Sunday, October 11, 2020

Dancin' Clowns by Joni Mitchell

 Ah, oh, ooh, mm

Ooh
No, you couldn't call Jesse a babe in the woods
He's just weak in self-defense
'Cause he's so thin-skinned
He can't take a joke at his expense
"You're a push button window, " says Rowdy Yates
"I can run you up and down
Anytime I want
I can make you my dancin'
My dancin' clown"
You're my dancin' clown
Dancin', dancin'
Dancin' clown (dancin')
You're my dancin' clown (dancin')
Dancin', dancin'
Dancin' clown
Rowdy Yates is as bold as Jove
He's all chide and snide and bluff
Stuck in the romantic tradition
Of acting rough (hey) and tough (c'mon)
"You're always charging through, " says Jesse
Nervous, lookin' all around
To see who's seein' him bein' a dancin'
A dancin' clown
He's a dancin' clown
Dancin', dancin'
Dancin' clown (dancin')
He's a dancin' clown (dancin')
Dancin', dancin'
Dancin' clown
Cherchez la femme
Whenever love comes around
Someone's a dancin' clown, oh
Cherchez la femme
Whenever hearts start to pound
Someone's a dancin' clown
Down the street comes last-word Suzie
She's high yellow, lookin' top nice
You hear the swoosh of jungle blades
And the crackle of northern ice
"Hot damn!" says Rowdy, lookin' up
"Yum, " says Jesse lookin' down
"How would you like to be her dancin'
Her dancin' clown?"
Be her dancin' clown
Dancin' dancin'
Dancin' clown (dancin')
Be her dancin' clown (dancin')
Dancin', dancin'
Her dancin' clown
Cherchez la femme
Whenever love comes around (c'mon)
Someone's a dancin' clown (c'mon)
Cherchez la femme
Wherever hearts start to pound
Someone's a dancin' clown
Cherchez la femme
Whenever love comes around
Someone's a dancin' clown

4 comments:

Aaron said...

I’ve never heard this song before. I’ve only owned two Joni
Mitchell albums and none of them sound like this. That cat got some good spinning done the day they shot this. I bet you that was her kitchen. She strikes me as the type who doesn’t own a dish washer. Joni Mitchell Is very rad. I love the album where she took a road trip by herself and recorded the album in different hotel rooms.

Dan Tschirhart said...

Joni Mitchell is rad indeed

I have her 'Big Yellow Taxi' song pop into my head all the time

The cat was definitely dizzy and that was her dishwasher-less kitchen, I'm sure of it

As well as her cigarettes, I wonder what brand Joni smoked?

The thought of dancing clowns is still somewhat creepy, but most clowns are

This did make me go back and watch the Clown episode of Animaniacs when it's Wakko's birthday

"Hello I'm a puppy bark-laven-woof"

It gets me every time

"When the whippoorwill whippers in the wind....

Aaron said...

OH NICE AND CHUBBY BABY

Pirate Aggro said...

YES!!! I totally forgot that episode. Supposedly a "reboot" of Animaniacs is in the works. Which is Hollywood speak for crappy knock off that everyone hates but still manages to wring a few more dollars out of an idea.

I like the clown episode of Simpsons where they are all sitting down eating dinner and suddenly Homer jumps up and says "Thats it! You people have stood in my way long enough! I'm going to clown collage" and runs out of the room. There is a moment of silence and then Bart says "I think its safe to say none of us saw that coming."

Joni is/was rad. I dont think that there are many artists like her now. I guess there never was.