12 September 2007

"The Jungle Line" lyrics by Joni Mitchell

[original]




rousseau walks
on trumpetpaths

safaris to the heart of
all that jazz

thru i-bars & girders
thru wires & pipes
the mathematic circuits of the modern nights

thru huts
thru harlem
thru jails & gospel pews
thru the class on park
and the trash on vine

thru europe
and the deepdeep heart of dixieblue
thru savage progress cuts
the jungle line



in a lowcut blouse she brings the beer
rousseau paints a jungleflower
behind her ear

those cannibals of
shuck&jive
theyll eat a workinggirl like her
alive

with his hardedgedeye
& his steady hand
he paints the cellarfull of ferns
and orchid vines

& he hangs a moon above a
5pieceband
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 airconditioned wind
&drooling for a taste of something
smuggled in

pretty women funneled thru valves
&smoke
coy&bitchy
wild&fine

& charging elephants
& chanting slavingboats
charging chanting down the
jungle line

theres a poppy wreath on a soldiers tomb
theres a poppy snake in a dressing room
poppypoison
poppy tourniquet

it slithers away on brass
like mouthpiece spit

& metal skin & ivory
birds
go steaming up
to rousseau's vines

they go
steaming up to brooklyn bridge
steaming
steamingsteaming up
the jungle line








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