By the time Graham Nash released his solo debut, Songs for Beginners in 1971, he already had a string of songs written about his two-year relationship with Joni Mitchell. There was “Pre-Road Downs,” off Crosby, Stills & Nash‘s 1969 debut, and his classic about living the life of domestic bliss with Mitchell in their Laurel Canyon home, “Our House,” from CSNY’s Déjà Vu.
On Songs For Beginners, Nash was still reeling from his breakup with Mitchell on “I Used to Be King,” presumably a response song to Mitchell’s “I Had a King,” and had more reflections on the end of their relationship on his 1974 album Wild Tales with “You’ll Never Be the Same,” “I Miss You,” and the closing “Another Sleep Song,” featuring Mitchell on backing vocals.
“Most of the sad songs on those albums are about my relationship with Joni,” said Nash in 2022.
When asked if Mitchell was the love of his life, Nash replied, “Well, I’m married to this incredible woman right now, so I could say the very same thing about her, but, yes, in those days, she [Mitchell] was absolutely the love of my life. It’s Joni Mitchell, for f–k’s sake. Look at how she looks to start with. Then you put all those songs behind that smile. I didn’t stand a f–king chance.”
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After Nash, James Taylor, who dated Mitchell from 1970 through ’71, was equally inspired to write a song about her. While filming the Western Two-Lane Blacktop, Taylor wrote “You Can Close Your Eyes” in a hotel room in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after a visit from Mitchell and released it on his 1971 album Mudslide Slim & The Blue Horizon.
Mitchell also used Taylor as her muse on her For the Roses tracks “See You Sometime,” about their breakup, and “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire,” which touched on his heroin addiction.
For nearly six decades, Mitchell has inspired dozens of songs from lovers, friends, and admirers. Here’s a look behind just three songs written about the legendary singer and songwriter from the early 1970s through the late ’80s.
[RELATED: Joni Mitchell Considered This Singer-Songwriter Her Only Female Contemporary]
“Simple Man,” Graham Nash (1971)
Written by Graham Nash and David Crosby
Though Nash had plenty of early songs inspired by Mitchell, there was one more heartbreaking ballad, “Simple Man,” on Songs for Beginners. Nash wrote the song on June 7, 1970, hours before he was set to perform with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at the Fillmore East in New York City, and the day before he broke up with Mitchell. Coincidentally, the recorded version of “Simple Man” also features backing vocals by Rita Coolidge, whom Nash briefly dated after Mitchell.
I am a simple man
So I sing a simple song
I never been so much in love
And never hurt so bad at the same time
I am a simple man
And I play a simple tune
I wish that I could see you once again across the room
Like the first time
I just want to hold you, I don’t want to hold you down
I hear what you’re saying and you’re spinning my head around
And I can’t make it alone
The ending of the tale
Is the singing of the song
Make me proud to be your man, only you can make me strong
Like the last time
“Sweet Joni,” Neil Young (1973)
Written by Neil Young
Shortly after their breakup, Neil Young wrote a song about his CSNY bandmate Nash’s split with Mitchell, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” which appeared on his 1970 album After the Gold Rush and was later covered by Stephen Stills in 1984.
A few years into his friendship with Mitchell, Young also penned another song about his fellow Canadian friend: “Sweet Joni.” Recorded at Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield, CA on March 11, 1973, “Sweet Joni” was featured on Young’s 1973 album Time Fades Away and again decades later on his compilation Archives Volume II in 2020.
Sweet Joni from Saskatoon
There’s a ring for your finger
It looks like the sun
But it feels like the moon
Sweet Joni from Saskatoon
Don’t go, don’t go too soon
Who lives in an old hotel
Near the ancient ruins
Only time can tell
Time can tell
Go easy, the doorman said
The floor is slippery
So watch your head
This message read
“Hey Joni,” Sonic Youth (1988)
Written by Lee Renaldo
Years before the more commercial success of Goo, Sonic Youth‘s Daydream Nation was a landmark album for the band, layering all the avant-punk, art-rock, noise, and other pieces of their sound. On the album, guitarist Lee Renaldo wrote a tribute to Mitchell and the ’60s rock standard “Hey Joe” in one. Written about one of his favorite musicians, “Hey Joni” tells a more fantastical tale of the legendary singer and songwriter and was later preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry in 2005.
Shots ring out from the center of an empty field
Joni’s in the tall grass
She’s a beautiful mental jukebox, a sailboat explosion
A snap of electric whip crack
She’s not thinking about the future
She’s not spinning her wheels
She doesn’t think at all about the past
She thinking long and hard about that wild sound
And wondering, will it last
Hey Joni, put it all behind you
There’s something turning, it’s turning right to you
My head burns, but I know you’ll speak the truth, hey!
Hey Joni, put it all behind you
Hey Joni, now I’ve put it all behind me, too
Forget the future, these times are such a mess
Tune out the past, and just say yes
“I love her words, I love her guitar playing and the tunings, and it’s just constant inspiration for me, especially in that very, very personal ‘writing about your own life as subject matter’ stuff,” said Renaldo of Mitchell and one of his favorite albums by her, Ladies of the Canyon (1970). “She’s the queen of it in a way.”
Photo: Jack Robinson/Getty Images
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