I pulled up behind a Cadillac
We were waiting for the light
And I took a look at his license plate
It said, "just ice"
Is justice just ice?
Governed by greed and lust?
Just the strong doing what they can
And the weak suffering what they must?
Oh, and the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
Sex kills

Doctors' pills give you brand new ills
And the bills bury you like an avalanche
And lawyers haven't been this popular
Since Robespierre slaughtered half of France!
And Indian chiefs with their old beliefs know
The balance is undone, crazy ions
You can feel it out in traffic
Everyone hates everyone
And the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
Sex kills

All these jack-offs at the office
The rapist in the pool
Oh, and the tragedies in the nurseries
Little kids packin' guns to school
The ulcerated ozone
These tumors of the skin
This hostile sun beating down on
Massive mess we're in
And the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
And sex kills
Sex kills
Sex kills
Oh, sex kills
Sex kills


Lyrics submitted by rubix13

Sex Kills Lyrics as written by Joni Mitchell

Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.

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Sex Kills song meanings
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    General Comment

    Joni Mitchell was one of the big things of my teen years and then other things came and happened. Over the years while these things were happening a compartment held all the books and records of earlier times and every now and again they'd play through, but other things were happening and gradually they'd get forgotten. There were new things happening too, new songs, new books. In some ways I'm glad about that because as we get older and maybe slow down, we begin to unpack the compartments we left stored with our things and are able to look at the stuff in them with new eyes. Just lately I've been listening to a lot of Joni's older stuff, watching interviews and hearing some I hadn't heard, like this. It's amazing the level of consistency she kept in her work across her whole career.

    The song itself is a snapshot of our world today. It doesn't really explore any of these things but frames them, the way we do when stacking them up in our minds while feeling powerless in the face of it. It's the way many of us listening to the radio while driving. We're frozen in a moment of knowing of piled up truth. Then, as we pass some bushes, fake ones painted on a billboard trying to sell us some deal, the news comes over about some kid taking a gun into a nursery and we know for sure something terrible is lurking behind the faked up leaves.

    NWNmoonon September 05, 2013   Link

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