Joni Mitchell's Clouds
This May, Joni Mitchell's "Clouds" celebrated its 55th birthday. This Music Monday, let's take a look at some fun facts and history about the iconic album.
1. Mitchell was inspired to write Both Sides Now after reading Saul Bellow's 1959 novel "Henderson the Rain King" on a plane
In the novel, the protagonist looks at clouds from a plane and the coincidence inspired the song's lyric about looking at clouds from both sides as a metaphor for life's ambiguities and mysteries. She explained in a 1967 interview, "I dreamed down at the clouds, and thought that when I was a kid I had dreamed up at them, and having dreamed at the clouds from both sides as no generation of men has done, one should be able to accept his death very easily.
2. Bill and Hillary Clinton named their daughter after the song Chelsea Morning
Chelsea Clinton's name was inspired by a visit to the Chelsea neighborhood of London during a Christmas 1978 vacation. Hillary said that upon hearing the 1969 Judy Collins recording of the Joni Mitchell song Chelsea Morning Bill remarked, "If we ever have a daughter, her name should be Chelsea".
3. Mitchell painted the album's artwork - a self portrait
5. It won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance for 1969
