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".
I Had a King
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
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Lately he's taken to painting the pastel walls brown
He's taken the curtains down
He's swept with the broom of contempt
And the rooms have an empty ring
He's cleaned with the tears
Of an actor who fears for the laughter's sting-
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
They never can they never can
I had a king dressed in drip-dry and paisley
Lately he's taken to saying I'm crazy and blind
He lives in another time
Ladies in gingham still blush
While he sings them of wars and wine
But I in my leather and lace
I can never become that kind
I can't go back there anymore
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
They never can they never can
I had a king in a salt-rusted carriage
Who carried me off to his country for marriage too soon
Beware of the power of moons
There's no one to blame
No there's no one to name as a traitor here
The king's on the road
And the queen's in the grove till the end of the year-
I can't go back there anymore
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
They never can they never can
The song "I Had A King" by Joni Mitchell tells a story of a woman who used to be in love with a king who lived in a tenement castle. However, their relationship was not the fairy tale love story she had hoped for. Through lyrics such as "He's taken the curtains down, He's swept with the broom of contempt," and "Lately he's taken to saying I'm crazy and blind," it becomes clear that the once-beautiful relationship between the singer and the king has been broken. The king has become bitter, and she has become disillusioned with him. She says "I can't go back there anymore," emphasizing how her change of feelings has become too large and too defining to ever consider going back to the way things used to be.
This song is ultimately about the pain of growing apart from someone you once loved. The king's transformation from a loving, benevolent figure to a selfish and judgemental person with no regard for her feelings is a hard pill to swallow. The lyrics "The king's on the road, And the queen's in the grove till the end of the year," suggest that while she has moved on, the king has not, and she is left to deal with the emotional repercussions of their past relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I had a king in a tenement castle
I was once with a man who lived in a rundown building resembling a castle.
Lately he's taken to painting the pastel walls brown
Recently, he has changed the color of the light-colored walls to brown.
He's taken the curtains down
He has removed the curtains from the windows.
He's swept with the broom of contempt
He has cleaned with the broom of disgust and disdain.
And the rooms have an empty ring
The rooms now feel empty and hollow.
He's cleaned with the tears
He has used tears to clean, likely from someone who was profoundly upset.
Of an actor who fears for the laughter's sting-
The tears belong to an actor who is afraid of the consequences of being ridiculed.
I can't go back there anymore
I cannot return to that place.
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know that my keys will not unlock the door.
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
My thoughts and ideals do not match with his.
They never can they never can
They never will, it's impossible.
I had a king dressed in drip-dry and paisley
The man I was once with a taste for synthetic fabric and flamboyant patterns.
Lately he's taken to saying I'm crazy and blind
Recently, he has begun to call me insane and incapable of seeing things correctly.
He lives in another time
He is stuck in the past and cannot adapt to change.
Ladies in gingham still blush
He still sings to young women in modest dresses that are shy and timid.
While he sings them of wars and wine
He sings to them of historical conflicts and gets them drunk with alcohol.
But I in my leather and lace
As for me, I prefer darker and more daring clothing.
I can never become that kind
I cannot and will not change who I am to fit his lifestyle.
I had a king in a salt-rusted carriage
I was once with a man who drove a rusted carriage.
Who carried me off to his country for marriage too soon
He took me away to his home country and married me before I was ready.
Beware of the power of moons
Be cautious of the impact that emotional influences can have.
There's no one to blame
No one is at fault.
No there's no one to name as a traitor here
There is no one who can be blamed for wrongdoing.
The king's on the road
The man I was with is on the move, away from me.
And the queen's in the grove till the end of the year-
I am still here, the queen, in my current place, for the remainder of the year.
I can't go back there anymore
I cannot go back to the place where I was with him.
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know that I cannot access that place again.
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
Our ideas and beliefs do not align.
They never can they never can
They never will, they cannot coincide.
Lyrics © Crazy Crow Music / Siquomb Music Publishing, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind