Both Sides, Now

Mitchell is said to have written "Both Sides, Now" in March 1967, inspired by a passage in Henderson the Rain King, a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow.

I was reading Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King on a plane and early in the book Henderson the Rain King 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]

However, "Both Sides, Now" appears on 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 March 1967.

"Both Sides, Now" is written in F-sharp major. Mitchell used a guitar tuning of E–B–E–G♯–B–E with a capo at the second fret. The song uses a modified I–IV–V chord progression.[4]

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.[8]

"Both Sides Now"
Single by Judy Collins
from the album Wildflowers
B-side	"Who Knows Where the Time Goes"
Released	October 1968
Recorded	1967
Genre	Folk, baroque pop
Length	3:14
Label	Elektra (EK-45639)
Songwriter(s)	Joni Mitchell
Producer(s)	Mark Abramson
Judy Collins singles chronology
"Hard Lovin' Loser" (1967) "Both Sides Now" (1968) "Someday Soon" (1969)
Cover art
US single sleeve
Audio sample
file help
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.[9] In early 1969 it won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance.[10] 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.[11] The Collins version is featured as the opening title music of the 2014 romantic comedy And So It Goes,[12] and as the end title music of the 2018 supernatural horror film Hereditary.[13] It also features in the first teaser trailer for Toy Story 4.[14] 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.

Mitchell's song has been recorded by many other artists over the decades. Dion recorded the song under the title "From Both Sides Now" on his album Dion. His cover reached number 91 in the US. Euson released the song as a single in 1970, reaching number 7 on the Dutch Top 40.[22] Clannad released a version as a duet with British singer Paul Young for the 1991 motion picture Switch. It was the only chart appearance for Clannad in the Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart. Herbie Hancock recorded an instrumental version of the song for his 2007 album River: The Joni Letters. Hancock's version of the song was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Solo. The album won the 2008 Grammy for Album of the Year.

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics