Love Letter to a Joni Mitchell Road Song

In Slate, Ron Rosenbaum celebrates binge-listening to Joni Mitchell’s “Amelia,” from her “Hejira” album. “It’s not just a love song: It’s a road song, it’s a motel song, it’s a Southwestern desert song, it’s a disappearance and death song,” he writes. It’s a lovely piece. I go through Joni Mitchell “Blue” jags from time to time—the song and the album of the same name—so I can relate. Lately, on runs in my neighborhood, I’ve been binge-listening to “Hard Sun” from Eddie Vedder’s “Into the Wild” soundtrack. I expect that to pass soon. Here’s a great YouTube video of Mitchell playing “Amelia” circa 1983:

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