As one of the most renowned songwriters of her era, Joni Mitchell ran in some impressive circles in the 1970s. Many of her songs reflected her encounters with some extremely famous folks, although she often wrote from the perspective of an outsider who never quite felt comfortable in those situations.
Videos by American Songwriter
Her 1974 song “People’s Parties,” found on her stellar album Court and Spark, epitomizes this dichotomy. And it does so while recounting a real-life incident featuring some A-list stars and a model who got caught in between them and melted down because of it.
Joni, Meet Jack
By the time Joni Mitchell was making Court and Spark, she had already established herself as an expert chronicler of the lives of her famous friends. It’s not like that was all she wrote about, of course. And when she did, she always managed to evoke emotions that were common to every listener, not just those in the jet set.
In terms of “People’s Parties,” the song deals with Mitchell’s general ambivalence amidst this moneyed crowd. But it also features her recollections of an actual, specific event that played out in front of her. As it turns out, that event was later recollected by some of the various principals in interviews and memoirs, so we know the details.
It involved a model named Apollonia von Ravenstein, who got caught in the middle of Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston, two movie stars dating at the time. All were at the same party, and von Ravenstein, who apparently still had feelings for Nicholson after their recent affair, didn’t take too well to seeing the couple.
On top of that, she confided to Huston that she had been with Nicholson recently while he was supposedly dating Huston. It all added up to a scenario where von Ravenstein went into a bit of a crying jag while wearing a lampshade on her head. Mitchell, also at this soirée, was watching with empathy, and it lit the fuse for her to write “People’s Parties.”
Inspecting the Lyrics of “People’s Parties”
Mitchell gives “People’s Parties” one of those trademark melodies of hers that veers off in unexpected directions but still delivers a bittersweet punch. The incident from the party is recounted in the second verse of the song. The model is the Photo Beauty with a lampshade crown. Mitchell pinpoints her rollercoaster of emotions: Saying, laughing and crying / You know it’s the same release.
It’s also kind of eerie how Mitchell references Nicholson in the song by calling him Jack behind his joker. Considering he would go on to famously play The Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman, Mitchell was quite perceptive about his persona. She also provides quick snapshots of others, but as a whole, these folks can be summed up by the song’s opening lines: They’ve got a lot of style / They got stamps of many countries / They’ve got passport smiles.
When Mitchell sings, Some are watching it from the wings / Some are standing in the centre / Giving to get something, we can tell which of these groups is hers. After all, she has to be watching in order to give us this reportage. In the third verse, she admits she’s a bit out of the loop at this shindig: And me in my frightened silence / Thinking I don’t understand.
As the song progresses, it becomes more and more about the narrator instead of the other guests. And coming to people’s parties / Feeling deaf, dumb and blind, Mitchell muses about her place in this tableau. In the final verse, she wishes she could take it all in stride: I wish I had more sense of humor / Keeping the sadness at bay / Throwing the lightness on these things / Laughing it all away.
On “People’s Parties,” Joni Mitchell’s accurately and insightfully depicted a certain type of get-together to which most of us will never be privy. But her own feelings of discomfort and otherness in the middle of it all can be understood and appreciated by all.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Photo by Andre Csillag/Shutterstock
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.