This Flight Tonight Lyrics

Lyric discussion by amitton 

Cover art for This Flight Tonight lyrics by Joni Mitchell

It seems fairly clear that the song’s central theme is about strong regret of leaving a lover and wanting to return. “Turn this crazy bird around” I read she wrote it during the period where she was on a trip (vacation?) in Europe. It may be about a lover there, (perhaps Cary) and based upon a return flight to LA, where she clearly spent much of her time. It could be about torn feelings between James Taylor and someone else. It could be an amalgam of the like.