Hejira
| Hejira | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Joni Mitchell | ||||
|
Publication |
November 1976 |
|||
|
admission |
1976 |
|||
| Label (s) | Asylum Records | |||
|
Format (s) |
LP, CD |
|||
|
Title (number) |
9 |
|||
|
running time |
52:18 |
|||
| occupation | ||||
|
Joni Mitchell |
||||
|
||||
.png)
Hejira is a 1976 folk album by Joni Mitchell . It has a distinct jazz echo.
General
The album title refers to the Islamic hijra , the journey of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. Many of the songs were written by Mitchell on a trip, a winter drive from Maine to her then hometown of Los Angeles . Shortly before, her relationship with drummer John Guerin had ended, which had led to the engagement.
The title song Hejira is about traveling and the end of the relationship with Guerin:
"I'm steeped in the travel bug.
But you know I'm so happy to be alone.
But the light touch of a stranger
Can make my bones shake."
The album is dominated by Mitchell's vocals and guitar, and on some tracks the fretless bass by Jaco Pastorius .
The tracks Coyote , Amelia and Hejira were often played in their concerts after their release. Apart from the tracks Coyote and Black Crow , the rest of the album consists of slow and melancholy tracks. The epic Song for Sharon tells of a woman's conflict between freedom and marriage.
The song Amelia interweaves a journey through the desert with the story of the pilot Amelia Earhart , who went missing in 1939 after a flight over the Pacific Ocean.
Furry Sings the Blues is based on an encounter that took place in 1975 between Mitchell and the blues guitarist and singer Furry Lewis in Memphis. He disliked the song and the use of its name.
Album cover
The photos on the album cover were taken by Norman Seeff at Lake Mendota . The album cover was voted number 11 of the 100 best album covers by Rolling Stone .
reception
The album sold weaker than its predecessor because of the unfamiliar jazz echoes, but reached number 13 on the Billboard 200 album charts. The album was generally rated well by critics and was sometimes seen as the best album in Mitchell's career.
Track list
All songs were written by Joni Mitchell.
Page 1:
- "Coyote" - 5:01
- "Amelia" - 6:01
- "Furry Sings the Blues" - 5:07
- "A Strange Boy" - 4:15
- "Hejira" - 6:42
Side 2:
- "Song for Sharon" - 8:40
- "Black Crow" - 4:22
- "Blue Motel Room" - 5:04 am
- "Refuge of the Roads" - 6:42
Jaco Pastorius played bass on "Coyote", "Hejira", "Black Crow" and "Refuge of the Roads".