Essential Joni Mitchell

A Case Of You

A Case Of You (2021 Remaster)

Big Yellow Taxi

Big Yellow Taxi (2021 Remaster)

Oxford City is a traditional song nearly 200 years old, but when I first read the lyrics I was reminded of things happening right now: incel culture and drink spiking. It’s tempting to think about old songs of times gone by, especially of songs dealing with the way women were treated and the awful things they faced, and say ‘wasn’t it awful back in the day, I’m so glad it’s not like that now’. While some things generally have gotten better, women still face male violence just sometimes in different forms. The poison wine in this song is a man spiking a woman’s drink to do her harm. Murdering her is an expression of rejection and jealousy which manifests as the same hate against women that incel culture feeds on: “if you won’t be my true lover, you’ll never be no other man’s bride”. 

This makes me think also of being hit on by guys who would not take no for an answer, and who were only satisfied and would only back off with an explanation (a lie) of ‘I’m taken’. Even then sometimes this can be seen as a challenge, ‘who is he, I’m better than him anyway’. This perception of women and girls as objects, as property, as prizes to be won, is so deep rooted in our culture. Whether you’re reading lyrics of a 100-year-old song or on a night out and seeing women get unwanted and persistent attention from men, the root is the same. So women have worked very hard to progress towards equality, and there is clearly still a long way to go.

Although it doesn’t feel like it in the song, the time signature is changing all the time. It feels like it reflects the 2 steps forward and one step back nature of the fight for equality. We are improving some things and still so far behind on others.
_______________________________
trad arr. Frankie Archer
recorded and produced by Frankie Archer and Jim Moray
mixed by Jim Moray
mastered by Piper Payne
artwork by Frankie Archer

A Case Of You (2021 Remaster)

Joni Mitchell

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