Song · Joni Mitchell
“All I Want” by Joni Mitchell
From the album Blue (1971)
“All I Want” by Joni Mitchell appears on 7 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2004 and 2024. It was first released in 1971 on the album Blue. Its best result is #117 on The Best Opening Tracks of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,249 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"All I Want" comes off Blue, the album Joni Mitchell released in June 1971, and she made it close to alone: she wrote it, produced it and sings it, with Henry Lewy engineering and James Taylor adding guitar. Her own instrument here is the Appalachian dulcimer, and it makes all the difference.
Strummed hard and bright, the dulcimer gives the song a restless, jangling pulse, somewhere between a folk tune and a racing heartbeat, while Taylor's guitar trails along behind it. Mitchell's voice leaps and swoops over the top, unguarded and a little breathless, the sound of someone thinking out loud and not bothering to tidy it up.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 713 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2009 | 585 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2010 | 536 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2018 | 838 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2020 | 788 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2023 | 798 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2024 | 117 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
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