In 1970, incredibly influential singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell penned “A Case of You” for her fourth studio album, Blue. The song is a quintessential breakup song detailing being in the throes of heartbreak and borrow references not only from Mitchell’s own life, but also Shakespeare.
Mitchell wrote the song inspired by her own breakup with fellow musician Graham Nash. The iconic line “I could drink a case of you, darling / Still I’d be on my feet” is inspired by something Nash would say regularly to Mitchell. The opening line of the song, “I am as constant as a northern star,” is borrowed from the Shakespeare playJulius Caesar.
When asked about the song, Nash went so far as to call it “one of his favorites” saying:
“There are so many brilliant songs. I tend to go towards a simple song, and one of my favorites is ‘A Case Of You.’ I think it’s an unbelievably beautifully recorded, simple folk song. It’s beautiful.”
Over the years “A Case of You” has been lauded by numerous of Mitchell’s peers. Notably, Prince was a huge fan of the song and wrote Mitchell fan mail to say so. Many, many musicians have put their own spin on the song since its release. A whopping 537 covers exist of “A Case of You” according to Mitchell’s website. Some of the most famous covers include ones by Connie Champagne, Ana Moura, and James Blake, Tori Amos, k.d. lang, and, of course, Prince.
While the song never charted, it went on to be considered by many to be one of the greatest songs of all time. The song was ranked number 26 for Rolling Stones’ list of the “Top 500 Best Songs of All Time.” As mega-fan Prince said of Mitchell and in relation to “A Case of You”:
“Joni’s music should be taught in school, if just from a literature standpoint.”
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