Blue by Joni Mitchell

This is an extraordinary album, musically sparse and painfully honest. It was written when Joni Mithcell had just come out of her relationship with Graham Nash and was about to embark on a new one with troubled musician James Taylor. In between she spent time travelling through Europe ending up living in Greece with sand in her hair and tar on her feet.

The songs on this album range from hope to regret to melancholy, with a simple backing of Appalachian dulcimer, guitar and piano, with Mitchell's vocals wavering with emotion in places.

In the title track she sings that songs are like tattoos - permanent reminders of the past, of joy and pain. This is most evident on the song Little Green that she wrote shortly after poverty forced her to give up her baby daughter for adoption. Mother and daughter were reunited in 1997, giving closure to that chapter of her life.