Mr. Rosenbaum, I think you accomplished your goal of doing justice to the inimitable Joni song, "Amelia." As I an ardent admirer of her music, I very much appreciated your article. I have absolutely binged on this song in the past, and am sure to again in the future. I would just add that not only are the lyrics brilliant, as you've highlighted, and of course the vocal phrasing, there is something else that has hypnotized me about the way she sings this song. If you play it really loud, in a very quiet room, or put it on in your earphones and really listen, you can hear what sounds to me like a sort of exasperated breathing. She accomplishes this brilliant blending of spoken and sung verse in this song that I can only describe as almost guttural seductiveness. I remember the first time I heard the line "Maybe I've never really loved, I guess that is the truth"- I was floored. The version of this song in Travelogue is beautiful for support of the soaring imagery by the string sounds, but nothing compares to the way the original was sung, in my opinion.

Lately I have been binging on the song "Hissing of Summer Lawns" on the album of the same name. This was a song (and album, frankly) that I dismissed for a while, and then just slipped in on me one day, and now I'm bordering on obsession with it. Anyway, I think that it is those subtle, cutting lyrics sung in that breezy, beautiful, seductive way and set again to a hypnotic melody that has me hooked.

As I'm sure you know, Joni isn't for everyone, but if you get her at all, I definitely understand how and why, "People get that way about Joni Mitchell songs."

-joanna