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The Studio Albums 1968 - 1979 — cover art

Song

Cactus Tree

By Joni Mitchell

October 29, 2012 4:38 From The Studio Albums 1968 - 1979

About this song

Cactus Tree is a track by Joni Mitchell, taken from the album “The Studio Albums 1968 - 1979”, released October 29, 2012 on Rhino. It runs 4:38. Use the Play button above when a verified stream is available, or choose a listening service from the other options.

Within the album sequence, this recording sits alongside I Had a King, Michael from Mountains, Night in the City. Open the album page to compare the full running order and the listening options available for each song.

Song details

Song: Cactus Tree
Artist: Joni Mitchell
Release: The Studio Albums 1968 - 1979
Format: Album
Duration: 4:38
Release date: October 29, 2012
Record label: Rhino
Content notice: Standard

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Lyrics

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There's a man who's been out sailing
In a decade full of dreams
And he takes her to a schooner
And he treats her like a queen
Bearing beads from California
With their amber stones and green
He has called her from the harbor
He has kissed her with his freedom
He has heard her off to starboard
In the breaking and the breathing
Of the water weeds
And she is so busy being free
There's a man who's climbed a mountain
And he's calling out her name
And he hopes her heart can hear
Three thousand miles he calls again

He can think her there beside him
He can miss her just the same
He has missed her in the forest
While he showed her all the flowers
And the branches sang the chorus
As he climbed the scaly towers
Of a forest tree
While she was somewhere being free
There's a man who's sent a letter
And he's waiting for reply
He has asked her of her travels
Since the day they said goodbye
He writes, "Wish you were beside me
We can make it if we try"
He has seen her at the office
With her name on all his papers
Through the sharing of the profits
He will find it hard to shake her

From his memory
And she's off somewhere being free
There's a lady in the city
And she thinks she loves them all
There's the one who's thinking of her
And there's the one who sometimes calls
There's the one who writes her letters
With his facts and figures scrawl
She has brought them to her senses
They have laughed inside her laughter
Now she rallies her defenses
For she fears that one will ask her
For eternity
While she's much too busy being free
There's a man who sends her medals
He is bleeding from the war
And there's a jouster and a jester
And a man who owns a store

There's a drummer and a dreamer
And you know there may be more
She will love them when she sees them
They will lose her if they follow
And she only means to please them
And her heart is full and hollow
Like a cactus tree
While she's so busy being free

Lyrics supplied by lyrics.ovh.

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