The Dawntreader

This is my best Joni song. She paints such a wonderful picture of a life on the sea. It also echoes the ideas put accross in Song to a Seagul - that man can never be completely happy living in nature or in the cities.

While the sea life has enchanted first her lover and then her, she is not completely satisfied because she wishes to be a mother yet the sea is no place to raise a child and "they'll say" she's "crazy" to want to have a baby out at sea. His sea dreams have taken priority over her dreams of a normal life on the land.

why hasn't anyone commented on this song?!? It's so gorgeous and more than slightly haunting. Easily one of her best early tracks.

I love this song too! Her voice sounds so melencholy and enchanting. I especially like the line "And he learns to give, He aches and he learns to live". The sailing imagery is also beautiful and reminds me of my boyfriend who sails a lot.

This is one of the few songs in the world that I think can objectively be called sublime. Her voice and the music are so eerily beautiful here, and the words seem to be a promise of better times to come.

I think it's about David Crosby who owned a sailboat (Mayan) and was a diver. If you want to hear his version of the time and place, listen to "Rusty and Blue" on the CPR album. I have no concrete facts this is true, but it's a good story anyway.

Why does Mitchell call the ship Dawntreader? Is she alluding to C.S. Lewis’ Tales of Darnia? The ship carrying children to heaven is called Dawntreader.

Listen to the previously unreleased live version of Joni Mitchell's "The Dawntreader" recorded by Jimi Hendrix in 1968. "The Dawntreader" will be released as part of 'Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971)' available October 29. Pre-order the 5-CD or 10-LP set from JoniMitchell.com to receive an exclusive, limited edition 7” x 7” art print featuring a never-before-seen illustration by Mitchell from the era: https://jm.lnk.to/JMAVol2

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.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a novel by C. S. Lewis. It was the third of seven novels in The Chronicles of Narnia series. The plot and meaning of the novel is explained on Wikipedia. My guess is that Joni knew this novel well and it spoke to her of some of the voyages in her life. In looking for info about this haunting song, I was blown away to find out that Jimi Hendrix recorded it. Joni truly has had an exquisite life voyage. God bless her for sharing it with us.