“Blue” from Travelogue
Joni Mitchell (b. 1943)

THE STORY

     In 2002, Joni Mitchell released an album that she said would be her last—Travelogue, featuring 22 orchestral arrangements of songs spanning 30 years of her career. (Mitchell released another studio album, Shine, in 2007). Many of the familiar tracks on Travelogue are slowed down and delivered in a hushed voice. 
    One of these songs is “Blue,” the title track from Mitchell’s 1971 album, often regarded by music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. Blue was written during an intense relationship with James Taylor and the title track is generally thought to be about the fellow folk singer. It is musically sophisticated, with unpredictable chord changes and melodic turns that bring the voice from rich low tones to bell-like high notes. The mood of the song manages to be, at the same time, both melancholy and uplifting.

INSTRUMENTATION

Two flutes, oboe, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, three horns, percussion, harp, strings