Reflecting on her own choice to put up her child for adoption in the song “Little Green”, Joni Mitchell utilizes emotional characterization, and meaningful symbolism in order to communicate the feelings from her past through poetry in the song.
Throughout the song, Joni characterizes the members of the family very concisely, so the listener can fully understand each member without much description. “He went to California/Hearing everything’s warmer there” After Little Green was born, her father left and went to California instead of helping her mother care for their child. This subtle characterization of her father shows how he is self absorbed and only does thing that will benefit himself. On the contrary, Joni is almost the opposite of her once lover because she is very empathetic. She goes to put her child up for adoption knowing that she cannot properly take care of her, “So you sign all the papers in the family name/You’re sad and you’re sorry, but you’re not ashamed.” Giving up your child is one of the hardest things a mother could go through and Joni made the decision to do so because she wanted her daughter to live in a healthy environment, seeing how she knew she could not provide one for her. Joni’s use of characterization throughout the song is a great complement to the story she is telling because it makes the people more realistic.
The name Little Green is very symbolic and you can see this in many different instances throughout the song. Green itself is a symbol for life which is why she chose that name in the song because Little Green is a pure and innocent newborn baby. “Like the color when the spring is born” Green, as it is used in the song is also a metaphor for new beginnings and the start of a new stage in one’s life, such as the seasons are each a different stage in the Earth’s yearly cycle. Also in the song, Joni turns simple objects into symbols, “There’ll be icicles and birthday clothes/And sometimes there’ll be sorrow” These lyrics are directed toward her daughter and mean that there will be good times and bad times throughout her life. Her symbolic lyrics make the song more enjoyable because you have to listen to understand the true meaning behind her words.
Lyrically, this song is very rich and contains many deep phrases that come from the heart. The emotional characterization adds depth to the story telling by helping you feel the same emotions as the people in the song. The symbolism in her words also add to the beauty of the work acting like the icing on the cake. Unlike most of the music of today, Joni Mitchell’s song “Little Green” has true meaning and uses multiple poetic devices to create a lullaby like piece of art centered around her daughter, “Born with the moon in Cancer.”
