The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) by Joni Mitchell

The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) is a four-disc box set by painter and singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who is one of the most highly regarded and influential musicians of the 20th century. In addition to illustrating her own album covers, Mitchell has throughout her career written many influential songs about social issues, including “Woodstock,” a song about the 1969 Woodstock Festival that would go on to become an anthem of the counterculture movement. She also composed “The Fiddle and the Drum,” a song protesting the Vietnam War, and perhaps her most famous piece, “Big Yellow Taxi,” a commentary on our destruction of the natural world.

Mitchell also explores in her albums Blue and Song to a Seagull the experiences of her generation in their resistance against traditional concepts of career, education, and family. The 1960s counterculture was organized loosely around the notion of personal freedom, yet the road to independence was not without its perils. Mitchell’s music speaks of the internal controversy between desiring escape from domesticity, yet still longing for love and belonging.