Joni Mitchell: "Amelia"

Rate a Poem: Amelia by Joni Mitchell

  • 5 Stars: A masterpiece

    Votes: 5 50.0%
  • 4 Stars: A strong poem, but some elements didn't appeal to me

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • 3 Stars: A good poem, but it didn't move me to any great extent

    Votes: 2 20.0%
  • 2 Stars: A flawed or uninspiring piece of work

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1 Star: Does absolutely nothing for me

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    10

ddgryphon

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One of my favorite songs as poetry works--sure it is a love song--but her language is so rich it trancends--not only is she an incredible musician, but one of the finest writers to hit the music world:

Ameila

I was driving across the burning desert
When I spotted six jet planes
Leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain
It was the hexagram of the heavens
It was the strings of my guitar
Amelia, it was just a false alarm

The drone of flying engines
Is a song so wild and blue
It scrambles time and seasons if it gets thru to you
Then your life becomes a travelogue
Of picture-post-card-charms
Amelia, it was just a false alarm

People will tell you where theyve gone
Theyll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Others just come to harm
Oh amelia, it was just a false alarm

I wish that he was here tonight
Its so hard to obey
His sad request of me to kindly stay away
So this is how I hide the hurt
As the road leads cursed and charmed
I tell amelia, it was just a false alarm

A ghost of aviation
She was swallowed by the sky
Or by the sea, like me she had a dream to fly
Like icarus ascending
On beautiful foolish arms
Amelia, it was just a false alarm

Maybe Ive never really loved
I guess that is the truth
Ive spent my whole life in clouds at icy altitude
And looking down on everything
I crashed into his arms
Amelia, it was just a false alarm

I pulled into the cactus tree motel
To shower off the dust
And I slept on the strange pillows of my wanderlust
I dreamed of 747s
Over geometric farms
Dreams, amelia, dreams and false alarms
 

poetinahat

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I wish I had the ability to be this meaningful without being so prescriptive -- to trust the safety net, to know the reader will get it. I can't resist the urge to fill in all the blanks.

There's a palpable ambiguity here that suggests the words need to be sung.

In my younger days, music had to be hard or weird. I'm a late-blooming appreciator of Joni, and I'm late to this discussion -- sorry for the necromancy -- but thought it was worth a comment. Thanks, Dirk.
 

Kate Thornton

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I remember her from the Whiskey a go go in the late 1960's - so beautiful. Her lyrics have always been sharp, intelligent, poetic. Thanks for the reminder of her genius.
 

ddgryphon

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I'm glad to see this surface. From the Same album (Heijira) you should check out "Song for Sharon".

You can browse her other magnificent lyrics while there.

If I could write like her and Cohen--I'd be worshiped as a god somewhere.