Joni Mitchell, "Woodstock" 1969.

"Woodstock" by Joni Mitchell has a distinct sound. With electric piano and Mitchell's unique voice, the combination adds to the songs message.

Instrumentation, Range: Electric piano, Mitchell's voice, and a small chorus of women are the instruments used in "Woodstock." Throughout the piece the piano plays continuously throughout the whole song, acting as an assistant to Mitchell's tone while Mitchell sings, and as a solo entity during the beginning and ending of the song. Mitchell's voice covers a broad range in notes and volumes. Mitchell rapidly swings from low notes to high to surprise her audience and simultaneously make the song very hard to sing along with. She sings in a mostly syllabic structure but prolongs the notes at the end of each phrase to add emphasis to the rhythm and "theme and variation" style of the song. The chorus singers only sing at the end of the chorus, "and we got to get ourselves back to the garden." The chorus women offer chant like, "hey hey" to add a very aboriginal chant sound to the song. This idea is emphasised in the last minute of the song when Mitchell begins to just sing a variation of odd and almost unappealing sounding notes.

Texture: The style of this song is homophonic. Mitchell's voice and the piano are moving rhythmically together throughout the song while also maintaining a distinct melody and accompanying harmony. The correlating movement and few instruments produces a thin texture to this piece.

Mitchell's "Woodstock" is clearly a programmatic song. She is expressing her idea for peace and "getting back to the garden" a place of growth, nature and purity. She references the Woodstock festival with its "song and celebration" and with "500000 strong" to connect directly with her immediate audience and also to connect with an audience in the future. Listeners now can use Mitchell's song to learn about the festival and about the political and social attitudes of the late 1960's. Mitchell performs a song that is relevant and powerful enough to continue to affect all generations.