I’m listening to Pandora this morning, which is an advisable respite from Project Playlist. I’ve got about fifteen little radio stations set up, but this morning I’m listening to the “Air” station (the band, not the mixture of gases).
Pandora does this weird thing sometimes where it throws a completely random song into your otherwise homogenous radio station (like an Amy Grant song on my “Gorillaz” radio station the other day…what the fuck?), I think just to see if you’re paying attention. Today, it was “Come In From The Cold” by Joni Mitchell. Because Joni and Air have so much in common. But I digress…
Although it was bit out of place between Trentemøller and Electric President, the song nevertheless pleasantly reminded me of my college days spent listening to Joni Mitchell on my CD walkman while snuggled under my covers on cold Saturday mornings. I loved Joni Mitchell. I had all of her songs memorized. I wanted to be like her, living a bohemian life in a Paris apartment with a scandalously older man, drinking inadvisable amounts of red wine every day and occasionally flying back to New York to associate with my poet and artist friends at a Chelsea cafe.
It inspired me to post a few Joni Mitchell songs, which aren’t among the ones that I fell in love with in my heady adolescence. These are some of her “middle-age” songs, which I find myself strangely identifying with at the ripe old age of 27. Either way, they’re beautiful lyrics, so…enjoy.
Back in 1957
We had to dance a foot apart
And they hawk-eyed us from the sidelines
Holding their rulers without a heart
And so with just a touch of our fingers
I could make our circuitry explode
All we ever wanted
Was just to come in from the cold
Come in
Come in from the cold
(we were so young)
Oh come in
Come in from the cold
We really thought we had a purpose
We were so anxious to achieve
We had hope
The world held promise
For a slave to liberty
Freely I slaved away for something better
And I was bought and sold
And all I ever wanted
Was just to come in from the cold
Come in
Come in from the cold
(we were so sure)
Oh come in
Come in from the cold
I feel your leg under the table
Leaning into mine
I feel renewed
I feel disabled
By these bonfires in my spine
I don’t know who the arsonist was
Which incendiary soul
But all I ever wanted
Was just to come in from the cold
Come in
Come in from the cold
(you were so warm)
Oh come in
Come in from the cold
I am not some stone commission
Like a statue in a park
I am flesh and blood and vision
I am howling in the dark
Long blue shadows of the jackals
Are falling on a pay phone by the road
Oh all they ever wanted
Was just to come in from the cold
Come in
Come in from the cold
(I was so low)
Oh come in
Come in from the cold
Is this just vulgar electricity
Is this the edifying fire
(it was so pure)
Does your smile’s covert complicity
Debase as it admires
(just a flu with a temperature)
Are you just checking out your mojo
(oohoo)
Or am I just fighting off growing old
(just a high fever)
All I ever wanted
Was just to come in from the cold
Come in
Come in from the cold
(it was so pure)
Oh come in
Come in from the cold
I know we never will be perfect
Never entirely clear
(when the moon shines)
We get hurt and we just panic
And we strike out
Out of fear
(you were only being kind)
I fear the sentence of this solitude
200 years on hold
(for my loving crime)
Oh and all we ever wanted
Was just to come in from the cold
Come in
Come in from the cold
(when the moon shines)
Oh come in
Come in from the cold
When I thought life had some meaning
Then I thought I had some choice
(I was running blind)
And I made some value judgments
In a self-important voice
(I was outa line)
But then absurdity came over me
And I longed to lose control
(into no mind)
Oh all I ever wanted
Was just to come in from the cold
Come in
Come in from the cold
(you were so kind)
Please come in
(so kind)
Come in from the cold
Come in come in
Come in from the cold
Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at clouds that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall.
I really don’t know clouds at all.
Moons and Junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real; I’ve looked at love that way.
But now it’s just another show. you leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know, don’t give yourself away.
I’ve looked at love from both sides now,
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall.
I really don’t know love at all.
Tears and fears and feeling proud to say “I love you” right out loud,
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I’ve looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say I’ve changed.
Something’s lost but something’s gained in living every day.
I’ve looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall.
I really don’t know life at all.
