The Scathing Song That Joni Mitchell Took Aim at Bob Dylan On

The thing that is so appealing about Bob Dylan is that he is so many things, yet nothing at all. However, this was not appealing to his folk music contemporary, Joni Mitchell. The feud between Mitchell and Dylan has been heavily documented and tracked ever since its origins in the ’70s. As a result, Mitchell has uttered a few comments regarding her dislike of Bob Dylan. Though, she’s seemingly only written one diss track about the folk-singing bard.

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The poignant track attacking Dylan is Joni Mitchell’s 1977 single, “Talk To Me.” Released on her album, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, Mitchell wrote and released the song thanks to her poor experience with Dylan on the infamous Rolling Thunder Revue tour. What came of this negative experience was a song filled with subtly blunt insults, and to Mitchell, a much-needed character analysis of Bob Dylan.

Joni Mitchell and “Talk To Me”

Joni Mitchell litters the song with innuendo about Bob Dylan and his mysteriously stubborn ways. Notably, she sings, We could talk about power / About Jesus, and Hitler, and Howard Hughes / Or Charlie Chaplin’s movies / Or Bergman’s Nordic blues. The line that stands out and directly applies to Dylan is the one about Charlie Chaplin. The reason for this is that Dylan is and always has been a fan of the silent film star, and “always conscious of the Chaplin tramp,” per CBC.

Mitchell additionally sings, Just come and talk to me / Mr. Mystery, talk to me. She continues later on in the song, I stole that from Willy the Shake / You know, “neither a borrower nor a lender be.” Now, both those lines might seem arbitrary. However, when you pair them with certain comments Mitchell has made about Dylan in the past, they become clear as day.

Particularly, in a 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mitchell tore into Dylan and his cunning ways. She bluntly told the publication, “Bob is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake” and “Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I.”

Given Mitchell’s lyrics and comments to the Los Angeles Times, it seems she’s been urging the man to fess up and speak his truth for years. Though, Dylan never has, and seemingly never will. Furthermore, it seems Dylan will also never take part in Mitchell’s feud, as he’s been radio silent on the matter.

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