It's a statement that doesn't strike a chord coming from legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. She says she "came to hate music."

"For 20 years I've been told I'm not good," the multiple-Grammy award winning musician said in an interview with CTV's Canada AM.

"You deliver a project with great enthusiasm and then you run into a hostile press, a stupid press…once they found out I didn't like music, then, to their delight, all they wanted out of me was to diss on everybody."

Mitchell pins the blame on record companies who meddle with the art. These days, musicians are thwarted from following their inspiration, she said.

"The relationship between the musician and their muse has been usurped by an intermediary who is calculating demographics and polls," she said.

"I saw one girl, a 14-year-old with a brand new bosom, and she shoved it at the camera and said 'I want to get my music to the world' and I thought, there is no muse in this…These are not creative people, these are created people."

Despite her cynicism of the industry's "created people," Mitchell's folk-pop hits continue to have fans in high places.

Media reported earlier this month that U.S. President George Bush has an eclectic play list downloaded into his iPod. Among the songs was Mitchell's tune "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care."

When she heard Bush had her song on his play list, she says: "it gave me a giggle."

Still, she wishes it had been another song of her's on his iPod, perhaps "Dog Eat Dog," she said.

She recited the lyrics to "Dog Eat Dog": Land of snap decisions/Land of short attention spans/Nothing is savoured/Long enough to really understand/In every culture in decline/The watchful ones among the slaves/Know all that is genuine will be/Conned and scorned and cast away.

'Saskatchewan is in my veins'

Born in Alberta in 1943, Mitchell moved to Saskatoon with her family when she was nine. She had a difficult childhood during which she battled with several illnesses, including polio.

Despite hearing that she might never be able to stand or walk again, she prevailed.

Indeed, her long career has spanned decades and taken her from the prairies to the heights of international fame.

So when organizers of Saskatchewan's centennial celebration approached Mitchell to take part in this year's festivities, she decided to compile a list of relevant songs on a CD.

One of the songs on Songs of a Prairie Girl is one of the first she ever penned -- "Urge for Going."

The song captures "that longing for warmer climates in the middle of the frozen tundra," she said.

After compiling the list of songs, she realized they had a secondary theme in common. "It's all about wanting to get out of the cold, of all things," she said.

"That's why I put on the liner notes: Grab a hot beverage and stand next to the heater when you put this thing on."

Regardless of how much she has travelled or how far she has come, her childhood in the prairies stays with her.

"You carry your childhood with you regardless of who you are," she said. "Saskatchewan is in my veins."

Fans of this Prairie Girl will be happy to know she shows no signs of slowing down.

"At this stage you are supposed to be aware of your mortality," she said.

Instead, Mitchell feels she has another 30 years to go.

"I could get a lot done in 30 years -- that's they way I look at it, rather than 'Oh dear, I'm middle aged,'" she said.

"I love this leg of my life, it's different. Things have fallen away, but they've been easy to give up and new things have popped up in their stead."