Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. … Read Full Bio ↴Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. Drawing from folk, pop, rock, classical and jazz, Mitchell's songs often reflect on social and philosophical ideals as well as her feelings about romance, womanhood, disillusionment and joy. She has received many accolades, including ten Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century".

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 Tenth World
Joni Mitchell Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Baila mi rumba
Batela, goza why mira mama
Baila, mira mama
Batela, goza, mira eh
Rumbando bello es que yo voy
Bailala bailala bailala
Bailala baila baila
Eh eh mama

[??????]
Baila baila my rumbo[?]
Ele eh ele eh
Bailala bailala baila
Din din baragadin dan dan [this is onomatopoeia]
Baila baila baila baila
Venezolano en Nueva York
En California why en todos lados
Te la traigo
Para que vos...para que gozes gozes cosa buena
Gozes con todo el mundo
El africano why todo el mundo
Bailala
Bailala
Bailala
Bailala
Bailala
Gringos!
Izquierdo! Izquierdo! Vamos, oye!
[onomatopoeic sounds, interjections, sighs, whistling, bits of dialogue among the musicians that sound like instructions or encouragement to keep on playing and dancing]
Me voy
Me voy
Me voy
Me voy
Me voy
Me voy
Me voy
Me voy
[More chanting and onomatopoeia]
[Translation:]
Dance to my rumba
Beat it [maybe a drum?], enjoy, look mama [maybe meaning "look at me and learn the steps."]
Dance, look mama
Beat it, enjoy, look
Dancing the rumba beautifully. That's how I go.
Hey hey mama
Dance to it, dance
Dance
Dance this way [This a tentative translation, the expression I hear is actually unidiomatic]
Dance to it, dance
A Venezuelan in New York [maybe referring to himself]
In California and everywhere
I bring it to you [the rumba]
So that you will enjoy a good thing
Enjoy it with the rest of the world
With the African and the rest of the world
Dance to it
Gringos! [This is funny. "Gringo" is a pejorative way that some South Americans have to refer to Anglo-Saxons. It's clear that some Americans are actually dancing to the music in the studio and receiving instructions from the singer, including this veiled semi-insult. Was Joni there too?]
Left! Left! [maybe meaning use your left foot now]

I say, Come on!
I'm going now! [Or it could also be I'm "coming"!]

Overall Meaning

Joni Mitchell's song "The Tenth World" features a segment in Spanish that describes a jubilant dance party. The lyrics speak to the universal language of music and the joy that can be shared across borders and cultures. The singer encourages everyone, including gringos and people of all nationalities, to dance to the rumba and enjoy it with the African and Venezuelan communities. The call-and-response structure of the lyrics emphasizes the communal nature of music and the way it can bring people together. At the end of the song, the singer says that they are leaving, perhaps indicating that the celebration will continue long after the song has ended.

Line by Line Meaning

Baila mi rumba
Dance to my rumba

Batela, goza why mira mama
Beat it [maybe a drum?], enjoy, look mama [maybe meaning 'look at me and learn the steps.']

Baila, mira mama
Dance, look mama

Batela, goza, mira eh
Beat it, enjoy, look

Rumbando bello es que yo voy
Dancing the rumba beautifully. That's how I go.

Hey hey mama
Hey hey mama

[??????]
Dance this way [This a tentative translation, the expression I hear is actually unidiomatic]

Baila baila my rumbo[?]
Dance to it, dance

Ele eh ele eh
Ele eh ele eh

Bailala bailala baila
Dance to it, dance

Din din baragadin dan dan [this is onomatopoeia]
Din din baragadin dan dan [this is onomatopoeia]

Baila baila baila baila
Dance to it, dance

Venezolano en Nueva York
A Venezuelan in New York [maybe referring to himself]

En California why en todos lados
In California and everywhere

Te la traigo
I bring it to you [the rumba]

Para que vos...para que gozes gozes cosa buena
So that you will enjoy a good thing

Gozes con todo el mundo
Enjoy it with the rest of the world

El africano why todo el mundo
With the African and the rest of the world

Bailala
Dance to it

Gringos!
Gringos! [This is funny. 'Gringo' is a pejorative way that some South Americans have to refer to Anglo-Saxons. It's clear that some Americans are actually dancing to the music in the studio and receiving instructions from the singer, including this veiled semi-insult. Was Joni there too?]

Izquierdo! Izquierdo! Vamos, oye!
Left! Left! [maybe meaning use your left foot now] I say, Come on!

[onomatopoeic sounds, interjections, sighs, whistling, bits of dialogue among the musicians that sound like instructions or encouragement to keep on playing and dancing]
[onomatopoeic sounds, interjections, sighs, whistling, bits of dialogue among the musicians that sound like instructions or encouragement to keep on playing and dancing]

Me voy
I'm going now! [Or it could also be I'm 'coming'!]