When Joni Mitchell played (what I believe to be) the first version of the song "All I Want" on September 3rd 1970 in London, she probably did not expect it would change so much in its final version. Or maybe she did not believe it did.
For starters, it was well shorter and filled with humming. In its content, the song was – in my opinion – darker, although most of it remained in the final version. There were only three exceptions: she took out the verse ‘Do you think you're fooling me with your phony camaraderie?’, the revelation that the jealousy and greed she talk about were hers and about what she is looking for in her travels.
On the other hand, what contrasts the two versions the most – at first glance – are the additions. Indeed, they lighten the song and make it somewhat contradictive, what is it noted in one of its first verses ‘I hate you some, I love you some’. In the early version, there is no such contradiction: the relationship was troubled and failed.
The trouble however still remained. So maybe it is ok to have a change of heart, or to see things in a slighter less harsh way. Still, somehow – although I do appreciate it – I find the later version silly - or at least childish - or the rhymes make it less truthful. So maybe she’s playing a trick: and the phony version is the one fooling us.
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