Barangrill Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Havenspear 

Cover art for Barangrill lyrics by Joni Mitchell

this song hits me more and more every time i hear it. it reminds me of tom robbins' representations of brilliant waitresses with degrees forced to make ends meet with blue collar jobs.

i read it as an ode to these sort of women: the characters in the diner realize that these waitresses possess some sort of higher knowledge than their jobs let on, and "barangrill" is regarded as a place to obtain this higher knowledge, like the river in siddhartha. "you ask the truck driver if he's just a slave to barangrill", just driving around looking for enlightenment.