"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

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
.

"Edith & the Kingpin" lyrics by Joni Mitchell

[official]




the big man arrives
disco dancers greet him

plainclothes cops greet him

smalltown bigman
fresh lipstick glistening



sophomore jive
from victims of typewriters
the band sounds like
typewriters

the big man
he's not listening

his eyes hold edith
his left hand holds
his right

what does that hand
desire
that he grips it

so tight?



edith in the ring

the passedover girls
are conferring

the man with the diamond
ring is
purring
all claws for now withdrawn



one by one they
bring his renegade stories
to her
his crimes and his glories to her

in challenge they
look on



women
he has taken
grow
old too soon

he tilts their
tired faces gently
to the spoon



edith
in his bed
a plane
in the rain is humming

the wires in the walls are
humming some song
some mysterious song

bars
in her head
beating frantic
and snowblind

romantic and snowblind she
says his crime
belongs

edith
and the kingpin each
with
charm to sway

are staring
eye to eye
they dare not look away

you know they dare not look away

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
.

"Cold Blue Steel & Sweet Fire" lyrics by Joni Mitchell

[the ?official formatting of these lyrics
doesn't do it for me]




coldbluesteel out of money
one eye for the
beatpolice

sweetfire calling you
can't deny me
now you know
what you need

underneath the jungle gym
hollowgrey fire-escape thief
looking for
sweetfire
shadow of lady release

come with me
i know the way she says
it's down
down
down the dark ladder




do you want to contact
somebody first?
leave someone a letter?

you can come now or
you can come later




a wristwatch a ring a downstairs screamer
edgy blackcracks
of the sky

pincushionprickfix
this poorbaddreamer
money
coldshadows reply




pawnshops
crisscrossed and padlocked
corridors spit-on
prayers&pleas

sparks fly
up from sweetfire
black
soot
of lady release

come with me i know the way
she says it's down down
down the dark ladder

do you want to contact somebody
first? does it really matter
if you come now
or if you
come on later?




redwater in the bathroom sink
fever&the
scumbrownbowl

bluesteel still
begging but it's indistinct
(someone's hifi drumming
jellyroll)

concrete concentrationcamp bashing in
veins for peace
coldbluesteel and sweetfire fall
into lady
release

come with me i know
the way she says it's downdowndown
the dark
ladder




do you want to
contact somebody first? i mean
what does it really matter?

you're going to come now
or you're going to come later

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
.