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 Wolf That Lives in Lindsey
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What can you say
That wasn't marked by history
Or the TV news today
He gets away with murder
The blizzards come and go
The stab and glare and buckshot
Of the heavy, heavy snow
It comes and goes
His grandpa loved an empire
His sister loved a thief
And lindsey loved the ways of darkness
Beyond belief
Girls in chilly blouses
The blizzards come and go
The stab and glare and buckshot
Of the heavy, heavy snow
It comes and goes
It comes and goes
The cops don't seem to care
For derelicts or ladies of the night
They're weeds for yanking out of sight
If you're smart or rich or lucky
Maybe you'll beat the laws of man
But the inner laws of spirit
And the outer laws of nature
No man can
No, no man can
There lives a wolf in Lindsey
That raids and runs
Through the hills of Hollywood
And the downtown slums
He gets away with murder
The blizzards come and go
The stab and glare and buckshot
Of the heavy, heavy snow
It comes and goes
It comes and goes
In the song, "The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey" by Joni Mitchell, she describes the darkness in men's minds and the atrocities that can be committed in its name. She speaks of how history and the TV news today bear witness to its ugly deeds. She laments how certain individuals can get away with murder, while others have to face the consequences. The heavy snow, with all its sharp edges, symbolizes life's difficulties, which come and go.
Additionally, the song speaks of a family with a history of darkness. The patriarch of the family loved an empire, and his sister loved a thief. Meanwhile, Lindsey loved the ways of darkness beyond belief. The song describes how outsiders, particularly derelicts and women of the night, are discarded and seemingly ignored by the police.
Line by Line Meaning
Of the darkness in men's minds
Men have darkness within them
What can you say
What is there to say
That wasn't marked by history
Everything has been recorded in history
Or the TV news today
Or broadcasted on TV today
He gets away with murder
A killer goes unpunished
The blizzards come and go
The snowstorms arrive and depart
The stab and glare and buckshot
The sharpness, brightness, and gunshot of the snow
Of the heavy, heavy snow
Of the dense snow
It comes and goes
It appears and disappears
His grandpa loved an empire
His grandfather was a lover of empire
His sister loved a thief
His sister was a lover of a thief
And lindsey loved the ways of darkness
Lindsey was fond of the ways of darkness
Beyond belief
Difficult to believe
Girls in chilly blouses
Girls wearing cold blouses
The cops don't seem to care
The police seem apathetic
For derelicts or ladies of the night
For the homeless or prostitutes
They're weeds for yanking out of sight
They are seen as nuisances to be removed
If you're smart or rich or lucky
If you are intelligent, wealthy, or fortunate
Maybe you'll beat the laws of man
Perhaps you will break human laws without being detected
But the inner laws of spirit
But the natural laws of the mind, soul, and emotions
And the outer laws of nature
And the physical laws of the world
No man can
No person can
No, no man can
No, absolutely no person can
There lives a wolf in Lindsey
There is a wolf in Lindsey
That raids and runs
That pillages and flees quickly
Through the hills of Hollywood
Across the hilly landscape of Hollywood
And the downtown slums
And the impoverished areas of the city
He gets away with murder
A killer goes unpunished
The blizzards come and go
The snowstorms arrive and depart
The stab and glare and buckshot
The sharpness, brightness, and gunshot of the snow
Of the heavy, heavy snow
Of the dense snow
It comes and goes
It appears and disappears
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@alainclement9244
From Joni Mitchell, in "Love Has Many Faces" box set essay she wrote:
"
"We recorded THE WOLF THAT LIVES IN LINDSAY as a demo (the song was brand new). I didn’t have my guitar with me so Studio Instrument Rentals sent over this beat up D18. One fret was sticking up and when I put it into my tuning, it buzzed like rattlesnake. I loved it. It was ominous. It suited the theatre of the song. We only did one take and at the end I got so engrossed in making the guitar buzz that I lost the bar structure, but Don Alias hung in there with me. When we heard it back I decided that the eccentricity near the end didn’t matter. It seemed to make it even more savage — mutilated bar structure — like a pack of wolves stomping around — nervously.
I was headed up to San Francisco that weekend to play in a festival. I told Henry, “While I’m gone, look for a tape of some wolves.” He said he would.
All the artists in the festival were staying at a big old hotel in Berkeley. As I was checking in I heard someone passing by say that Tim Hardin was there. Tim and I were old friends. I asked the desk clerk for his room number so I could call him up and say hello. The man was very irritable. He said, “Can’t you see I’m busy?” and he launched into a tirade of poor beleaguered me. “O.K., O.K.,” I said. “I’ll wait till you you’re unbusy.” I leaned against the check-in window and looked out at the enormous lobby. Just then the bar room door swung open and out staggered a guy dressed like James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause” — red cotton jacket — white T-shirt — blue jeans. He was singing “Why do fools fall in love” at the top of his drunken lungs. I was killing time so I sauntered over to him in the middle of the lobby and joined in. Now we’re both singing when around the corner came this black do-wop group — the Persuasions — and they joined in. It sounded so good that I started it over from the top and at the end, we all exploded into laughter. When that subsided, I turned to the uptight clerk and I asked for Tim’s room number again. “You lookin for Tim Hardin?” said the drunk in the red jacket. “Yes,” I said. “He’s in the bar — he’s on stage — singing.” “Thanks,” I said and started across the lobby. “Come up to my room,” the drunk called after me. “Both of you,” he called. “O.K. maybe,” I called back. “I’ve got a tape of some wolves,” he shouted. I stopped in my tracks and turned around. “You do?” I said. “I need a tape of some wolves.” “Come up,” he said and he called out his room number.
I went into the bar. Tim was on stage. He saw me come in and he sang to me, “Hello Joni,” like “Hello Dolly.” I sang back, “Hello Timmy.” He sang, “What are drinking Joni?” I sang, “One white wine.” He sang to the bartender, “”one white wine.” Shyly, the bartender mumble-sang, “One white wine.” The room giggled.
When Tim’s set was over, we went up some stairs and down a long hall. Tim was very playful. While we walked we were playing “the fisherman and the fish.” I was a big sports fish — like a marlin. I was leaping into the air. He would reel me in so I would run backwards, then race ahead and leap again. We did this all the way to the room of the drunk in the red jacket.
When we came in he was rummaging through a box of homemade tapes. There were a few people there. The music was blaring. He kept picking up tapes, looking at them, and putting them down. He heaved a sigh and starred up at us. He said, “I can’t find it, but here, take this.” I looked at the tape he had handed me. It was all African animals — hyenas, elephants, lions — no wolves. I said, “I don’t need this — I need wolves.” “Well, take it anyway,” he said. I looked at the list again and there it was at the very bottom — wolves. I was so excited. I said goodnight to him and to Tim and rushed down to my room. I put it on my tape machine. I twiddled my guitar into the “Wolf” tuning, queued up the wolves, and began to play. The way they fell against the chords was thrilling to me. Synchronicity!
The next night I closed my set with “Wolf”. Back stage, I had the tape queued up and I told my guitar tech, “When I get to this place in the music, hit play.” We had it miked so it would come over the speakers. At the end of the song, people were stunned. They didn’t seem to know how to respond. There was a smattering of applause. I left the stage. It was then that they began to howl. Louder and louder they howled. They howled me back for an encore.
The next week, back in the studio, we put the wolves on the track and added water gongs."
@aurora9521
Because I'm currently reading "My year of rest and relaxation" by Otessa Moshfegh, I'm here and I can say I like this song very much... There is a certain atmosphere which is calming me down...
Sorry if my words are not very meaningful, english isnt my first language ~
@rokhayasadji1
same
@katherinerios3873
Same ❤
@antonellafrancioso5908
Anche io lo sto leggendo ❤
@GreatBunny
I’m here for the same reason!
@happylife-qu2vh
same
@alainclement9244
From Joni Mitchell, in "Love Has Many Faces" box set essay she wrote:
"
"We recorded THE WOLF THAT LIVES IN LINDSAY as a demo (the song was brand new). I didn’t have my guitar with me so Studio Instrument Rentals sent over this beat up D18. One fret was sticking up and when I put it into my tuning, it buzzed like rattlesnake. I loved it. It was ominous. It suited the theatre of the song. We only did one take and at the end I got so engrossed in making the guitar buzz that I lost the bar structure, but Don Alias hung in there with me. When we heard it back I decided that the eccentricity near the end didn’t matter. It seemed to make it even more savage — mutilated bar structure — like a pack of wolves stomping around — nervously.
I was headed up to San Francisco that weekend to play in a festival. I told Henry, “While I’m gone, look for a tape of some wolves.” He said he would.
All the artists in the festival were staying at a big old hotel in Berkeley. As I was checking in I heard someone passing by say that Tim Hardin was there. Tim and I were old friends. I asked the desk clerk for his room number so I could call him up and say hello. The man was very irritable. He said, “Can’t you see I’m busy?” and he launched into a tirade of poor beleaguered me. “O.K., O.K.,” I said. “I’ll wait till you you’re unbusy.” I leaned against the check-in window and looked out at the enormous lobby. Just then the bar room door swung open and out staggered a guy dressed like James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause” — red cotton jacket — white T-shirt — blue jeans. He was singing “Why do fools fall in love” at the top of his drunken lungs. I was killing time so I sauntered over to him in the middle of the lobby and joined in. Now we’re both singing when around the corner came this black do-wop group — the Persuasions — and they joined in. It sounded so good that I started it over from the top and at the end, we all exploded into laughter. When that subsided, I turned to the uptight clerk and I asked for Tim’s room number again. “You lookin for Tim Hardin?” said the drunk in the red jacket. “Yes,” I said. “He’s in the bar — he’s on stage — singing.” “Thanks,” I said and started across the lobby. “Come up to my room,” the drunk called after me. “Both of you,” he called. “O.K. maybe,” I called back. “I’ve got a tape of some wolves,” he shouted. I stopped in my tracks and turned around. “You do?” I said. “I need a tape of some wolves.” “Come up,” he said and he called out his room number.
I went into the bar. Tim was on stage. He saw me come in and he sang to me, “Hello Joni,” like “Hello Dolly.” I sang back, “Hello Timmy.” He sang, “What are drinking Joni?” I sang, “One white wine.” He sang to the bartender, “”one white wine.” Shyly, the bartender mumble-sang, “One white wine.” The room giggled.
When Tim’s set was over, we went up some stairs and down a long hall. Tim was very playful. While we walked we were playing “the fisherman and the fish.” I was a big sports fish — like a marlin. I was leaping into the air. He would reel me in so I would run backwards, then race ahead and leap again. We did this all the way to the room of the drunk in the red jacket.
When we came in he was rummaging through a box of homemade tapes. There were a few people there. The music was blaring. He kept picking up tapes, looking at them, and putting them down. He heaved a sigh and starred up at us. He said, “I can’t find it, but here, take this.” I looked at the tape he had handed me. It was all African animals — hyenas, elephants, lions — no wolves. I said, “I don’t need this — I need wolves.” “Well, take it anyway,” he said. I looked at the list again and there it was at the very bottom — wolves. I was so excited. I said goodnight to him and to Tim and rushed down to my room. I put it on my tape machine. I twiddled my guitar into the “Wolf” tuning, queued up the wolves, and began to play. The way they fell against the chords was thrilling to me. Synchronicity!
The next night I closed my set with “Wolf”. Back stage, I had the tape queued up and I told my guitar tech, “When I get to this place in the music, hit play.” We had it miked so it would come over the speakers. At the end of the song, people were stunned. They didn’t seem to know how to respond. There was a smattering of applause. I left the stage. It was then that they began to howl. Louder and louder they howled. They howled me back for an encore.
The next week, back in the studio, we put the wolves on the track and added water gongs."
@HejiraWaves
This song fascinates the hell out of me. So atmospheric and eerie. I'm a long time Joni Mitchell fan and just spent a bit of time listening to this song repeatedly for a writing project. Her guitar playing becomes 'the stab and glare and buckshot of the heavy heavy snow' at the end in my mind. Joni is a genius. With 'Mingus' she teamed up with another genius who didn't like jazz played on electric instruments but Joni had to make it work the way she heard and felt about it. Also, Mingus was dying while the collaboration and recording were going on. One of my favorite songs by my favorite artist.
@jeffblythe569
Dude, I can certainly relate...
@paulstuart551
Well put Mark, Joni is astonishing in conveying atmosphere with her music, just as she puts astouding insight into the stories of her poetry. She actually wrote this alone as he died before the album was completed. She is listed as one of the greatest guitar players of all time, quite a fete as she taught herself & developed her own style of open chords to create a range of atmospheres.