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".
Passion Play
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like a washing on a line
Trembling and gleaming
Never before was a man so kind
Never so redeeming
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
Ecstasy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(Who're you gonna get)
I am up a sycamore
Looking through the leaves
A sinner of some position
Who in the world can this heart healer be
This magical physician
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Misery
You tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work?
When all the slaves are free?
(Who're you gonna get)
Oh, enter the multitudes
The walking wounded
They come to this diver
Of the heart of the multitudes, oh
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
Oh, climb down, climb down, he says to me
From the middle of unrest
They think his light is squandered
But he sees a stray in the wilderness
And I see how far I've wandered
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Apathy
You tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work?
When all the slaves are free?
(Who're you gonna get)
Oh, enter the multitudes
The walking wounded
They come to this diver
Of the heart of the multitudes, oh
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
Oh, all around the marketplace
The buzzing of the flies
The buzzing and the stinging
Divinely barren
And wickedly wise
The killer nails are ringing
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Tragedy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
Oh
(Who're you gonna get)
(Who're you gonna get)
(Who're you gonna get)
(Who're you gonna get)
(Who're you gonna get)
(Who're you gonna get)
Joni Mitchell's song "Passion Play" is a contemplative and spiritual exploration of the multitudes of people and their struggles in a world that is both beautiful and cruel. In the opening stanza, the main character, Magdalene, is trembling "like a washing on a line", suggesting vulnerability and fragility. She is in awe of a man who is kind and redeeming, perhaps a symbol of a higher power or religious figure. The singer contemplates the idea of slavery and who will do the "dirty work" once all are free. As the song progresses, the singer reflects on their own sinful position as they look for a "heart healer" or "magical physician". The multitudes, including the walking wounded, who come to the "diver of the heart" in search of answers and solace. The song ends with a contemplation of the buzzing of the flies in the marketplace and the ringing of killer nails, a reminder of the darker side of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Magdalene is trembling
Mary Magdalene is deeply moved and affected
Like a washing on a line
Trembling like clothes hanging from a washing line
Trembling and gleaming
Quivering while shining with tears or sweat
Never before was a man so kind
No one has been as compassionate as the person being referred to
Never so redeeming
They have never been as helpful or beneficial to others as they are now
Enter the multitudes
A large group of people are coming forward
In Exxon blue
Wearing blue uniforms with the Exxon logo
In radiation rose
In clothing or surroundings that suggest a post-apocalyptic world
Ecstasy
A feeling of intense happiness or pleasure
Now you tell me
Asking the listener to provide an answer
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
Who will perform the unpleasant or menial tasks
When all the slaves are free?
If there are no more oppressed people, who will do the work that is considered beneath others?
I am up a sycamore
The singer is in a high place, looking down
Looking through the leaves
Peering between the branches and foliage
A sinner of some position
Someone who holds a position of power or authority, despite having committed wrongdoing
Who in the world can this heart healer be
Wondering who the person is that can heal a troubled heart
This magical physician
A person with seemingly supernatural abilities to heal emotional pain
The walking wounded
People who are emotionally or psychologically scarred
They come to this diver Of the heart of the multitudes, oh
They seek out the person who can understand and heal the emotional pain of many people
Thy kingdom come Thy will be done
A prayer for God's kingdom to come and for his will to be carried out
Oh, climb down, climb down, he says to me
The artist is being told to come down from their high place by the person who can heal hearts
From the middle of unrest
Away from the turbulent and chaotic surroundings
They think his light is squandered
People believe that the person's gifts are being wasted
But he sees a stray in the wilderness
The person can see and help those who others may overlook or disregard
And I see how far I've wandered
The singer realizes how lost they have become
All around the marketplace
In the midst of everyday life
The buzzing of the flies
The sound of decay and death
The buzzing and the stinging
The unpleasant aspects of life
Divinely barren
A contrast between the divine and the lifeless
And wickedly wise
Intelligent in a way that is both cunning and immoral
The killer nails are ringing
Symbolic of the nails used in the crucifixion of Jesus, representing the suffering and sacrifice of humanity
Tragedy
A feeling of sadness or loss
Now you tell me
Asking the listener to provide an answer
Oh
An exclamation of surprise or emotion
(Who're you gonna get)
A repetition of the earlier question, emphasizing the theme of labor and servitude
(Who're you gonna get)
Another repetition of the same question
(Who're you gonna get)
Yet another repetition of the same question
(Who're you gonna get)
Repeating the same question again
(Who're you gonna get)
A final repetition of the question, emphasizing the uncertainty of the future
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sweatblood08
Thanks for posting this. Joni is no longer in the spotlight, but here genius lives on. None of today's stars can touch her talent.
George D
Joni will always be in the spotlight far as I'm concerned. =)
laurel soden
Joni IS the spotlight!
Trudi Goodman
She is out and about. She has not faded from view.
Tom Sparks
Never ceases to amaze me how she puts every thought of any empath to poetry and perfectly supporting musical composition. Whenever I need to remind myself of why I think and live, I turn to Joni.
Sharon Constable
I like her poetic interpretation of these gospel stories -- it's both personal and social. And the instrumentation and vocals: sublime.
melbourne727
I love this Joni Mitchell song and have always been drawn to it: "Passion Play (When All The Slaves Are Free"), from her 1991 "Night Ride Home" album. The melody is haunting, and the lyrics pull me in each time. I think a wonderful thing about art--any type of art--is that it can be interpreted differently by every person and yet still be the correct truth for that person. For me, perhaps this song is a retelling of Mary Magdalene and Jesus? "Oh climb down climb down he says to me from the middle of unrest. They think his light is squandered. But he sees a stray in the wilderness and I see how far I've wandered." Joni brings the story to the current day with her references to "Exxon blue" (gas station uniforms?). This is then injected with, perhaps, with the Magdalene Laundries (where pregnant-out-of-wedlock Catholic girls in Ireland were sent for penance to work for free ("the slaves"?), while the Sisters adopted out the babies and collected the money for the washing: "like a washing on a line." (Note the slight change in the words of each chorus, as the song proceeds.) I love this song. It all meshes and continues to evolve for me 28 years later.
charliebu
It starts with a reference to Mary Magdalen but then morphs into the story of Zacchaeus, the small tax-collector who climbed up a sycamore tree to catch sight of Jesus. Very intriguing lyrics....
Sondhead1
I always thought it was a reference to the Magdalene Laundry
Theresa Luchsinger
Love the chord progressions in this song, absolutely beautiful to my senses:)