Joni Mitchell - THE DRY CLEANER FROM DES MOINES (Shadows and Light)
words by Joni Mitchell
music by Charles Mingus
I'm down to a roll of dimes
I'm stalking the slot that's hot
I keep hearing bells all around me
Jingling in the lucky jackpots
They keep you tantalized
They keep you reaching for your wallet
Here in fools' paradise!
I talked to a cat from Des Moines
He said he ran a cleaning plant
That cat was clanking with coin
Well, he must have had a genie in a lamp
'Cause every time--I dropped a dime--I blew it
He kept ringing bells
Nothing to it!
He got three oranges
Three lemons
Three cherries
Three plums
I'm losing my taste for fruit
Watching the dry cleaner do it
Like Midas in a polyester suit
It's all luck!
It's just luck!
You get a little lucky and you make a little money!
I followed him down the strip
He picked out a booth at Circus Circus
Where the cowgirls fill the room
With their big balloons
The Cleaner was pitching with purpose!
He had Dinos and Pooh Bears
And lions--pink and blue there
He couldn't lose there!
Des Moines was stacking the chips
Raking off the tables
Ringing the bandit's bells
This is a story that's a drag to tell
(In some ways)
Since I lost every dime
I laid on the line
But the cleaner from Des Moines
Could put a coin
In the door of a John
And get twenty for one
It's just luck!
Joni Mitchell-The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines (03:22)
joni mitchells last 70s album MINGUS......AND HER FIRST FULL FLEDGE JAZZ STYLED ALBUM
Pat and that damn toothbrush...cracks me up every time..
Autor: nsra1933
2
I have been a Joni Mitchell fan since I was a child.I grew listening to her songs,she and her music are one in the same!
Autor: jettwonder
3
1979
Autor: racer500gp
4
They got together out of mutual respect. People forget how important Mitchell was at this time. She was entering jazz while the other woodstockers were still strumming folk. She was way ahead musically and lyrically and wasn't getting the credit she deserved. Dylan was entering his religious phase, Neil Young was just wasted and there were no woman to be taken seriously - certainly not Baez etc; This was Mitchell's most creative period and it was supported by perhaps the greatest band on earth.
Autor: 3373157
5
yeah it is about David Geffen, Joni and him where friends and went on a trip to Paris together. What a great song.
Autor: sgtclumsy
6
Brecker was/is awesome!!!
Autor: LostGentlemen
7
wait...this was less than two years BEFORE he left Weather Report, my bad
Autor: wyattdawg
8
Joni looks left ....Pat.. check! looks right Jaco........ check... I rule! it does not get better than this.
Autor: bcfc1961
9
Is this mid eighties? I know Jaco got beaten to death some years ago (he had the rep of being a grade A prick) from some slime ball but does anyone know when this was recorded? Her voice still seemed un-throttled by nicotine.