Joni Mitchell has produced a number of entertaining and thought-provoking works, though her output has slowed down considerably in recent years. I have wished I could see her in concert, but suspect with her poor health that is a thing of the past. Anyway, I wanted to pay tribute to her on Kevin's Watch by posting lyrics and videos to two or three of her songs.
BLUE
(Written by Joni Mitchell)
Blue, songs are like tattoos
You know I've been to sea before
Crown and anchor me or let me sail away
Hey blue, there is a song for you
Ink on a pin underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in
Well, there's so many sinking now
You've got to keep thinking
You can make it through these waves
Acid, booze and ass
Needles, guns and grass
Lots of laughs, lots of laughs
Everybody's saying that Hell's the hippest way to go
Well, I don't think so but I'm gonna take a look around it though
Blue, I love you
Blue, here is a shell for you
Inside you'll hear a sigh, a foggy lullaby
There is your song from me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5782PQO5is
Joni Mitchell
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Cord Hurn
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THIS FLIGHT TONIGHT
(Written by Joni Mitchell)
Look out the left, the captain said
The lights down there that's where we'll land
I saw a falling star burn up
Above the Las Vegas sands
It wasn't the one that you gave to me
That night down south between the trailers
Not the early one
That you can wish upon
Not the northern one
That guides in the sailors
Oh starlight, star bright
You've got the lovin' that I like all right
Turn this crazy bird around
I shouldn't have got on this flight tonight
You got the touch so gentle and sweet
But you've got that look so critical
Now I can't talk to you baby
I get so weak
Sometimes I think love is just mythical
Up there's a heaven
Down there's a town
Blackness everywhere and little lights shine
Oh blackness blackness dragging me down
Come on light the candle in this poor heart of mine
Oh starlight, star bright
You've got the lovin' that I like all right
Turn this crazy bird around
I shouldn't hove got on this flight tonight
I'm drinking sweet champagne
Got the headphones up high
Can't numb you out
Can't drum you out of my mind
They're playing Goodbye baby, Baby Goodbye
Ooh ooh love is blind
Up go the flaps down go the wheels
I hope you got your heat turned on baby
I hope they finally fixed your automobile
I hope it's better when we meet again baby
Starlight, star bright
You got the lovin' that I like all right
Turn this crazy bird around
I shouldn't have got on this flight tonight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTfB8Q6DpZ0
(Written by Joni Mitchell)
Look out the left, the captain said
The lights down there that's where we'll land
I saw a falling star burn up
Above the Las Vegas sands
It wasn't the one that you gave to me
That night down south between the trailers
Not the early one
That you can wish upon
Not the northern one
That guides in the sailors
Oh starlight, star bright
You've got the lovin' that I like all right
Turn this crazy bird around
I shouldn't have got on this flight tonight
You got the touch so gentle and sweet
But you've got that look so critical
Now I can't talk to you baby
I get so weak
Sometimes I think love is just mythical
Up there's a heaven
Down there's a town
Blackness everywhere and little lights shine
Oh blackness blackness dragging me down
Come on light the candle in this poor heart of mine
Oh starlight, star bright
You've got the lovin' that I like all right
Turn this crazy bird around
I shouldn't hove got on this flight tonight
I'm drinking sweet champagne
Got the headphones up high
Can't numb you out
Can't drum you out of my mind
They're playing Goodbye baby, Baby Goodbye
Ooh ooh love is blind
Up go the flaps down go the wheels
I hope you got your heat turned on baby
I hope they finally fixed your automobile
I hope it's better when we meet again baby
Starlight, star bright
You got the lovin' that I like all right
Turn this crazy bird around
I shouldn't have got on this flight tonight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTfB8Q6DpZ0
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Cord Hurn
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This is one I've always loved, especially with how she uses her voice at the song's end. 
BIG YELLOW TAXI
(Written by Joni Mitchell)
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And they put up a parking lot
Hey farmer farmer
Put away that D.D.T. now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20
BIG YELLOW TAXI
(Written by Joni Mitchell)
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And they put up a parking lot
Hey farmer farmer
Put away that D.D.T. now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20
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dANdeLION
- Lord
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Hejira is my favorite Joni cd. My favorite concert dvd is "Shadows and Light'. The band at that point was incredible.
Dandelion don't tell no lies
Dandelion will make you wise
Tell me if she laughs or cries
Blow away dandelion
I'm afraid there's no denying
I'm just a dandelion
a fate I don't deserve.
High priest of THOOOTP
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Dandelion will make you wise
Tell me if she laughs or cries
Blow away dandelion
I'm afraid there's no denying
I'm just a dandelion
a fate I don't deserve.
High priest of THOOOTP
* * This post carries Jay's seal of approval
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Sorus
- The Gap Into Spam
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Court and Spark is my favorite album.
Free Man In Paris
The way I see it, he said, you just can't win it
Everybody's in it for their own gain
You can't please 'em all
There's always somebody calling you down
I do my best and I do good business
There's a lot of people asking for my time
They're trying to get ahead
They're trying to be a good friend of mine
I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
There was nobody calling me up for favors
And no one's future to decide
You know I'd go back there tomorrow
But for the work I've taken on
Stoking the star-maker machinery
Behind the popular song
I deal in dreamers and telephone screamers
Lately I wonder what I do it for
If I had my way
I'd just walk through those doors
And wander down the Champs-Elysees
Going cafe to cabaret
Thinking how I'd feel when I find
That very good friend of mine
I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody was calling me up for favors
No one's future to decide
You know I'd go back there tomorrow
But for the work I've taken on
Stoking the star-maker machinery
Behind the popular song
Free Man In Paris
The way I see it, he said, you just can't win it
Everybody's in it for their own gain
You can't please 'em all
There's always somebody calling you down
I do my best and I do good business
There's a lot of people asking for my time
They're trying to get ahead
They're trying to be a good friend of mine
I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
There was nobody calling me up for favors
And no one's future to decide
You know I'd go back there tomorrow
But for the work I've taken on
Stoking the star-maker machinery
Behind the popular song
I deal in dreamers and telephone screamers
Lately I wonder what I do it for
If I had my way
I'd just walk through those doors
And wander down the Champs-Elysees
Going cafe to cabaret
Thinking how I'd feel when I find
That very good friend of mine
I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody was calling me up for favors
No one's future to decide
You know I'd go back there tomorrow
But for the work I've taken on
Stoking the star-maker machinery
Behind the popular song
Oh, a change is coming, feel these doors now closing
Is there no world for tomorrow, if we wait for today?
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Linna Heartbooger
- Are you not a sine qua non for a redemption?
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These lyrics really stick in your head... I'd heard the Indigo Girls version.Joni Mitchell wrote:They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Had no idea who'd written it: it's so haunting, and you just see it happening and go, "Yeah, that really happens."
And this!They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half to see 'em
"People without hope not only don't write novels, but what is more to the point, they don't read them.
They don't take long looks at anything, because they lack the courage.
The way to despair is to refuse to have any kind of experience, and the novel, of course, is a way to have experience."
-Flannery O'Connor
"In spite of much that militates against quietness there are people who still read books. They are the people who keep me going."
-Elisabeth Elliot, Preface, "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael"
They don't take long looks at anything, because they lack the courage.
The way to despair is to refuse to have any kind of experience, and the novel, of course, is a way to have experience."
-Flannery O'Connor
"In spite of much that militates against quietness there are people who still read books. They are the people who keep me going."
-Elisabeth Elliot, Preface, "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael"
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Cord Hurn
- Servant of the Band
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- Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 7:08 pm
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- Been thanked: 4 times
COYOTE
(Written by Joni Mitchell)
No regrets Coyote
We just come from such different sets of circumstance
I'm up all night in the studios
And you're up early on your ranch
You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail
While the sun is ascending
And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel
There's no comprehending
Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes
And the lips you can get
And still feel so alone
And still feel related
Like stations in some relay
You're not a hit and run driver no no
Racing away
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
We saw a farmhouse burning down
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of the night
And we rolled right past that tragedy
Till we turned into some road house lights
Where a local band was playing
Locals were up kicking and shaking on the floor
And the next thing I know
That coyote's at my door
He pins me in a corner and he won't take no
He drags me out on the dance floor
And we're dancing close and slow
Now he's got a woman at home
He's got another woman down the hall
He seems to want me anyway
Why'd you have to get so drunk
And lead me on that way
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
I looked a coyote right in the face
On the road to Baljennie near my old home town
He went running thru the whisker wheat
Chasing some prize down
And a hawk was playing with him
Coyote was jumping straight up and making passes
He had those same eyes just like yours
Under your dark glasses
Privately probing the public rooms
And peeking thru keyholes in numbered doors
Where the players lick their wounds
And take their temporary lovers
And their pills and powders to get them thru this passion play
No regrets Coyote
I'll just get off up aways
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
Coyote's in the coffee shop
He's staring a hole in his scrambled eggs
He picks up my scent on his fingers
While he's watching the waitresses' legs
He's too far from the Bay of Fundy
From appaloosas and eagles and tides
And the air conditioned cubicles
And the carbon ribbon rides
Are spelling it out so clear
Either he's going to have to stand and fight
Or take off out of here
I tried to run away myself
To run away and wrestle with my ego
And with this flame
You put here in this Eskimo
In this hitcher
In this prisoner
Of the fine white lines
Of the white lines on the free free way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7MbmXklj3Q
A song on the difficulties of keeping connections has a clean spare sound and great bass by Jaco Pastorius.
(Written by Joni Mitchell)
No regrets Coyote
We just come from such different sets of circumstance
I'm up all night in the studios
And you're up early on your ranch
You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail
While the sun is ascending
And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel
There's no comprehending
Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes
And the lips you can get
And still feel so alone
And still feel related
Like stations in some relay
You're not a hit and run driver no no
Racing away
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
We saw a farmhouse burning down
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of the night
And we rolled right past that tragedy
Till we turned into some road house lights
Where a local band was playing
Locals were up kicking and shaking on the floor
And the next thing I know
That coyote's at my door
He pins me in a corner and he won't take no
He drags me out on the dance floor
And we're dancing close and slow
Now he's got a woman at home
He's got another woman down the hall
He seems to want me anyway
Why'd you have to get so drunk
And lead me on that way
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
I looked a coyote right in the face
On the road to Baljennie near my old home town
He went running thru the whisker wheat
Chasing some prize down
And a hawk was playing with him
Coyote was jumping straight up and making passes
He had those same eyes just like yours
Under your dark glasses
Privately probing the public rooms
And peeking thru keyholes in numbered doors
Where the players lick their wounds
And take their temporary lovers
And their pills and powders to get them thru this passion play
No regrets Coyote
I'll just get off up aways
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
Coyote's in the coffee shop
He's staring a hole in his scrambled eggs
He picks up my scent on his fingers
While he's watching the waitresses' legs
He's too far from the Bay of Fundy
From appaloosas and eagles and tides
And the air conditioned cubicles
And the carbon ribbon rides
Are spelling it out so clear
Either he's going to have to stand and fight
Or take off out of here
I tried to run away myself
To run away and wrestle with my ego
And with this flame
You put here in this Eskimo
In this hitcher
In this prisoner
Of the fine white lines
Of the white lines on the free free way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7MbmXklj3Q
A song on the difficulties of keeping connections has a clean spare sound and great bass by Jaco Pastorius.