Both Sides, Now

Background

Mitchell has said that "Both Sides, Now" was inspired by a passage in Henderson the Rain King, a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow.I was reading ... Henderson the Rain King on a plane and early in the book Henderson ... is also up in a plane. He's on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds. I put down the book, looked out the window and saw clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song. I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did.{{cite news | access-date= 12 July 2011}}

"Both Sides, Now" appears in the album Joni Mitchell: Live at the Second Fret 1966 (2014, All Access Records, AACD0120), a live performance on November 17, 1966, from The Second Fret in Philadelphia, which was broadcast live by WRTI, Temple University's radio station. This shows that Mitchell wrote the song before the 1967 year of composition cited in the Los Angeles Times article quoted above, and precedes the first Judy Collins release in 1967.

"Both Sides, Now" is written in F-sharp major. Mitchell used a guitar tuning of D-A-D-F#-A-D with a capo at the fourth fret. The song uses a modified I–IV–V chord progression.

2000 re-recording

Mitchell re-recorded the song in a lush, orchestrated fashion for her 2000 album Both Sides Now. The recording won arranger Vince Mendoza a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s).

In April 2000, two months after the album's release, Mitchell sang the song with a 70-piece orchestra at the end of an all-star celebration for her at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

The 2000 version is played during an emotional scene featuring Emma Thompson in the 2003 film Love Actually. It was featured in the 2001 film Life as a House. It was also played during the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

Certifications

Legacy

The song inspired the title of Hillary Clinton's 2024 memoir, Something Lost, Something Gained.

Joni Mitchell performed the song on January 30, 2025 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California for FireAid to help with relief efforts for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.

Judy Collins version

| B-side = "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" (US) "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" (UK)

Shortly after Mitchell wrote the song, Judy Collins recorded the first commercially released version for her 1967 album Wildflowers. In October 1968 the same version was released as a single, reaching number 8 on the U.S pop singles charts by December. It reached number 6 in Canada. In early 1969 it won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance. The record peaked at number 3 on Billboards Easy Listening survey and "Both Sides, Now" has become one of Collins' signature songs. Mitchell disliked Collins' recording of the song, despite the publicity that its success generated for Mitchell's own career. The Collins version is featured as the opening title music of the 2014 romantic comedy And So It Goes, and as the end title music of the 2018 supernatural horror film Hereditary. It also features in the first teaser trailer for Toy Story 4. The song features prominently in the season 6 finale of the TV show Mad Men, and signals a moment of anagnorisis between Don Draper and his daughter Sally.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other recordings

Mitchell's song has been recorded by many other artists over the decades. Among the best-known versions are:

• Frank Sinatra recorded his version of the song for his 1968 reprise album, "Cycles".
• Neil Diamond recorded and included a version in his 1969 album, Touching You, Touching Me. The album reached #30 on the Billboard album chart and was certified gold.
• Willie Nelson recorded a version and made it the title track of his March 1970 album Both Sides Now.
• Euson released the song as a single in 1970, reaching number 7 on the Dutch Top 40.
• Clannad released a version as a duet with British singer Paul Young for the 1991 motion picture Switch. It was the only chart appearance by Clannad on the Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart.
• Hole's debut studio album Pretty on the Inside, released in 1991, contains a cover of the song on as its closing track. Listed under the title "Clouds", it contains additional lyrics sung by frontwoman Courtney Love.
• Dengue Fever's Khmer language cover was included on the soundtrack of Matt Dillon's directorial debut, City of Ghosts; the film is set in Cambodia.
• Irish boy band Boyzone's front man Ronan Keating did a cover of the song in his fifth solo album Songs for My Mother released in 2009.
• A cover by Kathleen was recorded as part of the "Turn Her Up" project spear-headed by Pixie Lott & independent record label frtyfve for International Women's Day 2019.
• In the climax of the 2021 Academy Award for Best Picture-winning film CODA, the main protagonist Ruby Rossi (portrayed by Emilia Jones) sings the song as part of her successful audition for Berklee College of Music, while simultaneously performing it in sign language to her deaf family who were in attendance. Jones also performed the song live, with two background sign interpreters (in both American Sign Language and British Sign Language), at the 75th British Academy Film Awards. Mitchell herself gave her approval for Jones' cover.

References

References

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4. [https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vince-mendoza-mn0000177173/awards Vince Mendoza: Awards], allmusic.com
5. Farber, Jim. (April 16, 2000). "Joni's Jamboree: 19 singers use 15 songs & show why Mitchell matters". [[New York Daily News]].
6. Hedges-Stocks, Zoah. (28 February 2018). "Emma Thompson on acting Love Actually betrayal: 'I had my heart very badly broken by Kenneth Branagh'". Yahoo! Entertainment.
7. Bierly, Mandi. (February 13, 2010). "Vancouver Olympics Opening Ceremony: Best and Worst".
8. Chan, Tim. (September 17, 2024). "How This Joni Mitchell Lyric Inspired Hillary Clinton's Latest Memoir".
9. (30 January 2025). "At FireAid Benefit, Stars Sing a Love Song to Los Angeles". The New York Times.
10. (October 26, 1968). "Spotlight Singles".
11. (2002). "Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution". Backbeat Books.
12. (17 July 2013). "Image: RPM Weekly".
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15. Corliss, Richard. (July 25, 2014). "REVIEW: Another Grumpy Old Man Finds Love in And So It Goes".
16. Jacobs, Matthew. (June 27, 2018). "'Hereditary' Director Unpacks the Movie's Plot and Responds to the People Who Hated It". [[HuffPost]].
17. Agar, Chris. (November 12, 2018). "What Song Is in The Toy Story 4 Teaser Trailer?". [[Screen Rant]].
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20. "Both Sides, Now".
21. "JUDY COLLINS – full Official Chart History".
22. Whitburn, Joel, ''Top Pop Singles 1955–2002''
23. "Item Display – RPM".
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25. David Courtney, Michael Hall, Max Marshall, Joe Nick Patoski, John Spong and Christian Wallace. "All 154 Willie Nelson Albums, Ranked". Texas Monthly.
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27. (September 7, 1991). "Hot Hits".
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30. "Songs for My Mother by Ronan Keating".
31. "Celeb Mix — Pixie Lott leads new 'Turn Her Up' covers album in support of International Women's Day".
32. (2 March 2022). "How Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' Got Selected for 'CODA' Film". Townsquare Media, Inc..
33. (31 March 2022). "Emilia Jones – Both Sides Now (Full Performance – Live at the 75th British Academy Film Awards)". Emilia Jones Videos.
34. Colderick, Stephanie. (13 March 2022). "Emilia Jones has viewers 'sobbing' over emotional BAFTA performance". [[Media Wales.
35. (9 February 2022). "Joni Mitchell Reacts To Incredible Cover Of Her Song In CODA". Valnet Inc..