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 Pirate of Penance
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And why he came to port I wonder
To see a lady so my friends say
She dances for the sailors
In a smoky cabaret bar underground
Down in a cellar in a harbor town
I know he told her love was treasure
And they would reap the fullest bounty
So when the winds of morning
Blew the curtains in she woke and found he'd gone
I saw his sails unfurling Thursday dawn
The pirate he will sink you with a kiss
He'll steal your heart and sail away
Saturday early we met in the cove near the forest
He'll leave you drowning in the flotsam Of a broken promise in the bay
(Dancing we wakened the dawn and the birds into chorus)
He came again to see her
Yes I think they told me it was Saturday
(Ask Penance Crane she was out in her garden she saw us)
I was at sea then
I didn't see them
I don't believe what you are saying
It isn't true I hardly knew him
Is this some game that you are playing
Go ask the dancer she's the one who saw him last
The one who drew him here
He hasn't come to me since spring last year
There was a time when he would
Bring me silks and sandalwood and Persian lace
(Then came another "goodbye" and another "Please don't go")
And he would hold me close
And tell my sailing stories by the fireplace
(All night I dance and all day I keep watch with my sorrow)
I was at sea I tell you I was
Nowhere near the mentioned murder place
(Searching for sails that don't come
And I guess but I don't know)
Go ask the dancer
She knows the answer
I don't know
She knows the answer
I don't know
She knows the answer
I don't know
The lyrics of Joni Mitchell's "The Pirate of Penance" tell the tragic story of a woman who falls in love with a pirate who promises her the world but ultimately disappears, leaving her heartbroken. The pirate comes into port to see a lady who dances for the sailors in a smoky underground bar. He tells her that love is treasure and that they will reap the fullest bounty together. However, when the lady wakes up the next morning, she finds that the pirate has left. He sails away, leaving her with a broken heart and shattered dreams.
The lady denies knowing the pirate, insisting that she was at sea when he came to port. She believes that the pirate has been murdered and encourages the singer to ask the dancer, who saw him last. Despite her denials, it is clear that the lady is deeply in love with the pirate and is devastated by his disappearance. The repetition of the line "She knows the answer/I don't know" in the final verse highlights her confusion and desperation.
Through her vivid storytelling and poetic language, Joni Mitchell captures the bittersweet nature of love and the pain that comes with its loss. The song is a powerful exploration of the complexities of human relationships and the emotions that drive us.
Line by Line Meaning
The pirate anchored on a Wednesday
The pirate arrived at the port on Wednesday
And why he came to port I wonder
I am curious about the purpose of his arrival at the port
To see a lady so my friends say
According to my friends, he came to see a lady
She dances for the sailors
She is a dancer who performs for the sailors
In a smoky cabaret bar underground
The dancer performs in an underground cabaret bar full of smoke
Down in a cellar in a harbor town
The cabaret is situated in a cellar of a harbor town
I know he told her love was treasure
He promised his love to her, describing it as a treasure
And they would reap the fullest bounty
He assured her that they were going to benefit the most from their love
He only comes to port for pleasure
He arrives at the port purely for leisure purposes
So when the winds of morning
The next morning when the winds were blowing
Blew the curtains in she woke and found he'd gone
The lady woke up and realized he had already left
I saw his sails unfurling Thursday dawn
The observer saw him leave at dawn the next day, which was Thursday
The pirate he will sink you with a kiss
He can capture you with a kiss and leave your heart in turmoil
He'll steal your heart and sail away
He will win your heart and then leave without any trace
Saturday early we met in the cove near the forest
The observer met the pirate early Saturday morning near the forest
He'll leave you drowning in the flotsam of a broken promise in the bay
His broken promises can leave you dealing with emotional wreckage
(Dancing we wakened the dawn and the birds into chorus)
We danced so joyfully that we woke up the dawn and birds started singing
He came again to see her
The pirate visited her again
Yes, I think they told me it was Saturday
According to others, it was Saturday when he came to see her again
(Ask Penance Crane she was out in her garden she saw us)
You can ask Penance Crane, who saw us from her garden
I was at sea then
The observer was at sea during that time
I didn't see them
The observer did not witness their meeting
I don't believe what you are saying
The observer expresses disbelief towards what they are being told
It isn't true I hardly knew him
The observer denies the validity of the claim as they did not interact with him much
Is this some game that you are playing
The observer suspects that the other person is playing some kind of joke or trick on them
Go ask the dancer she's the one who saw him last
The observer suggests that the dancer is the best person to ask about the pirate's whereabouts
The one who drew him here
The dancer is the person who attracted the pirate over
He hasn't come to me since spring last year
The lady has not seen the pirate since the previous year's spring
There was a time when he would
Previously, he would do the following things
Bring me silks and sandalwood and Persian lace
He would regularly bring the lady luxurious items such as silks, sandalwood, and Persian lace
(Then came another 'goodbye' and another 'Please don't go')
Then, there was another goodbye and him pleading for her not to let him go
And he would hold me close
He would hold her tightly
And tell my sailing stories by the fireplace
While sitting by the fireplace, he would tell her stories on his sailing adventures
(All night I dance and all day I keep watch with my sorrow)
The lady spends her night dancing and her days in sorrow
Searching for sails that don't come
She searches for sails that do not appear
And I guess but I don't know
She is aware of what might have happened, but she is unsure
She knows the answer
The dancer knows what happened
I don't know
The observer is unsure of what happened
She knows the answer
The observer again emphasizes the dancer's knowledge of the situation.
I don't know
The last time the observer admits to not knowing the answer.
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind