How a Wren Became a Music Legend
There was once a little French-Canadian girl named Roberta Joan who began exploring art and music after a traumatic event in the first grade. She liked to draw and sing as a way to work through stress and anxiety.
In elementary school, Roberta was a “C” student. She and her schoolmates were classified by their seating row. “A” students were Bluebirds and the bluebirds sat in the first row. “B” students were Robins who sat in the second row. The “C” students were last. They were the Wrens.
Roberta worked hard in school but worried she may always be a Wren. One day, the teacher began assigning drawing projects and Roberta discovered that her work was the best.
It was then that she realized she wasn’t just a Wren.
She was an artist.
She began music lessons at the age of 7 and quit almost immediately. She loved songwriting and composing her own music but was forbidden to do so. When her piano teacher struck her hands with a ruler and instructed her to play only what the masters had already composed, Joni tried to forget about music.
She focused instead on drawing and painting, until an English teacher encouraged her to explore writing music again. He explained:
“If you can paint with a brush, you can paint with words.”
At age 9, Roberta Joan contracted polio. With no vaccine or cure available, she spent weeks in the hospital where she performed for her very first audience, a 6 year old boy who shared her hospital room (and picked his nose as she recalls).
When she was released from the hospital, she did exactly as her English teacher advised and began to paint with her words, putting all of her complicated feelings into song.
She learned to play guitar and pair melodies with the poetry she wrote. But the polio was so severe that it had weakened her left hand.
When her polio stricken hands couldn’t reach standard guitar chords, she invented her own unique way of tuning her guitar— dropping the bass string and the first string so she wouldn't have to stretch as far with her left hand when she played.
What some considered a weakness, she used as a unique edge, giving us the iconic style of melodies we adore today.
We know Roberta Joan Anderson as the legendary poet, painter and musical storyteller— Joni Mitchell.
Of all her albums, 17 of Joni Mitchell's own paintings and self-portraits were used as album covers.
She once said,
“I am a painter who writes songs. My songs are very visual.”
Joni's lyrics have a way of inhabiting your soul, only to recall them when you need them most. She is my favorite songwriter of all time.
In the credits of her very first album, she wrote, “This album is dedicated to Mr. Kratzman, who taught me to love words.”
Learn more about Joni in this children’s book, The Lyrical Life of Joni Mitchell
Celebrate our favorite songbird with a poster or art print.
A Case Of You Soundscape
The Billion Year Old Carbon tee from The Peacemakers Collection
The Songbird tee and onesie from The Lady Rocker’s Collection
P.S. Each time you order from my shop, your purchase is wrapped in this very story.
“We are stardust, we are golden and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden.”
— JONI MITCHELL
