All I Want by Joni Mitchell

Album: Blue (1971)

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Songfacts®:

Joni Mitchell was dating James Taylor during the making of Blue. This song contains specific references to her relationship with the singer-songwriter.

I want to have fun, I want to shine like the sun
Want to be the one that you want to see
I want to knit you a sweater
Want to write you a love letter

Mitchell had shown Taylor her homemaker side by knitting him a sweater vest, which he wore with pride.
Mitchell (from a 1996 interview with the Los Angeles Times): "It's funny how people keep looking between the lines of songs to see what is hidden there. Well, I'm not an evasive writer. You don't have to dig under the words for the meaning. The meaning is all there. It's very plain-speak. When someone asks what a song like 'Sex Kills' is about, I want to say, 'Well, did you listen to the words?'"
Speaking to Uncut magazine in a 2018 interview, James Taylor denied the song was written about him. He said: "I don't think that song was written about me. Joni already had that song when we met. I did back her up on guitar when she recorded it. I thought it was a beautiful song... I wished it was about me!"

Comments: 1

Slug from CaliforniaUhhhm he really wanted this song to be about him..? Whoever this song was about clearly hurt her in a way that caused insecurities and jealousy so deep that it made her hate herself, hate him, and completely destroyed what was a perfect idealized relationship. She was basically saying "I want so bad to love you, be happy together and have a perfect relationship, and you make me happy until i think about myself. you hurt me, now its causing us to fight and I hurt you in return and we're both miserable, and now jealousy and the insecurities and overall misery you've created is ruining our relationship."

seems like whoever this song is about cheated on her, or expressed feelings about other women and justified them by making her feel unworthy of being his sole receiver of affection, and caused her to feel like crap about herself and hate him for it, and now despite her immense undying love for him it cant work anymore because of what he did to her.

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