Both Sides Now

Judy Collins' first pop hit (it went Top Ten in 1967), "Both Sides Now" was also the first time Joni Mitchell's songs were exposed to the mainstream. Collins first heard the song over the phone late one night from a fan and made the decision there and then to record it. A song about innocence and experience, it's filled with a phantasmagoria of vivid imagery that beguiles both the heart and mind. The feeling of holding on to childhood while being led kicking and screaming into adulthood seems to be at the lyrical core here, along with the confusion of audience expectations of a young musician; although, like all great songs, it is certainly open to interpretation. Colored by an evocative and elegant arrangement by Joshua Rifkin (one of the more underrated musician/arrangers of the era), the melody is one of Joni Mitchell's more overtly accessible ones, with a rich chorus and a lovely, descending refrain that provides the song with its hook. One of the first songs to utilize the Dolby sound system.