Photo Beauty gets attention
Attractive people draw a crowd
Then her eye paint's running down
But their beauty is not perfect
She's got a rose in her teeth
She's posing provocatively
And a lampshade crown
Even silly objects can be fashion statements
One minute she's so happy
Beauty is not a guarantee of happiness
Then she's crying on someone's knee
Emotions can be unpredictable
Saying, laughing and crying
Both expressions are a release of emotions
You know it's the same release
Both laughter and tears can be cathartic
I told you when I met you
This is not surprising
I was crazy
I'm a little wild
Cry for us all, Beauty
Your tears represent everyone's emotions
Cry for Eddie in the corner
Pity those who are ignored
Thinking he's nobody
Feeling like a social outcast
And Jack behind his joker
Or those who hide behind masks
And stone-cold Grace behind her fan
Or those who are aloof
And me in my frightened silence
Or those who are too scared to speak up
Thinking I don't understand
Feeling like an outsider
I feel like I'm sleeping
I feel disengaged
Can you wake me?
Can you help me feel alive?
You seem to have a broader sensibility
You appear to have more depth than me
I'm just living on nerves and feelings
I'm ruled by emotion
With a weak and a lazy mind
I feel intellectually inferior
And coming to people's parties
Yet I'm still trying to socialize
Fumbling deaf dumb and blind
But I'm struggling to fit in
I wish I had more sense of humor
I wish I was more lighthearted
Keeping the sadness at bay
To avoid feeling down
Throwing the lightness on these things
To make light of serious matters
Laughing it all away
To find joy even in difficult times
Laughing it all away
To find joy even in difficult times
Laughing it all away
To find joy even in difficult times
Lyrics © Crazy Crow Music / Siquomb Music Publishing, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind