There are so many quality sandy beach songs out there. I almost went with The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” but didn’t. (Hope someone else picks it!)

Song to a Seagull (also known as Joni Mitchell) is the eponymous debut studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. It was produced by David Crosby and released in March 1968.

The album was recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California. David Crosby was assigned as producer as part of the deal with Reprise Records, following meeting Mitchell in October 1967. Crosby wanted Mitchell to sound pure and natural, so he asked her to sing into the studio grand piano, and set up extra microphones to capture her voice reverberating off the strings; unfortunately the set-up captured too much ambient noise, resulting in excessive tape hiss, which could only be removed post-production at the cost of the high sounds in the audio range, which gives the album a flat feel.

Mitchell had written songs that were hits for other artists (e.g., “Both Sides Now” and “Chelsea Morning” by Judy Collins and Dave Van Ronk, “Eastern Rain” by Fairport Convention, “Urge for Going” and “The Circle Game” by Tom Rush), but none of these songs were selected for inclusion on Song to a Seagull. — from wikipedia

OK, before we go any farther, let’s put on the brakes for a moment. David Crosby did what!? How is singing into a piano supposed to sound pure and natural?

I know that some of the readers are audiophiles and sound is a science to you when you place the platter on the turntable and lay back in the e-z-boy bare-eared or headphoned. I just happened across an article that speaks your language about Song to a Seagull.

The Skeptical Audiophile writes:
We’ve been trying to get this album to sound good for more years than we care to remember. If you own a copy you know what we’re talking about — the sound is typically drenched in echo, with Joni sounding like she’s standing at the back of a cave. Harmonically-challenged acoustic guitars. Vocals with no breathy texture (much like practically all the heavy vinyl reissues we’ve suffered through over the course of the last few decades.)

and

Joni will never sound like she’s in the room with you the way she can on Blue or For the Roses. David Crosby’s production didn’t want her there or know how to put her there. (You’ll have to take that up with him.) Be that as it may, on the best copies she can have lovely presence to her voice and guitar; the intimacy and emotion of these songs is communicated beautifully. This is late night listening at its best, especially on side one…

Read the rest of the essay here.

Unfortunately, “Song to a Seagull” is on side two, next to the last song, just before “Cactus Tree.”

Here is the video, with lyrics following. After video and lyrics, I’ve pulled the lyrics apart and give my perspective on them. Looking deep into Joni’s lyrics, it is clear to see why she is one of the greatest songwriters and composers of all time. She has her pulse on what it takes to keep the wild soul’s spirit alive. Anyone who is alive understands how challenging that can be.

Song to a Seagull

Fly, silly seabird, no dreams can possess you
No voices can blame you for sun on your wings
My gentle relations have names they must call me
For loving the freedom of all flying things

My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach, out of cry

I came to the city and lived like old Crusoe
On an island of noise in a cobblestone sea
And the beaches were concrete, and the stars paid a light bill
And the blossoms hung false on their store window trees

My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach, out of cry

Out of the city and down to the seaside
To sun on my shoulders and wind in my hair
But sandcastles crumble and hunger is human
And humans are hungry for worlds they can’t share

My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach, out of cry

I call to the seagull who dives to the waters
And catches his silver-fine dinner alone
Crying, “Where are the footprints that danced on these beaches
And the hands that cast wishes that sunk like a stone?”

My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach, out of cry

Written by: Joni Mitchell
Album: Song to a Seagull
Released: 1968

Song to a Seagull, deconstructed

Fly, silly seabird, no dreams can possess you

She envies what she sees as the carefree nature of the “silly seabird”

No voices can blame you for sun on your wings

No one questions the nature of being a free seagull, sun on its wings.

My gentle relations have names they must call me
For loving the freedom of all flying things

Unlike the seagull, she is considered an eccentric by those who love her best,
judged as one who goes against cultural constraints in her sensitivity.

My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach, out of cry

She rises away silently, carrying her dreams away from judgments that constrain.

I came to the city and lived like old Crusoe
On an island of noise in a cobblestone sea
And the beaches were concrete, and the stars paid a light bill
And the blossoms hung false on their store window trees

She finds herself in a literal place that also serves as powerful metaphor.
She’s an isolated stranger in an uncomfortable utilitarian cacophony
where everything is a commodity and nothing is free.

My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach, out of cry

Even in the harsh place that doesn’t suit her, she finds a way to escape.

Out of the city and down to the seaside
To sun on my shoulders and wind in my hair
But sandcastles crumble and hunger is human
And humans are hungry for worlds they can’t share

She realizes that even when she is in her idealized place
that there is no perfect place, except in fantasy.

My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach, out of cry

She escapes the reality of it, into the fantasy.

I call to the seagull who dives to the waters
And catches his silver-fine dinner alone
Crying, “Where are the footprints that danced on these beaches
And the hands that cast wishes that sunk like a stone?”

In her escape she questions if anything from the past is real.

My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach, out of cry

I have to wonder if she will ever return…

Jim Adams is the host of Song Lyric Sunday.
This week, Jim wants us to share a song that celebrates sandy beaches.