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".
The Dawntreader
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gilded galleons spilled across the ocean floor
Treasure somewhere in the sea and he will find where
Never mind their questions there's no answer for
The roll of the harbor wake
The songs that the rigging makes
The taste of the spray he takes
And he learns to give
He stakes all his silver
On a promise to be free
Mermaids live in colonies
All his sea dreams come to me
City satins left at home I will not need them
I believe him when he tells of loving me
Something truthful in the sea your lies will find you
Leave behind your streets he said and come to me
Come down from the neon nights
Come down from the tourist sights
Run down till the rain delights you
You do not hide
Sunlight will renew your pride
Skin white by skin golden
Like a promise to be free
Dolphins playing in the sea
All his sea dreams come to me
Seabird I have seen you fly above the pilings
I am smiling at your circles in the air
I will come and sit by you while he lies sleeping
Fold your fleet wings I have brought some dreams to share
A dream that you love someone
A dream that the wars are done
A dream that you tell no one but the gray sea
They'll say that you're crazy
And a dream of a baby
Like a promise to be free
Children laughing out to sea
All his sea dreams come to me
In "The Dawntreader," Joni Mitchell uses vivid imagery to represent freedom and escape from the constraints of modern society. The opening lines, "Peridots and periwinkle blue medallions, gilded galleons spilled across the ocean floor" conjure up images of buried treasure and exotic jewels, which are symbols of adventure and the unknown. This is also echoed in the lines "Treasure somewhere in the sea and he will find where, never mind their questions there's no answer for."
The singer of the song is a sailor who has left behind the comforts of the city for the thrill of the sea. He is described as staking "all his silver on a promise to be free," which suggests that he has given up everything for the chance to live his life on his own terms. The singer encourages him to reject the superficiality of modern life and to "leave behind your streets he said and come to me." She mentions "neon nights" and "tourist sights" as things to be avoided and instead promotes the beauty of nature and the simplicity of a life lived off the land.
Ultimately, "The Dawntreader" is a song about freedom and the search for something more meaningful than material wealth. The singer and the sailor both dream of a life where they are free to love, to dream, and to be happy. They are willing to risk everything for the chance to live their lives on their own terms, and in the end, they find solace in the beauty and simplicity of the sea.
Line by Line Meaning
Peridots and periwinkle blue medallions
Gemstones of green and blue, colors of the sea
Gilded galleons spilled across the ocean floor
Sunken ships with their golden treasures scattered below the surface
Treasure somewhere in the sea and he will find where
A belief in wealth waiting beneath the waves, to be discovered by him
Never mind their questions there's no answer for
Trying to find answers to questions about the sea is pointless
The roll of the harbor wake
The rhythm of the sea's waves against the shore
The songs that the rigging makes
The music of the ship's ropes and sails as they strain in the wind
The taste of the spray he takes
The salty taste of the sea becomes a part of him
And he learns to give
He discovers how to be generous
He aches and he learns to live
He experiences both pain and growth while he learns how to live
He stakes all his silver
He risks everything he owns
On a promise to be free
In exchange for his risk, he hopes to gain freedom
Mermaids live in colonies
In his imagination, mermaids form communities like human beings do
All his sea dreams come to me
He shares his dreams of the sea with the singer
City satins left at home I will not need them
She does not need fancy clothes in his world
I believe him when he tells of loving me
She trusts him and believes in his love
Something truthful in the sea your lies will find you
The honesty of the sea will expose any lies
Leave behind your streets he said and come to me
He invites her to leave the city behind and join him on the water
Come down from the neon nights
Leave behind the bright lights of the city
Come down from the tourist sights
Leave behind the attractions and distractions that tourists flock to
Run down till the rain delights you
Travel until rain brings joy and contentment
You do not hide
He wants her to be open and honest with him
Sunlight will renew your pride
Being out on the water will give her a sense of renewal and pride
Skin white by skin golden
Her skin is a contrast of white and gold, like the colors of the sun and the sea
Dolphins playing in the sea
The playful nature of dolphins brings joy to him
Seabird I have seen you fly above the pilings
The singer has seen a bird fly over the wooden structures
I am smiling at your circles in the air
She enjoys watching the bird fly in patterns above the water
I will come and sit by you while he lies sleeping
She wants to sit by the bird while he sleeps, as if it were a friend
Fold your fleet wings I have brought some dreams to share
She hopes to share her dreams with the bird as if they are old friends
A dream that you love someone
She dreams of being in love
A dream that the wars are done
She dreams of living in a world without war
A dream that you tell no one but the gray sea
She only shares her deepest dreams with the sea because it will not judge her
They'll say that you're crazy
Others will judge her for her dreams
And a dream of a baby
She dreams of having a child
Like a promise to be free
Her dreams give her hope of future freedom
Children laughing out to sea
The sound of children playing brings joy to him
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind