I never said why “Case of You” was important to me. Joni Michell’s Blue came out when I was about 2 years old, and my dad had a copy of it. I lived in England until I was just under 5 years old, and I remember this always being my dad’s favorite (along with Cream’s Wheels of Fire, Beatles, Rubber Soul, and Don McLeans’s American Pie). Over time, I have worn through my dad’s tape copies of Blue, a few vinyl copies, a few more cassettes, and a couple of CDs (the one I have now is on its way out). Coincidentally, I was born a pretty high soprano, and if I sing without the training in my voice, it’s quite similar to Joni Mitchell (you know, before the decades of chain-smoking). I used Blue to warm up in the car on the way to voice auditions, and I’ve had relationships with each of the songs on it. “Case of You” stands out to me because of the beauty and the naiveté of the main lyric:
Oh, you are in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling
And I would still be on my feet
Oh, I would still be on my feet
The first time these words meant more to me than just that album I liked to sing along to was the first time I fell in love. I fell hard, and I thought that noone had ever loved more than me… not ever. And after a few years, that relationship became less than healthy, but I guess I didn’t notice the slide down the slippery slope. Why? I was drunk on a case of him, I guess.
Now, I still love the song, because it fits right into my voice, and because it reminds me of me – at every age. It’s always been with me, and it probably always will be.
Joni Mitchell’s Blue
