How did you discover the Joni Mitchell song “California”?

I went to Everyday Music to buy Joni Mitchell’s Court & Spark, because I had been meaning to look into it for a while, had never heard any Joni Mitchell at all —

You’d never heard a Joni Mitchell song? When was this?

Like, a month ago. I know. Anyway, my comrade Josh Feit happened to be at the music store buying obscure 1920s pop or something. They didn’t have any copies of Court & Spark, so Feit advised me to get Blue. He said, “Wait, that’s the one with ‘California’ on it, right?” We checked the song list. “That’s the best song ever written.”

Do you agree that it’s the best song ever written?

Can’t think of a better one right at this moment.

What is so great about it?

The first few notes. The melody. Her voice. The way she sings: “I met a redneck on a Grecian isle. He did the goat dance very well.” It’s the “very well” — the way she stretches out the “verrrr-ee” and almost forgets to sing the “well.” Plus, that’s just a great sentence right there. You think she’s going to tell you something about the goat dance, but instead she tells you that he did it — whatever it is — well. Love sentences like that. It’s like that line in The Sun Also Rises when Jake Barnes is talking about a book that can do damage to a young man’s mind, a book that’s set “in an intensely romantic land, the scenery of which is very well described.”

What are you talking about?

Never mind.

Does “California” sound better when you’re in California?

Slightly better, yes. I was in California a couple weekends ago and I tried it.

You made up this “interview” to deal with the randomness of blogging about a song that came out 36 years ago that everyone else on the planet already knows about, right?

Pretty much, yeah. Although there’s gotta be somebody out there who’s never heard it. Or maybe it’s just been a while.

Anything else?

Yeah, here’s a video of her doing the song live. She doesn’t sing the “very well” the way she does on Blue, alas… So if you’ve never heard the Blue version, you should go buy it. But it’s still great! It’s just her and a weird pink dress and a dulcimer, and there’s a good minute of hippie-lady talk before she starts singing, and a cute laugh afterwards when the applause thunders.