THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

299-Judy Collins-Both Sides Now.

1968-It didn’t chart in the UK until 1970, when reaching Number 14.

Best Bit-At 1.36. It’s one of Pop Music’s most thought provoking songs, but the great mystery is how a 22 year old could have acquired the knowledge to write about life’s experiences, so accurately, without having lived through them yet.

‘Both Sides Now’ was written in 1966 by Joni Mitchell, (see also best songs 637 and 558) who was born Roberta Joan Mitchell on November 7th, 1943, in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada. The exact date she actually wrote the the song is unknown, but it was definitely before November 17th, 1966, because that was when she first performed it live at ‘The Second Fret,’ Folk club, in Philadelphia, the song and the rest of her performance was released in 2014 on ‘All Access Records,’ as the Album ‘Joni Mitchel: Live at the Second Fret 1966.’ Mitchell has said that ‘Both Sides Now’ was inspired by a passage in ‘Henderson the Rain King,’ which is a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow (1915-2005.) Mitchell has said,’I was reading ‘Henderson the Rain King’ on a plane, and early on in the book Henderson is also up in a plane. He’s on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song. I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did.’

Judith Marjorie Collins was born on May 1st, 1939, in Seattle, Washington, United States, this song, along with her renditions of ‘Amazing Grace’, and ‘Send in the Clowns’ are considered her signature songs. Her discography consists of 27 studio Albums, four live Albums, at least 24 compilation Albums, three tribute Albums, and 14 singles, since her first release ‘A Maid of Constant Sorrow’ in 1961. As a teenager Collins studied Classical piano under the tutelage of Antonia Brico, (1902-1989) Brico took a dim view when Collins developed an interest in Folk music. Years later after she became internationally known, she invited Brico to one of her concerts in Denver. When they met after the performance, Brico took both of Collin’s hands into his, looked wistfully at her fingers and said,’Little Judy- you really could have gone places.’

In the 1960’s Judy Collins would perform many songs by aspiring Folk music writers such as Eric Anderson, Fred Neil, (see also best songs 388) and Joni Mitchel, well before they became famous. It was Collins who introduced a then unknown Mitchell to the crowd at the 1966 ‘Newport Folk Festival’. Collins recorded the first commercially released version of ‘Both Sides Now’ for her 1967 Album ‘Wildflowers,’ when released a a single in 1968 it reached Number 8 in America on Billboard, and Number 6 in Canada. Joni Mitchell included the song on her 1969 second studio Album ‘Clouds,’ (which was named after a lyric in the song) and again in 2000 she re-recorded the song in an Orchestral fashion, for her 17th studio Album ‘Both Sides Now.’ The song has been covered on numerous occasions down the years by dozens of different artists, including notable versions by Frank Sinatra,(1968) and Herbie Hancock (2007.)

‘Both Sides Now’ is about how your views, and the views and expectations of people you know change as you experience events that happen in your life. The wonderful future you imagined as a youngster may not have turned out as you expected. What seemed a simple path to follow at 16, proved to be fraught with dangers at 66.

‘Bows and flows of angel hair, and ice cream castles in the air, and feathered canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at clouds that way.’