Joni Mitchell Bows New Video For 1971 Song, Debuts It Via YouTube

Some 50 years after its debut, Joni Mitchell’s melancholy song River finally has its own video. River first appeared on Mitchell’s 1971 album, Blue.

“River expresses regret at the end of a relationship… but it’s also about being lonely at Christmas time,” Mitchell says in a statement at the end of the animated work. It was posted Thursday on her YouTube channel. “A Christmas song for people who are lonely at Christmas! We need a song like that.”

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Skazka Studios’ created the black-and-white animation, which features a lone figure gliding across a frozen pond. The style seeks to capture “the song’s lonesome mood while paying tribute to Mitchell’s prolific creativity as a painter,” according to her website.

Mitchell’s compilation Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) has been nominated for best historical album at the upcoming Grammy Awards.

Watch the video above.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLHxxBTl71I?version=3&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://deadline.com&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&start=7&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]

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