Both Sides Now (song)

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"Both Sides Now" is a song by Joni Mitchell. It first appeared on the album Clouds, released in 1969 and later on the album of the same name.

It is one of Joni Mitchell's best known songs (with "Big Yellow Taxi", "Woodstock" and "A Case of You"). It was written in March 1967, inspired by a passage in Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow. [1]

In addition to Mitchell's own recording of the song, Judy Collins recorded it in 1967 (shortly after Mitchell wrote it); Collins' version reached the top ten on the U.S. pop singles charts and won a 1968 Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance.

Rolling Stone ranked it #170 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

[edit] Cover versions

Frank Sinatra recorded the song for his 1968 album Cycles (this was Sinatra's poorly-received attempt at a more "young" and contemporary (for the late 1960s) sound than his usual jazz-flavored Great American Songbook repertoire).

Hayley Westenra also recorded this song in 2005, on her album Odyssey.

In 1991, the song was covered by Hole on their album Pretty On The Inside, under the name "Clouds".

It was also a minor hit in the UK and Canada for the Irish band Clannad in a duet with British singer Paul Young, which was recorded for the motion picture Switch. It was the only chart appearance for Clannad in the Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart.

A cover of this song performed by the band Dengue Fever appeared on the soundtrack of the 2002 movie City of Ghosts.

Both the 2000 album Both Sides Now and the song are featured in the 2003 movie Love Actually.

Neil Diamond and Ann Murray have recorded covers of this song as well.

Brent Reece opens his album Almost Live with "Both Sides Now."

Dolly Parton covered "Both Sides Now" on her 2005 album, Those Were The Days.