Joni Mitchell, Kennedy Center Honoree, And The Album That Changed My Life

But at the time, as she was settling into the Laurel Canyon home in Los Angeles she’d just bought with Graham Nash (yes, “Our House” was very, very, very good), Mitchell had broadened her horizons. See your knowledge. She immersed herself in Herman Hesse, the visionary Swiss German author of “Steppenwolf” and “Siddhartha”. Her favorite poet is fellow Canadian Leonard Cohen, whose song – most famously “Hallelujah”, with its secret chords and holy shadow – explores more than just love and loss but also religion, politics and depression.