Joni Mitchell - Song For Sharon (Live London 1983)
442,955
Published 2013-08-01
I went to Staten Island, Sharon
To buy myself a mandolin
And I saw the long white dress of love
On a storefront mannequin
Big boat chuggin' back with a belly full of cars
All for something lacy
Some girl's going to see that dress
And crave that day like crazy
Little Indian kids on a bridge up in Canada
They can balance and they can climb
Like their fathers before them
They'll walk the girders of the Manhattan skyline
Shine your light on me Miss Liberty
Because as soon as this ferry boat docks
I'm headed to the church
To play Bingo
Fleece me with the gamblers' flocks
I can keep my cool at poker
But I'm a fool when love's at stake
Because I can't conceal emotion
What I'm feeling's always written on my face
There's a gypsy down on Bleecker Street
I went in to see her as a kind of joke
And she lit a candle for my love luck
And eighteen bucks went up in smoke
Sharon I left my man
At a North Dakota junction
And I came out to the "Big Apple" here
To face the dream's malfunction
Love's a repetitious danger
You'd think I'd be accustomed to
Well I do accept the changes
At least better than I used to do
A woman I knew just drowned herself
The well was deep and muddy
She was just shaking off futility
Or punishing somebody
My friends were calling up all day yesterday
All emotions and abstractions
It seems we all live so close to that line
and so far from satisfaction
Dora says "Have children"
Mama and Betsy say "Find yourself a charity
Help the needy and the crippled or put some time into Ecology"
Well there's a wide wide world of noble causes
And lovely landscapes to discover
But all I really want right now
Is find another lover
When we were kids in Maidstone, Sharon
I went to every wedding in that little town
To see the tears and the kisses
And the pretty lady in the white lace wedding gown
And walking home on the railroad tracks
Or swinging on the playground swing
Love stimulated my illusions
More than anything
And when I went skating after Golden Reggie
You know it was white lace I was chasing
Chasing dreams
Mama's nylons underneath my cowgirl jeans
He showed me first you get the kisses
And then you get the tears
But the ceremony of the bells and lace
Still veils this reckless fool here
Now there are twenty-nine skaters on Wollman Rink
Circling in singles and in pairs
In this vigorous anonymity
A blank face at the window stares and
stares and stares and stares and stares
And the power of reason
And the flowers of deep feeling
Seem to serve me
Only to deceive me
Sharon you've got a husband
And a family and a farm
I've got the apple of temptation
And a diamond snake around my arm
But you still have your music
And I've still got my eyes on the land and the sky
You sing for your friends and your family
I'll walk green pastures by and by
© 1976 Crazy Crow Music
All Comments (21)
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I'm a black vocalist who's listened to Joni since the 80s. For the Roses was one of my first vinyls. Everything I listen to BANQUET I shed tears. That has been my favorite album. She IS sultry and funky elegant in an eclectic way. Beautiful, lilting vocals. An American gem, modest, low-key. She's a valued icon. A genuine soul. GOD bless Ms. Joni... ( and her troubadours( band )
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The greatest female singer of the 20th century. Brilliant.
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Will there ever be a song writer and singer like Joni……….doubt it.👨🏻🦳
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This song is epic. Joni leaves her contemporaries for dead, and her lyric writing is unmatched by anyone since.
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Sheer genius. It is wonderful we have live recordings like this to immortalise artistes like Joni Mitchell. What a fantastic woman. Incomparable lyrics, music, voice, and stage presence. New technology has many evils, but it also has many benefits and this is one of them.
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Majestic, Imperious, Exquisite. She is a goddess. Fabulous performance. Great band also.
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She deserves The Nobel Prize of Literature.
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Michael Landau on lead is just unbelievable. He provides that hard edge that transforms the song. Super live performance.
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I love how strong a performer she is in the company of such talented accompaniment. Her songwriting transcends their technique.
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Thanks. Moat people consider BLUE her greatest album, but HEJIRA is really her masterwork. I first heard " Song for Sharon " while driving, and had to pull over to the shoulder of the highway to breathe. Cheers.
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The Nobel prize for literature. Ireland has produced some of the greats in English and indeed Irish literature, but none of them would come within an asses roar of Joni Mitchell. Shes an eagle soaring high above the turkeys.
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There is not a woman on earth that can match the natural sultry beauty and voice of Joni. I believe there will not ever be another to match her beauty and voice. Every move, every single move is music. I just love her. I could drink a case of her and still be standing!
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Joni is like a novel, not a word wasted note a phrase misplaced
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I’ve listened to her music all my life and still have no words to express my admiration for this exceptional artist
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My sister was named Sharon.Never heard this. Left the planet last year.Rest in peace
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I love the studio recording but am blown away by this live arrangement. Incredible.
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"The power of reason and the flowers of deep feelings" is the most self descriptive lyric ever written. Joni is truly the girl with all the gifts.
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What I find amusing regarding Joni is whatever I am listening to at that moment is always my favorite, lol. I think she is absolutely genius!
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Court & Spark saw me through some dark times
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Her greatest song taken apart and put back together with no backing vocals, no rolling bridges, no Jaco Pastorius, but with a rocking vicious edge and an immense clarity - lyrically extraordinary, completely stunning
