November 16, 2020

A little over a year ago I was focused on being a mom when I made the decision to throw myself back into auditions, music, and singing. As I shifted my focus to the artistic side of my life, I felt momentum building - and in a moment, the world changed. A year later the lyrics of this song hit home in a new way: we can look at clouds, but just when we think we've got them figured out - they change. This is also true of love and of life.

There are so many songs that address love. We love how love makes us feel. However, it is rare to come across a song that can capture it's many facets - a song that invites you to contemplate love by filling in your own experiences. Romantic love, unrequited love, love that defines friendships, love of family...there are so many individuals and moments that shape our lives. Our understanding of love changes, and so does how we feel about love.

Joni Mitchell’s "Both Sides Now" is a song that upon listening it sounds merely sad - melancholic. The true heartbreak of the song, to me, though, is the matter of fact ending that there is always more to learn and know. The realization that we really don't know life at all. The acknowledgement that we live a life of constant duality in a constant cycle of joy and sorrow. It's the joy - and the truth - that makes this song resonate in my bones.

This song was a gift in every sense of the word. It was a birthday gift from my husband last year to record this arrangement in a studio with my long-time collaborator Arthur Williford. It was produced and packaged as a gift for my parents for Christmas. The existence of the song - and this studio recording I am so happy with - is a gift that reminds me of what I am here on this earth to do.

We recorded at Mission Sound in Brooklyn held up by collaborators with whom I could be fully myself, where I could do what I love most and what I do best. Upon listening back to the track that day, I couldn't believe it was me singing. For the first time - in a long time - I heard myself clearly and without judgement.

Today, I'm sharing this piece of my life that gives me so much joy. My sincerest Thank You to Will Hensley for delivering a perfectly engineered, mixed, and mastered track. To Arthur - my musical counterpart for over 10 years and without whom the magic of this particular arrangement would not exist. Especially To My Husband Brian - for his love and never ending support, the gift of that day. And Finally - thankful for the gift of this song that reminds me: I'm not done. "Both Sides Now" sung by me, arranged and accompanied by Arthur Williford available at the link in my bio.

Enjoy!

-Gillian