LUCY DACUS
‘CAREY’
> I’m a sucker for songs that sound like they’re for a lover but are actually for a friend. Joni is a Scorpio, so it comes as no surprise to hear her daydreaming about her own bed, her fancy French cologne and flirting her way into a friendship with someone who was originally unimpressed by her. The song was a birthday gift for Carey, who is a real guy, someone she met on a trip to Greece while getting over a breakup. So many of us have been there, following the impulse to escape in order to recognize what home means, and eventually making the choice to go back. I love the idea that a rebound doesn’t have to be a new relationship, it can be convincing a mean old daddy to like you. What better proof that you’re likable? There’s room for romance just about everywhere. Joni knows that.
HAIM ‘BLUE’
very > The first Joni Mitchell record we ever bought was “Miles of Aisles,” but our first real introduction to Joni was the “Blue” album because our mom would talk about how that made her want to be a songwriter. As we grew older and started diving deeper into the record, it was hard not to recognize why this album made our mom feel that way, specifically the song “Blue.” From the opening piano melody and the first utterance of the world “blue,” you’re instantly transported to the place and time of how she was feeling when she wrote the song. The rawness of her vocals and the confessional style of her lyrics have always resonated with us, but “Blue” in particular struck a deeper chord. It’s a song we always revisited when writing our album “Women in Music Pt. III.” At the time, we were collectively heading down our own individual spirals of depression and hearing this song was our security blanket.