Joni Mitchell

[fox69]

"The Jungle Line"

"The Jungle Line"



Rousseau walks on trumpet paths
Safaris to the heart of all that jazz
Through I bars and girders-through wires and pipes
The mathematic circuits of the modern nights
Through huts, through Harlem, through jails and gospel pews
Through the class on Park and the trash on Vine
Through Europe and the deep deep heart of Dixie blue
Through savage progress cuts the jungle line

In a low-cut blouse she brings the beer
Rousseau paints a jungle flower behind her ear
Those cannibals-of shuck and jive
They'll eat a working girl like her alive
With his hard-edged eye and his steady hand
He paints the cellar full of ferns and orchid vines
And he hangs a moon above a five-piece band
He hangs it up above the jungle line

The jungle line, the jungle line
Screaming in a ritual of sound and time
Floating, drifting on the air-conditioned wind
And drooling for a taste of something smuggled in
Pretty women funneled through valves and smoke
Coy and bitchy, wild and fine
And charging elephants and chanting slaving boats
Charging, chanting down the jungle line

There's a poppy wreath on a soldier's tomb
There's a poppy snake in a dressing room
Poppy poison-poppy tourniquet
It slithers away on brass like mouthpiece spit
And metal skin and ivory birds
Go steaming up to Rousseau's vines
They go steaming up to Brooklyn Bridge
Steaming, steaming, steaming up the jungle line

 

[fox69]

"The Last Time I Saw Richard"

"The Last Time I Saw Richard"



The last time I saw Richard was Detroit in '68
And he told me all romantics meet the same fate someday
Cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark cafe
"You laugh," he said, "You think you're immune,
Go look at your eyes, they're full of moon
You like roses and kisses and pretty men to tell you
All those pretty lies, pretty lies
When you gonna realize they're only pretty lies
Only pretty lies, just pretty lies"

He put a quarter in the Wurlitzer
And he pushed three buttons and the thing began to whirr
And a bar maid came by in fishnet stockings and a bow tie
And she said, "Drink up now it's gettin' on time to close"
"Richard you haven't really changed," I said,
"It's just that now you're romanticizing some pain that's in your head
You got tombs in your eyes, but the songs you punched are dreaming
Listen, they sing of love so sweet, love so sweet
When you gonna go get yourself back on your feet?
Oh love can be so sweet, love so sweet."

Richard got married to a figure skater
And he bought her a dishwasher and a coffee percolator
And he drinks at home now most nights with the TV on
And all the house lights left up bright
I'm gonna blow this damn candle out
I don't want nobody comin' over to my table
I got nothing to talk to anybody about
All good dreamers pass this way some day
Hidin' behind bottles in dark cafes, dark cafes
Only a dark cocoon before I get my gorgeous wings and fly away
Only a phase, these dark cafe days.

 

[fox69]

"The Magdalene Laundries"

"The Magdalene Laundries"



I was an unmarried girl
I'd just turned twenty-seven
When they sent me to the sisters
For the way men looked at me
Branded as a jezebel
I knew I was not bound for Heaven
I'd be cast in shame
Into the Magdalene laundries

Most girls come here pregnant
Some by their own fathers
Bridget got that belly
By her parish priest
We're trying to get things white as snow
All of us woe-begotten-daughters
In the streaming stains
Of the Magdalene laundries

Prostitutes and destitutes
And temptresses like me--
Fallen women--
Sentenced into dreamless drudgery ...
Why do they call this heartless place
Our Lady of Charity?
Oh charity!

These bloodless brides of Jesus
If they had just once glimpsed their groom
Then they'd know, and they'd drop the stones
Concealed behind their rosaries
They wilt the grass they walk upon
They leech the light out of a room
They'd like to drive us down the drain
At the Magdalene laundries

Peg O'Connell died today
She was a cheeky girl
A flirt
They just stuffed her in a hole!
Surely to God you'd think at least some bells should ring!
One day I'm going to die here too
And they'll plant me in the dirt
Like some lame bulb
That never blooms come any spring
Not any spring
No, not any spring
Not any spring

 

[fox69]

"The Only Joy In Town"

"The Only Joy In Town"



I want to paint a picture
Botticelli style
Instead of Venus on a clam
I'd paint this flower child
"You are the air my flowers breathe"
He calls, and the ladies turn around
On the first day of Spring
I'm looking at the only joy around

He's the only joy around
The only joy I found
The only joy in town

The Spanish steps are crowded
Bunch of bodies brooding there
Dead pan side-walk vendors
Hustling vacant stares
Making all the more exceptional
This fool in a flower crown
On the first day of Spring
I'm looking at the only joy in town

He's the only joy around
The only joy I found
The only joy in town

The Botticelli black boy
With the fuchias in his hair
Is breathing in women like oxygen
On the Spanish stairs
In my youth I would have followed him
All through this terra-cotta town
On the first day of Spring
We'd dance and sing
And be the only joy around

We'd be the only joy around
The only joy in town
He's the only joy I've found
All day

At night these streets are empty
Where does everybody go
Where are the brash and tender rooms
In Roman candle glow
Where are Fellini's circus'
La Dolce Vita clowns
On the first day of Spring
I'm looking
At the only joy in town

He's the only joy around
The only joy I found
The only joy in town

 

[fox69]

"The Pirate Of Penance"

"The Pirate Of Penance"


[PENANCE CRANE:]
The pirate anchored on a Wednesday
And why he came to port I wonder
To see a lady so my friends say
She dances for the sailors
In a smoky cabaret bar underground
Down in a cellar in a harbor town
I know he told her love was treasure
And they would reap the fullest bounty
He only comes to port for pleasure
So when the winds of morning
Blew the curtains in she woke and found he'd gone
I saw his sails unfurling Thursday dawn
The pirate he will sink you with a kiss
He'll steal your heart and sail away

[THE DANCER:]
Saturday early we met in the cove near the forest

[PENANCE:]
He'll leave you drowning in the flotsam Of a broken promise in the bay

[THE DANCER:]
(Dancing we wakened the dawn and the birds into chorus)

[PENANCE:]
He came again to see her
Yes I think they told me it was Saturday

[THE DANCER:]
(Ask Penance Crane she was out in her garden she saw us)

[PENANCE:]
I was at sea then
I didn't see them
I don't believe what you are saying
It isn't true I hardly knew him
Is this some game that you are playing
Go ask the dancer she's the one who saw him last
The one who drew him here
He hasn't come to me since spring last year
There was a time when he would
Bring me silks and sandalwood and Persian lace

[THE DANCER:]
(Then came another "goodbye" and another "Please don't go")

[PENANCE:]
And he would hold me close
And tell my sailing stories by the fireplace

[THE DANCER:]
(All night I dance and all day I keep watch with my sorrow)

[PENANCE:]
I was at sea I tell you I was
Nowhere near the mentioned murder place

[THE DANCER:]
(Searching for sails that don't come
And I guess but I don't know)

[PENANCE:]
Go ask the dancer
She knows the answer

[THE DANCER:]
I don't know

[PENANCE:]
She knows the answer

[THE DANCER:]
I don't know

[PENANCE:]
She knows the answer

[THE DANCER:]
I don't know

 

[fox69]

"The Priest"

"The Priest"



The priest sat in the airport bar
He was wearing his father's tie
And his eyes looked into my eyes so far
Whenever the words ran dry
Behind the lash and the circles blue
He looked as only a priest can, thru
And his eyes said me and his eyes said you
And my eyes said, let us try

He said, "You wouldn't like it here
No it's no place you should share
The roof is ripped with hurricanes
And the room is always bare
I need the wind and I seek the cold"
He reached post the wine for my hand to hold
And he saw me young and he saw me old
And he saw me sitting there

Then he took his contradictions out
And he splashed them on my brow
So which words was I then to doubt
When choosing what to vow
Should I choose them all-should I make them mine
The sermons, the hymns and the valentines
And he asked for truth and he asked for time
And he asked for only now
Now the trials are trumpet scored
Oh will we pass the test
Or just as one loves more and more
Will one love less and less
Oh come let's run from this ring we're in
Where the Christians clap and the Germans grin
Saying let them lose, crying let them win
Oh make them both confess

 

[fox69]

"The Reoccuring Dream"

"The Reoccuring Dream"



This is the reoccurring dream
Born in the dreary gap between
What we have now
And what we wish we could have
More fulfilling--and less frustrating!
Out of the envy in our eyes
Look!
Glamorous picture people rise
Radiant!
Gleaming down from screens and pages
Ooh--glamour--before your very eyes!
Isn't it true--isn't it true?
Good question--I know--who cares
Look here they tell you
If you had this
If you had that
Latest styles and colors
If we had that for us mmmmm
Wouldn't it be fabulous
If you had that house, car, bottle, jar
Your lovers would look like movie stars
Movie stars, movie stars, movie stars
Order your youth secrets of the stars
Call now--just $9.99

Our discontent is their delight
They offer relief for the purchase price
Love in a bottle
Love on four wheels
Is that our new car Charles?
Isn't it true--isn't it true?
We guarantee it--pick up your phone and dial
See here they sell you
If you had this
If you had that
I want a new truck!--More power!
If you use this shampoo
True love will come to you
If you had that house, car, bottle, jar
Your lovers would look like movie stars
Movie stars, movie stars, movie stars
Hollywood's greatest legends

Recognize this?
Dreamer
Soft sexy hair
Dream on
He's going to love me in this ruby, ruby lipstick
Others will notice!--Sexy!--Who cares!

Recognize this?
Dreamer
Latest styles and colors
Oh, dream on, dream on, dream on
The fashion looks you've been hoping for
Sexy--sexy

Recognize this?
Dreamer
So special
Dream on
We will have happiness in heaven
The place you dreamed of retiring to--
Who cares

Recognize this?
Dreamer
I know that glamour is--sexy
Oh dream on dreamer
What could go wrong?
Dream on
Who cares!

Recognize this?
Dreamer
I'm afraid I can't go below two million
Dream on
Life would be easy if I had that new appliance
Food processors for all of us
Who cares!

Recognize this?
Dreamer
There are lots of strings
Dream on
We can solve everything in science
Naturally
Science
It's a picture of how to get what you want out of life

Recognize this?
I love it
Dreamer
Isn't there some other way?
Who cares!

 

[fox69]

"The Silky Veils Of Ardor"

"The Silky Veils Of Ardor"



I am a poor wayfaring stranger
Traveling through all these highs and lows
I heard there was no sickness
And no toil or danger
Just mercy and plenty
Where peaceful waters flow
Where peaceful waters flow

Come all you fair and tender school girls
Be careful now--when you court young men
They are like the stars
On a summer morning
They sparkle up the night
And they're gone again
Daybreak--gone again

If I'd only seen through the silky veils of ardor
What a killing crime this love can be
I would have locked up my heart
In a golden sheath of armor
And kept its crazy beating
Under strictest secrecy
High security

I wish I had the wings
Of Noah's pretty little white dove
So I could fly this raging river
To reach the one I love
But I have no wings
And the water is so wide
We'll have to row a little harder
It's just in dreams we fly
In my dreams we fly!

 

[fox69]

"The Sire Of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)"

"The Sire Of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)"


Let me speak, let me spit out my bitterness--
Born of grief and nights without sleep and festering flesh
Do you have eyes?
Can you see like mankind sees?
Why have you soured and curdled me?
Oh you tireless watcher! What have I done to you?
That you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true?

Once I was blessed; I was awaited like the rain
Like eyes for the blind, like feet for the lame
Kings heard my words, and they sought out my company
But now the janitors of Shadowland flick their brooms at me
Oh you tireless watcher! What have I done to you?
that you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true?

([Antagonists:] Man is the sire of sorrow)
I've lost all taste for life
I'm all complaints
Tell me why do you starve the faithful?
Why do you crucify the saints?
And you let the wicked prosper
You let their children frisk like deer
And my loves are dead or dying, or they don't come near
([Antagonists:] We don't despise your chastening
God is correcting you)

Oh and look who comes to counsel my deep distress
Oh, these pompous physicians
What carelessness!
([Antagonists:] Oh all this ranting all this wind
Filling our ears with trash)
Breathtaking ignorance adding insult to injury!
They come blaming and shaming
([Antagonists:] Evil doer)
And shattering me
([Antagonists:] This vain man wishes to seem wise
A man born of asses)
Oh you tireless watcher! What have I done to you?
That you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true?

([Antagonists:] We don't despise your chastening)
Already on a bed of sighs and screams,
And still you torture me with visions
You give me terrifying dreams!
Better I was carried from the womb straight to the grave.
I see the diggers waiting, they're leaning on their spades.

([Antagonists:] Man is the sire of sorrow
Sure as the sparks ascend)
Where is hope while you're wondering what went wrong?
Why give me light and then this dark without a dawn?
([Antagonists:] Evil is sweet in your mouth
Hiding under your tongue)
Show your face!
([Antagonists:] What a long fall from grace)
Help me understand!
What is the reason for your heavy hand?
([Antagonists:] You're stumbling in shadows
You have no name now)
Was it the sins of my youth?
What have I done to you?
That you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true?
([Antagonists:] Oh your guilt must weigh so greatly)
Everything I dread and everything I fear come true
([Antagonists:] Man is the sire of sorrow)
Oh you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true

 

[fox69]

"The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)"

"The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)"



Study war no more
Lay down your arms
Study war no more
Lay 'em down lay 'em down now
Study war no more
Lay down your arms
Study war no more

Newsreels rattle the Nazi dread
The able-bodied have shipped away
Molly McGee gets her tea-leaves read
You'll be married in a month they say
"These leaves are crazy!
Look at this town there's no men left!
Just frail old boys and babies
Talking to teacher in the treble clef"

She plants her garden in the spring
She does the winter shovelling
Tokyo Rose on the radio
She says she's leavin' but she don't go

Out of the blue just passin' thru
A young flight sergeant
On two weeks leave
Says "Molly McGee no one else will do!"
And seals the tea-leaf prophecy
Oh these nights are strong and soft
Private passions and secret storms
Nothin' about him ticks her off
And he looks so cute in his uniform

She plants her garden in the spring
He does the winter shovelling
But summer's just a sneeze
In a long long bad winter cold
She says "I'm leavin' here" but she don't go

"Sleep little darlin'!
This is your happy home
Hiroshima cannot be pardoned!
Don't have kids when you get grown
Because this world is shattered
The wise are mourning
The fools are joking
Oh what does it matter?
The wash needs ironing
And the fire needs stoking"

She plants her garden in the spring
He does the winter shovelling
The three of 'em laughing 'round the radio
She says "I'm leavin' here" but she don't go

She plants her garden in the spring
They do the winter shovelling
They sit up late and watch the
Johnny Carson show
She says "I'm leavin' here but she don't go".