Favourite Things: A Case of You by Joni Mitchell

[“If Shania Twain is devoid of ideas to guarantee private time in her life... I have a few suggestions. She could pencil in downtime at her healthy-sized chunk of real estate in Switzerland... she could go down to the basement and sit in a comfortable chair, slap on some headphones and listen to her favourite Joni Mitchell CD.” G. Harrison, Sept. 2, 2004]

Christmas is coming and I’m busy putting a small book together for friends and family of some of my favourite columns. In my opinion, nothing says Merry Christmas like my story about Shania Twain or another about the high price of eggs or that brilliant piece - you remember, don't you - about one of my thousands of personal opinions.

While organizing the book I listened to Joni Mitchell songs but had to stop typing when ‘A Case of You’ began to play. For the hundredth time the lyrics and orchestral arrangement knocked me off my chair.

“Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid.”

Joni knocks me off my chair.

Below is the album cover for Both Sides Now, one home for ‘A Case of You.’ Joni’s painting skills rival her song-writing and guitar-playing skills and though I’ve looked at the cover many, many times, I only recently noticed the coaster beside her elbow.


“On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada
With your face sketched on it twice...”

When love goes wrong it can go wrong in crushing ways. When a song goes right it can go right forever.

‘A Case of You’ first appeared in 1970 but it still stings, bleeds and soars at the same time.

And it’s one of my favourite things.

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Please click here for ‘Remembering my father’, my most recent column.

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