| Joni Mitchell – The Dawntreader Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| This is perhaps the most beautiful song I know, and without a doubt my favorite. It\'s absolutely breathtaking. Here is my interpretation/appreciation. I don\'t know what exactly the lyrics mean, but here is how I interpret them, and how they appear meaningful to me - all I know is that this is my favorite song in the world. With the beginning of the song: "Peridots and periwinkle blue medallions / Gilded galleons spilled across the ocean floor", Joni paints a picture of another world, where the sea holds recked riches (peridots being jewels, with medallions and gilded sea ships). They\'re spilled across the ocean floor, as they sunk, but the word "spilled" builds them into the environment. \n\nOne of my favorite parts of the song is the repetition when she sings "The roll of the harbor wake / The songs that the rigging makes / The taste of the spray he takes". The tempo and melody of the lines are the same, and Joni sings them slowly, conjuring images of a boat rocking slightly, the waves lapping up upon its side like the breaths that the ocean takes.\n\n"Mermaids live in colonies / All his sea dreams come to me" - There\'s nothing to say here, one is too instilled with awe of Joni\'s songwriting : The fantastical and the intimate, brought together.\n\nAnd here to the greatest part of my song, in my opinion: "Come down from the neon nights / Come down from the tourist sights / Run down till the rain delights you / You do not hide". Like a siren with nothing, the lover in this song calls you away from modernity, away from the staged attractions, he calls you into the truth and calls you to renew yourself in that which is true: The rain and the sea. And is he the truth? Is he of the same caliber as the ocean and it\'s truth-uncovering powers? Is he as true as the sunlight that renews your pride?\n\nThere is also repetition, of the promise to be free, which is followed by the lines: "Mermaids live in colonies / All his sea dreams come to me" (The first section), "Dolphins playing in the sea / All his sea dreams come to me" (2nd), and "Children laughing out to sea / All his sea dreams come to me"(last). The promise in each section is accompanied by something + his sea dreams - I think that what Joni describes in the penultimate line of each section is what the man\'s sea dreams are, that come to her. Mermaids, dolphins, and children, they are all but dreams of the sea? What does this mean? I don\'t have an answer, but this type of repetition happens a lot in the song: "The roll of the harbor wake / The songs that the rigging makes / The taste of the spray he takes" mirrors "Come down from the neon nights / Come down from the tourist sights / Run down till the rain delights you", which in turn mirrors the last section\'s "A dream that you love someone / A dream that the wars are done / A dream that you tell no one but the gray sea"\n\nThis song must surely be one of the most illustrative and beautiful songs ever written. | |
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