words and music by Joni Mitchell

Of the darkness in men's minds
What can you say
That wasn't marked by history
Or the T.V. news today
He gets away with murder
The blizzards come and go
The stab and glare and buckshot
Of the heavy heavy snow
It comes and goes
It comes and goes

His grandpa loved an empire
His sister loved a thief
And lindsey loved the ways of darkness
Beyond belief

words by Joni Mitchell
music by Charles Mingus

I'm down to a roll of dimes
I'm stalking the slot that's hot
I keep hearing bells all around me
Jingling in the lucky jackpots
They keep you tantalized
They keep you reaching for your wallet
Here in fools' paradise!

I talked to a cat from Des Moines
He said he ran a cleaning plant
That cat was clanking with coin

words by Joni Mitchell
music by Charles Mingus

I almost closed the door
Cancelled on everything we opened up for
Tonight the shadows had their say
Their sad notions of the way
Things really are
Damn these blues!
They'd turn my heart against you
Since I was fool enough
To find romance
I'm trying to convince myself
This is just a dance!

We move in measures
Through loves' changing faces

words by Joni Mitchell
music by Charles Mingus

When Charlie speaks of Lester
You know someone great has gone
The sweetest swinging music man
Had a Porkie Pig hat on
A bright star
In a dark age
When the bandstands had a thousand ways
Of refusing a black man admission
Black musician
In those days they put him in an
Underdog position
Cellars and chittlins'

When Lester took him a wife

words and music by Joni Mitchell

He is three
One's in the middle unmoved
Waiting
To show what he sees
To the other two
To the one attacking--so afraid
And the one that keeps trying to love and trust
And getting himself betrayed
In the plan--oh
The divine plan
God must be a boogie man!

One's so sweet
So overly loving and gentle
He lets people in
To his innermost sacred temple
Blind faith to care

words by Joni Mitchell
music by Charles Mingus

The rain slammed hard as bars
It caught me--by surprise
Mutts of the planet
And shook me down for alibis
I'm waiting
For the keeper to release me
Debating this sentence
Biding my time
In memories
Of old friends of mine ...
In daydreams of Birdland
I see my soul on fire
Burning up the bandstand
Next time
I'll be bigger!
I'll be better than ever!