A Song for Me

[offbalance]

For the longest time, one of my small frustrations was the lack of a good song that featured my name. I have a deep, blistering hatred of the song "My Sharona", mostly due to overexposure/having it forced on me. And because my name is Sharon, not Sharona. That, and the damn thing is annoying.

So, imagine my shock when I discover today that one of my all-time favorite artists recorded something called "Song For Sharon."

I was watching The Last Waltz on VH1 Classic today and when Joni Mitchell came on to sing "Coyote." I decided to nose around on Spotify to see what album it was on, since I've liked that song since I first heard it, and I had emusic credits to burn. A few clicks and I discovered it was the first track on Hejira, which was towards the middle of Joni's jazzy-experimental-but-still-accessible phase (things arguably went off the rails with Mingus, but that's open for discussion). My eyes did a casual sweep over the track listing, and there it was. So after sharing my squee with blergeatkitty, I had to listen to it immediately (despite it being almost nine minutes long). I'm pleased to report that it's absolutely beautiful, and I love it. To my delight, it mentions several places around my city, and even touches on a few things going on in my life right now. It's like the universe sent me a great big gift, right when I really need one.




Song for Sharon by Joni Mitchell

I went to Staten Island.
To buy myself a mandolin
And I saw the long white dress of love
On a storefront mannequin
Big boat chuggin' back with a belly full of cars...
All for something lacy
Some girl's going to see that dress
And crave that day like crazy

Little Indian kids on a bridge up in Canada
They can balance and they can climb
Like their fathers before them
They'll walk the girders of the Manhattan skyline
Shine your light on me Miss Liberty
Because as soon as this ferry boat docks
I'm headed to the church
To play Bingo
Fleece me with the gamblers' flocks

I can keep my cool at poker
But I'm a fool when love's at stake
Because I can't conceal emotion
What I'm feeling's always written on my face
There's a gypsy down on Bleecker Street
I went in to see her as a kind of joke
And she lit a candle for my love luck
And eighteen bucks went up in smoke

Sharon, I left my man
At a North Dakota junction
And I came out to the "Big Apple" here
To face the dream's malfunction
Love's a repetitious danger
You'd think I'd be accustomed to
Well, I do accept the changes
At least better than I used to do

A woman I knew just drowned herself
The well was deep and muddy
She was just shaking off futility
Or punishing somebody
My friends were calling up all day yesterday
All emotions and abstractions
It seems we all live so close to that line
And so far from satisfaction

Dora says, "Have children!"
Mama and Betsy say-"Find yourself a charity."
Help the needy and the crippled or put some time into Ecology."
Well, there's a wide wide world of noble causes
And lovely landscapes to discover
But all I really want right now
Is...find another lover

When we were kids in Maidstone, Sharon
I went to every wedding in that little town
To see the tears and the kisses
And the pretty lady in the white lace wedding gown
And walking home on the railroad tracks
Or swinging on the playground swing
Love stimulated my illusions
More than anything

And when I went skating after Golden Reggie
You know it was white lace I was chasing
Chasing dreams
Mama's nylons underneath my cowgirl jeans
He showed me first you get the kisses
And then you get the tears
But the ceremony of the bells and lace
Still veils this reckless fool here

Now there are 29 skaters on Wolmann rink
Circling in singles and in pairs
In this vigorous anonymity
A blank face at the window stares and stares and stares and stares
And the power of reason
And the flowers of deep feeling
Seem to serve me
Only to deceive me

Sharon you've got a husband
And a family and a farm
I've got the apple of temptation
And a diamond snake around my arm
But you still have your music
And I've still got my eyes on the land and the sky
You sing for your friends and your family
I'll walk green pastures by and by