"Both Sides, Now" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. One of the first recordings is by Judy Collins, whose version appeared on the US singles chart during the fall of 1968. (The earliest commercial release was by Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters, under the title "Clouds", released in June, 1967.) The next year it was included on Mitchell's album Clouds, and became one of her best-known songs. It has since been recorded by dozens of artists, including Dion in 1968, Clannad with Paul Young in 1991, and Mitchell herself, who re-recorded the song with an orchestral arrangement on her 2000 album Both Sides Now.
| "Both Sides, Now" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Joni Mitchell | |
| from the album Clouds | |
| Released | 1969 |
| Studio | A&M, Hollywood, California |
| Genre | Folk rock |
| Length | 4:32 |
| Label | Reprise |
| Songwriter(s) | Joni Mitchell |
| Producer(s) | Joni Mitchell, Paul A. Rothchild |
| Music videos | |
| "Both Sides, Now" on YouTube by Joni Mitchell from her 1969 album Clouds. | |
| "Both Sides, Now" on YouTube by Joni Mitchell from her 2000 album Both Sides Now. | |
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked "Both Sides, Now" at number 170 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs.[1]
Background
Mitchell has said that "Both Sides, Now" was inspired by a passage in Henderson the Rain King, a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow.
I was reading ... Henderson the Rain King on a plane and early in the book Henderson ... is also up in a plane. He's on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds. I put down the book, looked out the window and saw clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song. I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did.[2][3]
"Both Sides, Now" appears in the album Joni Mitchell: Live at the Second Fret 1966 (2014, All Access Records, AACD0120), a live performance on November 17, 1966, from The Second Fret in Philadelphia, PA, which was broadcast live by WRTI, Temple University's radio station. This suggests that Mitchell wrote the song before 1967 (the year of composition cited in the Los Angeles Times article above) and precedes the first Judy Collins release in 1967.
"Both Sides, Now" is written in F-sharp major. Mitchell used a guitar tuning of D-A-D-F#-A-D with a capo at the fourth fret. The song uses a modified I–IV–V chord progression.[4]
2000 re-recording
Mitchell re-recorded the song in a lush, orchestrated fashion for her 2000 album Both Sides Now. The recording won arranger Vince Mendoza a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s).[5]
In April 2000, two months after the album's release, Mitchell sang the song with a 70-piece orchestra at the end of an all-star celebration for her at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.[6]
The 2000 version is played during an emotional scene featuring Emma Thompson in the 2003 film Love Actually.[7] It was also played during the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, and in the closing scene of the final episode of the Ricky Gervais-written Netflix show, After Life.[8]
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[9] | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[10] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Judy Collins version
| "Both Sides Now" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Judy Collins | ||||
| from the album Wildflowers | ||||
| B-side | "Who Knows Where the Time Goes (US) Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (UK)" | |||
| Released | October 1968 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock[11] | |||
| Length | 3:14 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Joni Mitchell | |||
| Producer(s) | Mark Abramson | |||
| Judy Collins singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
| Music videos | ||||
| Both Sides Now on YouTube, by Judy Collins from her 1967 Elektra album "Wildflowers". (3:11 minutes, with lyrics) | ||||
Shortly after Mitchell wrote the song, Judy Collins recorded the first commercially released version for her 1967 Wildflowers album. In October 1968 the same version was released as a single, reaching number 8 on the U.S pop singles charts by December. It reached number 6 in Canada.[12] In early 1969 it won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance.[13] The record peaked at number 3 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey and "Both Sides, Now" has become one of Collins' signature songs. Mitchell disliked Collins' recording of the song, despite the publicity that its success generated for Mitchell's own career.[14] The Collins version is featured as the opening title music of the 2014 romantic comedy And So It Goes,[15] and as the end title music of the 2018 supernatural horror film Hereditary.[16] It also features in the first teaser trailer for Toy Story 4.[17] The song features prominently in the season 6 finale of TV show Mad Men, and signals a moment of anagnorisis between Don Draper and his daughter Sally.
Chart history
Weekly charts
| Chart (1968–70) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia KMR[18] | 37 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles[19] | 6 |
| New Zealand[20] | 7 |
| UK[21] | 14 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[22] | 8 |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 3 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | 8 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1968) | Rank |
|---|---|
| Canada[23] | 96 |
| US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[24] | 82 |
Notable recordings
Mitchell's song has been recorded by many other artists over the decades. Among the best-known versions are:
- Euson released the song as a single in 1970, reaching number 7 on the Dutch Top 40.[25]
- Viola Wills covered the song on a single (from her Dare to Dream album), peaking at #35 on the UK charts in 1985.
- Clannad released a version as a duet with British singer Paul Young for the 1991 motion picture Switch. It was the only chart appearance by Clannad on the Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart.[26]
- In the climax of the 2021 Academy Award for Best Picture-winning film CODA, the main protagonist Ruby Rossi (portrayed by Emilia Jones) sings the song as part of her successful audition for Berklee College of Music, while simultaneously performing it in sign language to her deaf family who were in attendance.[27] Jones also performed the song live, with two background sign interpreters (in both American Sign Language and British Sign Language), at the 75th British Academy Film Awards.[28][29] Mitchell herself gave her approval for Jones' cover.[30]