Both Sides Now

Joni Mitchell

Both Sides, Now was written by renowned singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell in 1967. Folk singer Judy Collins recorded it that year for her album Wildflowers, and the single broke into the Top 10 on the U.S. Pop charts in 1968. Mitchell recorded it for her own album, Clouds, a year later.

Discussing the inspiration for the song, Mitchell says, “I was reading Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King on a plane and early in the book Henderson the Rain King is also up in a plane. He’s on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds. I put down the book, looked out the window and saw clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song.”

Mitchell, with the help of her sophisticated yet accessible

Judy Collins Wildflowers

masterpiece, inspired a new generation of singer-songwriters in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it at age 8, when Mitchell performed it as a guest on Johnny Cash’s national television show in 1969. (In fact, Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw appeared on the same episode, and it was his performance that inspired me to play the fiddle in the first place.) I recorded an instrumental version of the song on my album Elysian Forest in 1987. The version in this book draws inspiration from both Collins’ and Mitchell’s recordings.

Both Sides, Now

Rows and flows of angel hai

 And ice cream castles in the air

And feather canyons everywhere

I've looked at clouds that way

Joni Mitchell, singer-songwriter

But now they only block the sun

They rain and snow on everyone

So many things I would have done

But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down, and still somehow

It's cloud illusions I recall

I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels

The dizzy dancing way you feel

As every fairy tale comes real

I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show

You leave 'em laughing when you go

And if you care, don't let them know

Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now

From give and take, and still somehow

It's love's illusions I recall

I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud

To say "I love you" right out loud

Dreams and schemes and circus crowds

I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange

They shake their heads, they say I've changed

Well something's lost, but something's gained

In living every day I've looked at life from both sides now

From win and lose and still somehow

It's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life at all

I've looked at life from both sides now

From up and down and still somehow

It's life's illusions I recall

I really don't know life at all

© 1967 Gandalf Publishing Co.