Translation by Flavio La Bruna and Google

I challenge anyone not to hum the chorus of Big Yellow Taxi after listening to it. It goes without saying that with her pure and crystalline voice Joni Mitchell could sing the phone book, hypnotizing us and leaving us breathless.

“Ladies Of The Canyon” is the third studio album by the Canadian artist, released in April 1970. This work marked a turning point in Joni Mitchell 's career : musically and lyrically more mature than her previous works, it consecrated her among the founding artists of art-folk and at the same time made her a muse for subsequent generations of singer-songwriters.

The work is entirely produced by the artist alone; from the lyrics to the arrangements and even the self-portrait on the cover, which underlines her passion for painting. And this is precisely the key to listening to the album at its best: in all the songs Mitchell tries to paint an image in our mind, furrow after furrow in the picture more and more elements are added: listening to Morning Morgantown , it is impossible not to imagine the farmers and markets of the small town in Virginia.

The poem continues with For Free , Conversation and Ladies of the Canyon . But it is the final triptych that leaves us breathless; starting with the aforementioned Big Yellow Taxi , a sparkling and rhythmic ecology-folk composition (as critics of the time loved to define it). The inspiration came during a trip to Hawaii; one morning Joni wakes up, opens the window of her room and sees the ocean and the green mountains in front of her and looking down she sees the enormous parking lot of the hotel. From here comes her denunciation against man's manipulation of nature:

Hey farmer farmer
Put away the DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees

We then move on to Woodstock, an indelible photograph of the historic concert told in a poignant and nostalgic way, perhaps because her manager prevented her from being present, even though her performance was scheduled, as the following day she was supposed to be present at the very popular television show 'Dick Cavett Show' and the Woodstock traffic would have prevented her from participating. Despite her absence, the artist tells us with feeling the message of peace, music and love of those days:

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration

The Circle Game is the wonderful folk ballad that closes the album, a song that talks about a carousel, a metaphor for life that renews itself with every new ride.

“ Ladies Of The Canyon ” is a fundamental album in Joni Mitchell 's career , which fifty years after its release remains a milestone of folk-pop and lays the foundations for the subsequent and superlative “ Blue ” which will see the light a year later.

Forgive the massive reference to lyrics, but it would be like writing an article about a De Andrè album without quoting the lyrics: it would be quite incomplete. So what better way to conclude than with the verses of The Circle Game ?

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game