Credit: Far Out / YouTube Stills
Sun 17 May 2026 21:00, UK
The question of where talent comes from and whether artistic ability is a calling or a gift from some spiritual realm has always existed, but Joni Mitchell and Neil Young are believers in that school of thought.
Since the dawn of time, the idea that creativity is a godly gift has been written into holy texts and myths. The ancient Greeks believed that as the nine muses encapsulated things like art, literature, music and beyond, with people worshipping, or calling upon these figures, believing that was the one true way to be granted these skills.
Through history, when hearing stories of how musicians were the most rewarded people in a community, or how a writer was respected above all else, it comes down to a belief system that honoured abilities like that. If creative talent were godly and miraculous, then the people who harnessed it were rightfully treated like a kind of god, too, awarded fair payment, good treatment, and all the things often missing in the modern music age.
But by now, there’s the sense that anyone could be famous. Andy Warhol’s idea of 15 minutes of fame has led to a society where it is believed that any person you see could probably write something or sing a ditty good enough for a momentary burst of celebrity. Talent no longer feels so rare, and modern culture has made that so.
“In my parents’ generation, if you were going to sing, you knew it,” Joni Mitchell reflected once on how musical talent used to feel like a calling you were born with. She felt that even by her time, that had weakened slightly, though, adding, “There were so many great new talents. In my own generation, there weren’t as many, although people refer to our time as the ‘golden age of music’. I think that’s absurd”.
“Sophistication went out the window in my generation. It became a bad word. ‘Funky’ came in,” she said of the 1970s, but then in the 2000s, it got worse. How can talent feel rare, special and respected when there are thousands upon thousands of deluded hopefuls queued up for an American Idol audition? What does that say about the godliness of music?
“It’s ridiculous. Basically, it’s karaoke,” Mitchell spat, repulsed by the show. Her old friend Neil Young agreed. “I can’t imagine American Idol in the ’60s,” he said as he felt like something special had been lost over time to the commercialisation of musical ability.
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“It’s so different, you can’t compare it. The idea that there is a contest for who can pose the best. They are all just imitating other people. I don’t know what that is,” he declared, mourning the death of originality and authenticity in the face of television’s mass consumption of wannabes.
Leading to an industry built on fakery, it’s not only a big reason why Mitchell and Young can never truly respect the modern music world, but it’s arguably a reason why music is becoming less sustainable as it becomes built more and more on trends and talent contests rather than calling.
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