Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto, Ontario. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition. In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music". NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made by Women.
Mitchell switched labels and began exploring more jazz-influenced melodic ideas, by way of lush pop textures, on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris" and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975. Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002 and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.
Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums. A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th and last album of original songs in 2007. Mitchell has designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".
A Chair in the Sky
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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
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
I'll be happily attached
To my cold hard cash
But now Manhattan holds me
To a chair in the sky
With the bird in my ears
And boats in my eyes
Going by
There are things I wish I'd done
Some friends I'm gonna miss
Beautiful lovers
I never got the chance to kiss
Daydreamin' drugs the pain of living
Processions of missing
Lovers and friends
Fade in and they fade out again
In these daydreams of rebirth
I see myself in style
Raking in what I'm worth
Next time
I'll be bigger
I'll be better than ever
I'll be resurrected royal
I'll be rich as standard oil
But now, Manhattan holds me
To a chair in the sky
With the bird in my ears
And boats in my eyes
Going by
In A Chair in the Sky, Joni Mitchell uses vivid imagery and metaphors to convey the feeling of being trapped in a place, both physically and mentally. The rain is described as slamming hard like bars, emphasizing the feeling of being imprisoned. The singer is waiting for the keeper to release her and is debating her sentence. She finds solace in memories of old friends but is also daydreaming of a better future in which she is bigger and better than ever, happy and rich. However, for now, Manhattan holds her to a chair in the sky, with the bird and boats passing by, emphasizing the feeling of helplessness.
The use of imagery and metaphor is a recurring theme in Joni Mitchell's music. The chair in the sky represents the singer's feeling of being stuck in a certain place and time, unable to move forward. The bird and boats passing by represent the fleeting nature of life and the passing of time. The singer is daydreaming of a better future where she is happy and rich, but as the rain slams hard like bars, it emphasizes that she is currently stuck in a place of confinement.
Line by Line Meaning
The rain slammed hard as bars
The heavy rain came down forcefully and felt like a prison.
It caught me by surprise
The rain came without warning, and it was unexpected.
Mutts of the planet
People from all over the world.
And shook me down for alibis
They questioned and accused me, trying to find reasons for my actions.
I'm waiting
I am in a state of anticipation or expectation.
For the keeper to release me
Waiting for someone of authority to allow me to go free.
Debating this sentence
I am considering the consequences of my actions and the punishment that was given to me.
Biding my time
I am waiting patiently for my opportunity to escape.
In memories
Thinking back to the past.
Of old friends of mine
Remembering people from my past whom I used to know well.
In daydreams of Birdland
I am imagining a place where jazz music is played, called Birdland.
I see my soul on fire
I am passionate about playing music and feel like my soul is on fire.
Burning up the bandstand
I am playing music so well that the audience is enraptured by my performance.
Next time
In the future.
I'll be bigger
I will be more successful than I am now.
I'll be better than ever
I will improve even more in the future.
I'll be happily attached
I will be in a loving relationship and happy about it.
To my cold hard cash
I will have a lot of money, which will make me happy.
But now Manhattan holds me
I am currently in Manhattan.
To a chair in the sky
I am stuck in a high place with no way to leave.
With the bird in my ears
I can hear birds singing.
And boats in my eyes
I can see boats floating by, perhaps from a high window.
Going by
The boats are moving past me, possibly while I am stuck in place.
There are things I wish I'd done
Reflecting on missed opportunities in life.
Some friends I'm gonna miss
Thinking about friends who have left my life.
Beautiful lovers
People who I loved or could have loved romantically.
I never got the chance to kiss
I didn't get the opportunity to share a romantic moment with those I loved.
Daydreamin' drugs the pain of living
Imagining a different life can help ease the pain of one's current reality.
Processions of missing
A parade or series of memories of people who are no longer in my life.
Lovers and friends
People who were either romantic or platonic partners.
Fade in and they fade out again
Memories of people or events come and go quickly.
In these daydreams of rebirth
Imagining a better future and becoming a new, better person.
I see myself in style
I imagine myself as confident and stylish in this vision of the future.
Raking in what I'm worth
Making a lot of money and feeling successful.
I'll be resurrected royal
I will be reborn as someone important or of high status.
I'll be rich as standard oil
I will be very wealthy, possibly even as rich as one of the wealthiest people in history, John D. Rockefeller.
But now, Manhattan holds me
I am still stuck in Manhattan currently.
To a chair in the sky
I am in a high place where I feel like there is no escape.
With the bird in my ears
I can hear birds singing, which could be a way to cope with being stuck.
And boats in my eyes
I can see boats passing by, giving me a view of the world outside my confinement.
Going by
The boats are passing by, making me feel trapped and stuck in place.
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Charles Mingus, Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind