Every few years, I'll hear Both Sides Now in a movie or somewhere and it'll grabs me like nothing else.
I could copy every single line of it here for impact, but no need. Turn it on, listen to it 10 or 15 times through and see if it moves you.
For fun, I asked ChatGPT (a soulless, large language model) to interpret one of the most complex songs of our time about life and love. It did a great job actually:
Joni Mitchell's song "Both Sides Now," released in 1969 on her album Clouds, explores themes of life, love, and self-reflection. The song reflects on the contrasting perspectives people gain as they grow older and experience more of life's complexities.
In the song, Mitchell uses clouds, love, and life as metaphors, describing how she has seen them "from both sides"—the optimistic, innocent side and the more disillusioned, mature side. For example, clouds initially symbolize beauty and imagination, but later they obscure and confuse her. Similarly, love is first idealized but later becomes a source of heartbreak, and life, once filled with hope, is seen as something more uncertain and unpredictable.
The overall message of "Both Sides Now" is about the bittersweet realization that even after experiencing both the joys and sorrows of life, we may not fully understand it. The song's reflective, poetic lyrics have made it a timeless anthem of emotional growth and change.