I heard someone from the music business saying they are no longer looking for talent, they want people with a certain look and a willingness to cooperate. I thought, that's interesting, because I believe a total unwillingness to cooperate is what is necessary to be an artist — not for perverse reasons, but to protect your vision. The considerations of a corporation, especially now, have nothing to do with art or music. That's why I spend my time now painting.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the conflict between artistic integrity and commercial expectations in the music industry.
In this quote, Joni Mitchell expresses her belief that true artistry requires a refusal to conform to external pressures and corporate dictates. She contrasts the music industry's current focus on image and compliance with her own commitment to artistic vision, suggesting that this unwillingness to cooperate is essential for genuine creative expression. As a result, she has turned to painting, which she feels allows her more freedom to explore her artistic identity without commercial constraints.
In practice
During a panel on the challenges of modern musicians, this quote can remind artists to stay true to their vision.
There's a man who's been out sailing In a decade full of dreams And he takes her to a schooner And he treats her like a queen Bearing beads from California With their amber stones and green He has called her from the harbor He has kissed her with his freedom He has heard her off to starboard In the breaking and the breathing Of the water weeds While she was busy being free
Unlike some of my peers, I haven't really hit a writer's block. When I hit a block I just paint, which is an old crop rotation trick.
This is a nation that has lost the ability to be self-critical, and that makes a lie out of the freedoms.
You wake up one day and suddenly realize that your youth is behind you, even though you're still young at heart.
I have an aversion to being mislabeled. Here's a label I'd accept: I'm an 'individual.' I'm someone who can't follow, and doesn't want to lead.
What I do is unusual: chordal movements that have never been used before, changing keys and modalities mid-song.
My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.
Jazz is not background music. You must concentrate upon it in order to get the most of it. _x000D_ You must absorb most of it. The harmonies within the music can relax, soothe, relax, and uplift the _x000D_ mind when you concentrate upon and absorb it. Jazz music stimulates the minds and uplifts the souls _x000D_ of those who play it was well as of those who listen to immerse themselves in it. As the mind is _x000D_ stimulated and the soul uplifted, this is eventually reflected in the body.
Poetry takes courage because you have to face things and you try to articulate how you feel.
Music is such a great communicator. It breaks down linguistic barriers, cultural barriers, it basically reaches out. That's when rock n' roll succeeds, and that's what virtuosity is all about.
The starting point of a picture for any painter is a matter of colors and form...I believe that the poetry of art - if that is what one may call it - is a matter of animating these forms and colors.
There are three things that make a person a writer: inspiration, perspiration and desperation.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.