When British poet Amy Key was growing up, she envisioned a life shaped
by love--and Joni Mitchell's album Blue was her inspiration. "Blue
became part of my language of intimacy," she writes, recalling the
dozens of times she played the record as a teen, "an intimacy of
disclosure, vulnerability, unadorned feeling that I thought I'd
eventually share with a romantic other." As the years ticked by, she
held on to this very specific idea of romance like a bottle of wine
saved for a special occasion.
But what happens when the romance we are all told will give life meaning
never presents itself Now single in her forties, Key explores the
sweeping scales of romantic feeling as she has encountered them, using
the album Blue as an expressive anchor: from the low notes of loss and
unfulfilled desire--punctuated by sharp, discordant feelings of jealousy
and regret--to the deep harmony of friendship, and the crescendos of
sexual attraction and self-realization.
Finding solace in Mitchell's songs, Key plumbs Blue's track list for
themes that resonate with her heart's seasons. Listening to the song
"California," she explores the mixed emotions that come with traveling
alone in a world built for couples; she juxtaposes the lonely lyrics of
"My Old Man" with the pleasurable art of curating a perfect apartment
for one; and with the utmost tenderness, she parses out her decision to
not have children with the eloquent "Little Green."
Mapping the evolution of her early conceptions of love through her
adulthood, Key offers a tender and nakedly candid celebration of the
many forms of intimacy that often go unnoticed. An essential work for
both the single and the partnered, Arrangements in Blue is a bold
manual for building a life on your own terms.
