Both Sides Now

'Both Sides Now'

'Both Sides Now.' Song, sometimes known as 'Clouds,' by Joni Mitchell. Written ca 1968, it was recorded in 1968 by the US folksinger Judy Collins and by the US pop group Harpers Bizarre. Collins single (Elektra 45639) was an international hit and her LP of the same name won the 1968 Grammy Award for best folk performance and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. A philosophical song ('I've looked at love [life] from both sides now'), it also has been included on LPs by Cleo Laine, Bing Crosby, Fairport Convention, Robert Goulet, Catherine McKinnon, Anne Murray, Willie Nelson, Dave van Ronk, Pete Seeger, Frank Sinatra, and many others; van Ronk's recording was popular and, according to Leonore Fleischer's Joni Mitchell (New York 1976), was regarded by the composer as the most successful interpretation to that date. A version by Paul Young and Clannad from the US feature film Switch was popular in 1991. Mitchell herself included versions on her second LP, Clouds (itself a Grammy winner), on the live recording Miles of Aisles, and on her Grammy-winning recording Both Sides Now (2000, Warner Brothers 47620.) The song's melody alone also has had some currency; instrumental versions have been recorded by Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, Stan Getz, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Shank, Gabor Szabo, and others. 'Both Sides Now' was published by Siquomb Music and Warner Brothers, and was included in the Joni Mitchell Songbook (vol 1, songs 1966-70, Warner Brothers 1970), Edith Fowke'sCanadian Vibrations (Macmillan 1972), and the Judy Collins Songbook (Grosset & Dunlap 1976). "Both Sides Now" was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.