Throughout the late ’60s and early ’70s, Canadian icon Joni Mitchell had established herself pretty convincingly as a titan of singer/songwriter music. With albums like her debut “Song to a Seagull” or her masterpiece “Blue,” Mitchell had proven her skills as a beautiful voice that could tear you apart with her lyrics. Heading into 1974, Mitchell had one more trick up her sleeve, and that was to become somewhat of a pop star with her most successful song yet, “Help Me.”
“Help Me” comes off of Mitchell’s most successful album to date, “Court and Spark.” Standout single “Help Me” landed Mitchell her only top ten appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s a song that remains one of her most celebrated to this day, with it making an appearance on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list at spot 464.
The song is also a favorite of Prince, who was a consistent fan of Mitchell’s music. He would end up referencing the song in his 1987 song “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker,” where the Joni Mitchell song gets a shoutout as the titular character’s favorite tune.
Both songs share a major thing in common which is that they are both excellent. Of course, I’ll give the attention to “Help Me” here, which is one of my favorite soft rock tracks to come out of the ’70s. The song is pure golden sunlight. It’s the exact sound of the sun cascading over your skin with the windows down going forty miles an hour on your way to a day at the beach. There’s a warmth and happiness a lot of ’70s music captures so well, and “Help Me” is an incredible example of that.
Mitchell would go on to experiment more and more on some of the jazzier elements found on “Court and Spark,” which would eventually lead her to create my favorite album of hers, “Hejira,” which I may write about some day. One thing is for certain, when she wants to, Joni Mitchell can really put together a groove.
Related: 1975 Bob Dylan Classic, Ranked one of the Greatest Albums Ever, Invented the Break-Up Album
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