My Favorite Songs by Joni Mitchell (Part One)

Joni Mitchell’s “California,” written solely by Mitchell and released on her album Blue on 06-22-1971, is a wistful, free-flowing travelogue in which she describes wandering through Europe—Paris, Spain, and the Greek islands—while yearning for the emotional safety and creative freedom she associates

with returning to California, a place she frames not just as home but as an anchor of identity during a period of personal restlessness. The recording features Mitchell on vocals and instruments alongside James Taylor on guitar, Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel, and Russ Kunkel on percussion, creating an airy folk-rock texture that mirrors the song’s sense of movement and longing.

Although not one of her most frequently covered works, it has been interpreted by several artists, including Wilson Phillips, who titled their 2004 album after it, and it recently experienced a resurgence after Amanda Seyfried performed it on television in 2025, resulting in a dramatic increase in streaming numbers.

Critics have consistently placed it among the standout tracks on Blue, often ranking it high in assessments of Mitchell’s greatest songs, praising its melodic warmth, narrative fluency, and emotional transparency, qualities that have helped secure its lasting reputation as one of her most affecting expressions of wanderlust and homecoming.

Joni Mitchell’s “Raised on Robbery,” written solely by Mitchell and released in December 1973 as the lead single from Court and Spark (01-01-1974), is a witty, hard-edged, narrative vignette in which a fast-talking woman in a hotel bar tries to hustle a withdrawn patron while recounting the scrapes, disappointments,

and improvisations that have shaped her life, the phrase “raised on robbery” suggesting not criminality so much as survival by any means necessary in a world stacked against her, and the music matches the irreverent swagger through a brisk, rock-inflected arrangement featuring Robbie Robertson’s sharp electric-guitar lines,

Tom Scott’s brass and woodwinds, and the polished drive of the L.A. Express, marking a stylistic shift from Mitchell’s earlier folk textures toward a more commercial pop-rock sheen; although sometimes viewed as a playful outlier within the otherwise introspective Court and Spark, critics have praised its humor, vivid character

sketching, and crisp storytelling, and while it has not become one of her most frequently covered songs, it remains a distinctive moment in her catalog and has reappeared on retrospective compilations that highlight her range as both a lyricist and performer.

Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” written solely by Mitchell in early 1967 and first made famous by Judy Collins that same year before Mitchell released her own version on Clouds (05-01-1969), is a reflective meditation on the shifting nature of perception, using clouds, love, and life as metaphors for the

illusions and reversals that shape human understanding, and its gentle melody combined with Mitchell’s poetic ambivalence has made it one of her most enduring works; over the decades it has been recorded in numerous versions, including her radically reimagined 2000 orchestral rendition on Both Sides Now, and it remains one of the most covered songs in modern popular music, widely ranked among her greatest achievements for its emotional clarity, lyrical sophistication, and capacity to resonate across generations,

with critics frequently placing it near the top of evaluations of her entire catalog and audiences embracing it as a quintessential expression of bittersweet wisdom.

Joni Mitchell’s “The Circle Game,” written by Mitchell in 1966 and first recorded by Ian & Sylvia before Mitchell released her own version on Ladies of the Canyon (04-1970), is a gentle, philosophically reflective song about the passage of time, framed through the image of a boy growing older while the

carousel of seasons keeps turning, and its tone balances wistfulness with reassurance as it suggests that although youth slips away, life continually offers renewal; the song has been widely recorded by artists such as Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tom Rush, and George Hamilton IV, each helping it circulate long before Mitchell’s own studio version appeared,

and over the years it has become one of her most beloved compositions, frequently cited in retrospectives as a signature statement of her early songwriting, notable for its emotional warmth, accessible imagery, and the way it captures her gift for pairing intimate storytelling with universal themes.

Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” written solely by Mitchell in 1969 after missing the actual festival due to a television commitment, transforms secondhand accounts from Graham Nash and others into a visionary anthem about longing for communal peace, spiritual renewal, and the possibility of returning to a more innocent, harmonious state of being;

although Mitchell’s own version first appeared on Ladies of the Canyon (04-1970) in a sparse, contemplative arrangement, it was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s electrified rendition—released earlier in 1970—that became a major hit and helped cement the song’s place in the countercultural canon, and over the years it has been covered by numerous artists,

including Matthews Southern Comfort, who took it to number one in the UK, while critics and fans consistently rank it among Mitchell’s greatest compositions for its evocative imagery, haunting refrain, and its unique ability to mythologize a cultural moment she never physically attended yet captured more profoundly than many who were there.

Joni Mitchell’s “River,” written solely by Mitchell and released on her seminal 1971 album Blue, is a bittersweet, piano-driven meditation on heartbreak and longing set against the backdrop of the holiday season, opening with a melancholy reflection on lost love and the desire to escape, metaphorically wishing she

could “skate away on a river” to leave her sorrows behind; though not a traditional Christmas song, it has become closely associated with the season due to its winter imagery and themes of reflection, and over the years it has been widely covered by artists such as Sarah McLachlan, James Taylor, Barry Manilow, Train,

and Eva Cassidy, each bringing a unique interpretation while retaining its haunting emotional core, and critics consistently rank it among Mitchell’s most iconic compositions for its lyrical vulnerability, emotional honesty, and elegant musical simplicity, securing its status as both a holiday classic and a standout moment in her songwriting legacy.