Of course, I didn't know why at the time, and now, looking back, Collins' version pales in comparison to Mitchell's own two years later, and dissipates entirely in the ambient heat and light of her 2000 re-boot. In that version, her re-arrangement of the song from a folk oriented guitar piece into a majestic sounding American Standard is testament, I think, to the woman's tremendous sense of artistry, her ability to key into the natural evolution of herself and her work...and her fans.
And it's bittersweet that I am the right age to finally understand what she's talking about. Years ago, "Both Sides, Now" was among the first to move me, and it just might end up being, years from now (hopefully), the last song I'm ever moved by. That 2000 version, in particular, stands as the song I'd prefer to be listening to at the moment I pass.
1970
"But now old friends, they're acting strange, they shake their heads, they say I've changed / Well something's lost, but something's gained, in living every day..."
#180) "Fallin' in Love" by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds - No particular memories with this song, as such, no long thoughts to speak of (or write about), no grand insight (delusions of grandeur ;-). I just like the way it sounds, and I really like the way it makes the scenery look when I'm driving along and it's playing.
Which makes it, in my mind at least, a quintessential road song.
"I could never see, what fate had planned for me..."
