I can still remember the first time I listened to Blue by Joni Mitchell: it was late in the summer before my second term of university; Newcastle was warm and the skies high and deep. Mitchell’s voice, all freewheeling glissando, filled the bedroom I’d rented and settled around my unpacked boxes and bags of books. I’d never heard anything like it.
That was almost exactly 14 years ago, and I still listen to Blue most months; most weeks, if certain conditions apply. When my dad walked me down the aisle, he punctured the oddity of the situation by asking what was playing. ‘Case of You’, I told him: “It’s a break-up song, but it’s also the greatest love song in the world”.