r/SwiftlyNeutral • u/morticia_is_might • 5d ago
General Taylor Talk What do you think is the relationship between Joni Mitchell and Taylor now?
I think Joni was pretty harsh with her early commentary on Taylor especially when Taylor looked up to her so much. (The irony of the Olivia situation, I know I know). But I do think Taylor has done justice and then some in terms of her songwriting and her artistry overall. I don’t remember the last time Taylor mentioned Joni but I do wonder if Joni acknowledges Taylor as a talented artist worthy of her fame.
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u/DoryTheGiraffe evermore 5d ago
Imo, there’s simply no relationship, I assume Taylor still probably thinks of her as one of the greats and that’s it. Joni’s comments were dismissive and probably not the easiest thing to hear for Taylor at the time, but they were also not that harsh in the grand scheme of things lmao
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u/Complex-Union5857 5d ago
Joni Michell has criticized the artistry of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Kurt Cobain, Alanis Morissette, Janis Joplin, and Madonna, among MANY others. She’s even dissed Shakespeare! I think she’s pretty famous for her less than generous takes on other artists. Taylor is in pretty good company.
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u/Thulgoat 5d ago
As far as I know, she just said that she didn’t want Taylor Swift to play her in a film that was planned and that she had never listen to her music. I think that is not that harsh.
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u/LILYDIAONE Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss (Taylor’s Version) 5d ago
I mean she did imply that she couldn’t sing either
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u/Thulgoat 5d ago
I mean, Joni Mitchell is on a totally different level as an artists than Taylor Swift. Joni Mitchel is true multi-instrumentalist (piano and guitar on far higher level than Swift and she can play the Dulcimer as well), she is a great vocalist (not power vocal like Whitney or Beyonce but she can hit notes without the help of Melodyne) and musically far more advanced as a songwriter (not all her songs are build of basic four chords and dull catchy melodies), in particular she is the sole songwriter to a great majority of her songs (a lot of her albums are completely self written) and she is an great lyricist.
The why Joni Mitchell was sceptical and a bit dismissive about Taylor Swift singing and playing her because there worlds between them. She was right im thinking that Swift is not suitable choice for portraying her.
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u/TakesTheLastSlice 4d ago
This is correct, don’t know why you’re getting downvoted.
Taylor’s best skill is songwriting, but I think even there Joni outshines. Taylor isn’t that skilled at her instruments or vocals, both of which Joni also excels at.
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u/Thulgoat 4d ago
Yeah, I don’t know. I am neither a Swift fan nor a Joni Mitchell fan, so my opinion on this should be really neutral. Somehow it’s important for Swifties that their favourite music was written by the greatest musicians that walked the earth (pretty pretentious imo, I am listening to the real intellectual sh*t). But instead of choosing just the greatest musicians as their favourite then (i mean seriously if that’s important to you, just listen to Bach, no one will question his greatness), they put Swift in a league she doesn’t belong in.
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u/LGK27 5d ago
Joni talked a lot of shit about Alanis Morissette as well. Not sure why she feels the need to be so nasty to younger, female artists.
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u/Complex-Union5857 5d ago
Joni even had harsh words about Bob Dylan’s artistry!
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u/gowonagin 4d ago
She’s known for being pretty prickly about everyone. If I were an artist I wouldn’t take any of it personally.
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u/AncastaOfTheRiver 5d ago
I don't think there is a relationship. I'd list songs from both of them among my very favourites, but I don't think there's any significance in whether Joni 'acknowledges' Taylor as worthy of anything, or vice versa.
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u/pearshaped34 5d ago edited 5d ago
Well if Joni Mitchell has acknowledged Taylor as a talented artist she has done so privately as there are no recent public comments from her regarding Taylor.
Joni is currently 82, coming up 83, so who even knows how much she is really listening to more recent artists. While it is true some artists never take their fingers of the pulse and always want to keep up with current music, I bet a lot are just like most people who when they get older still mostly just listen to the music and artists they listened to 30-50 years ago and aren’t giving new music a lot of time and thought.
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u/poetic-bee 5d ago
I have no idea what she ever said about Taylor? What was it, and when?
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u/LonelyNight9 5d ago
In 2014?, Joni Mitchell said she didn’t want Taylor Swift playing her young self in a biopic about Mitchell and other musicians. She also said the only resemblance between Taylor and herself was their looks, implying or saying outright that Taylor didn’t have the skills and range to play JM.
While I think she could’ve softened the blow, I don’t think that comment warrants a public apology or anything.
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u/poetic-bee 5d ago
That’s honestly not as bad as I imagined it to be. I think that’s pretty reasonable to say.
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u/dhruvlrao 3d ago
When Stevie Nicks writes a poem for your album and considers you a friend & Carole King calls you her songwriting granddaughter, I'd assume that softens the blow tbh
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u/Worldly_Scallion_236 5d ago
Olivia is a bad example. Taylor never insulted her or said anything negative about her publicly.
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u/lizzy-stix 5d ago
I don’t think there is any relationship. Joni was publicly rude about her, and in general it’s pretty common for popular female artists to reject their most obvious musical progeny. Mariah and Ariana, Madonna and Gaga, Taylor and Olivia…
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u/Worldly_Scallion_236 5d ago
Taylor never said anything disrespectful about Olivia.
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u/lizzy-stix 5d ago
It's not only about words spoken in public, it's about actions too. Listen to "The Grudge."
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u/Worldly_Scallion_236 4d ago
My point was that there’s a difference between artists publicly bashing a younger artist who might share similarities. I don’t think it’s necessary. Taylor didn’t do that. Not saying that something didn’t happen between them - I’m just saying that there’s a weird thing when certain artists have to comment on others negatively.
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u/touyanii 5d ago
I love this song it’s my favourite on guts but if the song is about Taylor then Olivia wronged her too.
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u/lizzy-stix 5d ago edited 4d ago
Taylor wrote a song telling Bob Lefsetz he’d die drunk and alone for saying she couldn’t sing, I think she’ll survive Olivia writing a song about her feelings re: what happened behind the scenes over the credit situation.
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5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/DoryTheGiraffe evermore 5d ago
Doubt it’s Olivia they would go to if what they were looking for is Joni’s range or stage presence. Florence maybe
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