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".
Ladies
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But you take the cake
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
You could charm the diamonds
Off a rattlesnake
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
Ladies, bring it on over
When you give 'em the glance
First, you unfold them
Then you pigeonhole 'em
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
Well, it sure takes a lot of
Good natured self-control
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
When I'm so hot for you and
You're so cold, so cold
Ladies' man
Why do you keep on trying to
Make a man of me
Couldn't you just love me
Like you love cocaine
Cocaine head games
Cross my heart, I swear
I'm not trying to trick you
No tricks
Ladies' man
It's just a straight ahead feeling
I have for you
Nothing slick
Ladies' man
I guess you learn to refuse
What you think you can't handle
You're acting like a vandal
Wrecking the dream
At the first bad scene
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
Ladies' man
In the song Ladies' Man, Joni Mitchell is describing a man who has a way of charming women and leaving them heartbroken. She begins with a comparison to other heartbreakers she's known, saying that the man she's singing about takes the cake. He is a true "ladies' man" who is able to charm the "diamonds off a rattlesnake." Mitchell then invites women to bring themselves over to the man, warning them that once they are on the receiving end of a glance from him, they don't stand a chance. He has a way of unfolding them, only to pigeonhole them once they're vulnerable.
Later in the song, Mitchell turns her attention to the man directly, asking why he keeps trying to make a "man" of her. She suggests that he loves her like he loves cocaine, which only leads to destructive "head games." She acknowledges that she is drawn to him despite his flaws, but it takes a lot of "good natured self-control" to resist his charms. Mitchell closes the song by warning that the man's destructive behavior will ultimately "wreck the dream" at the first sign of trouble.
Overall, the song is a commentary on the dangers of falling for a charming but ultimately untrustworthy person. Mitchell paints a vivid picture of the man's ability to make women feel special, only to discard them when they are no longer useful to him. The repeated use of the phrase "ladies' man" emphasizes the idea that this is a pattern of behavior rather than a one-time occurrence.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I've known heart breakers
I've been with men who have broken my heart before
But you take the cake
But you're the epitome of a heartbreaker
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
You're a ladies' man
You could charm the diamonds
You can charm anyone and anything
Off a rattlesnake
Even a dangerous and deadly creature like a rattlesnake would be helpless against your charm
Ladies, bring it on over
Ladies, come over here and give him a chance to charm you
When you give 'em the glance
When you give them a look
They don't stand a chance
They don't have a chance against you
First, you unfold them
First, you get them to open up to you
Then you pigeonhole 'em
Then you categorize them in order to manipulate them
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
You're such a ladies' man
Well, it sure takes a lot of
It takes a lot of
Good natured self-control
Willpower and self-control
When I'm so hot for you and
When I want you so much and
You're so cold, so cold
You're emotionally distant and cold
Ladies' man
You're such a ladies' man
Why do you keep on trying to
Why do you keep trying to
Make a man of me
Make me be something I'm not (i.e. a man)
Couldn't you just love me
Can't you just love me
Like you love cocaine
In the same intense way that you love cocaine
Cocaine head games
Manipulative mind games like those associated with cocaine addiction
Cross my heart, I swear
I swear on my heart
I'm not trying to trick you
I'm not trying to deceive you
No tricks
I'm being honest
Ladies' man
You're such a ladies' man
It's just a straight ahead feeling
I truly and directly feel this way
I have for you
About you
Nothing slick
It's not a sly or sneaky feeling
Ladies' man
You're such a ladies' man
I guess you learn to refuse
I suppose you learn to say no to what you can't handle
What you think you can't handle
What you believe would be too difficult for you to handle
You're acting like a vandal
You're behaving destructively
Wrecking the dream
Ruining what I hoped for
At the first bad scene
At the first sign of trouble
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
You're still such a ladies' man
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
You're always a ladies' man
Ladies' man (ladies' man, ladies' man)
You'll always be a ladies' man
Ladies' man
You're a notorious ladies' man
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind