and Venable Herndon, "Songs to Aging Children Come" was re-recorded and performed by Tigger Outlaw in an arrangement for solo vocals and guitar as diegetic music during a funeral service. Mitchell's composition was seen as pivotal for the "extraordinarily cinematic" and "beautiful" character of the scene. Mitchell was originally cast to perform the song herself, but declined after unsuccessful royalties negotiations with the film's producers. Release and reception Clouds was released by Reprise Records on May 1, 1969. It peaked at number 22 on the RPM albums chart in Canada. In the United States, the album charted at number 31 on the Billboard 200. It won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance for 1969. In a contemporary review, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice felt that "without David Crosby's production ... Joni's voice sounds malnourished, which it is." He observed three "excellent" songs—"Roses Blue", "Both Sides, Now", and "Chelsea Morning"—but critiqued that the latter two "have been done better elsewhere", particularly Gloria Loring's cover of "Chelsea Morning". Clouds was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on August 28, 2001, having shipped 500,000 copies in the United States. In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor David Cleary called Clouds an "essential release" and "a stark stunner, a great leap forward for Joni Mitchell", commenting that her vocals "are more forthright and assured than on her debut and exhibit a remarkable level of subtle expressiveness." Although she found Mitchell "a bit too young and chipper to be singing about disillusionment", Pitchforks Jessica Hopper nonetheless viewed the album as a "landmark" for Mitchell and an "introduction to [her] real deal, shaking folk tradition and giving off a little humor and spirit." Rolling Stone observed an "older-and-wiser tone" and "much-improved second album" after Mitchell's 1968 debut. The magazine ranked the song "Both Sides, Now" number 171 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Clouds is considered a contemplative album by Rolling Stone. David Cleary comments that songs such as "Tin Angel", "That Song About the Midway", and "The Gallery" present sketches of lovers, that "I Don't Know Where I Stand" is about the uncertainty of new love, that "The Fiddle and the Drum" likens a warmongering U.S. government during the Vietnam War to a bitter friend, that "Roses Blue" discusses the misuse of the occult, and that "I Think I Understand" deals with mental illness. Jessica Hopper