Alayna Erhard
ENC3254
Dr. Carolyn Kelley
10/17/12

Men; What’re They Good For?

Joni Mitchell is a talented lyricist to say the least, and her sixth album “Court and Spark” is testimony to her whimsical way with words. The album gets personal, lending insight into the rocky roads of Mitchell’s past relationships, her insecurities with love, and, above all, the deeply rooted trust issues she has with men. The man she molds throughout the album is distant and unfaithful, shallow and overly critical; he is a man who keeps Mitchell at a distance, which in turn keeps Mitchell fleeing from the prison gates of love. In songs like “Court and Spark”, “Help Me” and “Car on a Hill” listeners encounter that typical two-timing sweet talker. Likewise, an insincere critic is evident in songs like “People’s Parties” and “Twisted”. The lyrics to these songs within the album “Court and Spark” authenticate Mitchell’s belief that men cannot be trusted in relationships.
Mitchell believes men are unfaithful in relationships. The opening lines of “Court and Spark” demonstrate her cynicism, “Love came to my door with a sleeping roll and a madman’s soul.”(Mitchell, “Court and Spark.” Verse 1, Lines 1-2) Not by chance, the sleeping roll is the first thing she notices about this travelling man. A bed, unlike a sleeping roll, is something permanently fixed and symbolizes commitment. However, he can roll up the latter and leave her for someone else’s door whenever he chooses, a freedom that lacks faithfulness. This evaluation of Mitchell’s first lines provides insight into what might be the true intentions of his actions mentioned later on, “…dancing up the river in the dark looking for a woman to court and spark.” (Mitchell, “Court and Spark.” Verse 1, Lines 5-6) These lyrics create the image of a gypsy searching for a girl to woo into bed, so that he may have a place to sleep and someone to sleep with for the night. Stereotypically, a gypsy is not a person you would trust with your money, let alone your heart.
“Help Me” is another song that shows Mitchell mistrusts men because it is in their nature to be unfaithful. Mitchell repeats that she is in trouble because she is falling in love again with a man that cannot be trusted; “Cause you’re a rambler, and a gambler, and a sweet talking ladies man. And you love your loving, but not like you love your freedom.”(Mitchell, “Help Me.” Verse 1, Lines 7-10) Her guard is up because she knows men like this one and has most likely been with one in her past. Thus, she is aware that his appeal might be misleading since he is a “sweet talking ladies man” and therefore enjoys his freedom to flirt with as many ladies as he pleases. Consequently, Mitchell slyly asks, “You dance with the lady with the hole in her stocking, didn’t it feel good.”(Mitchell, “Help Me.” Verse 3, Lines 5-7) Her question is rhetorical because she is sure he loves the self-determining life of being single. Mitchell is not surprised that a man with a tongue as slick as a snake will also wrap himself around the body of another woman. With knowledge to the nature of this ‘bad boy’, she cannot, and will not, trust him, and so she laments for help to keep from falling into a lonely love.
“Car on a Hill” is yet another song in Mitchell’s soundtrack that depicts an unfaithful man who has left her waiting in vain. Waiting in vain for three hours to be exact. You can sense Mitchell’s fear that he has found another ‘friend’ in her lyrics, “He makes friends easy, he’s not like me, I watch for judgment anxiously. Now where in the city can that boy be?”(Mitchell, “Car on a Hill.” Verse 2, Lines 1-5) Though their relationship is one most likely based on sex, throughout the song, Mitchell is coming to the difficult realization that they have no potential for romantic commitment and he has stood her up for someone else. “You know he seemed so righteous at the start when there’s so much laughter, when there’s so much spark, when there’s so much sweetness in the dark”(Mitchell, “Car on a Hill.” Verse 4, Lines 1-4) He seems honest at the beginning of the relationship because things are easy and fun, but with the passing of time it is proved to Mitchell that he was never looking for anything serious. The ‘spark’ in their relationship has fizzled for him and, thus, he is ready to move on in search for the freshness of a new fling.
Joni Mitchell believes that men are shallow when it comes to women. She paints a picture of a man who is mainly concerned with sex and superficial about a woman’s looks in the fourth song of her album, “People’s Parties.” Mitchell writes, “Photo Beauty gets attentions, then her eye paints running down, she’s got a rose in her teeth and a lampshade crown.”(Mitchell, “Peoples’ Parties.” Verse 2, Lines 1-4) At the party, the one woman getting most of the attention is the one who is using her ‘picture perfect’ looks to seduce male suitors. The men at the party are consumed by sex appeal and less concerned with the women’s intellect. In consequence, this overemphasis on looks causes Mitchell to feel insecure at social gatherings and retreat into a “frightened silence”.
In Mitchell’s final song, “Twisted”, it is clear that not only does she think men are unfaithful and shallow, but also overly critical. The song introduces her ‘analyst’, a man that continually tells her through the verses that she is “right out of (her) head”(Mitchell, “Twisted.”) The song continues, “…and he thought I was nuts, no more ifs or ands or buts.”(Mitchell, “Twisted.” Verse 2, Lines 9-10) Her analyst believes Mitchell to be crazy, most likely because she is a genius and an unconventional thinker. This diagnosis could be because he is intimidated by her wild imagination and the circumstance that she is not just another pretty face on an empty head. Unlike her other songs, however, Mitchell stands up to this man’s criticism, “My analyst told me that I was right out of my head, but I said dear doctor I think that its you instead.”(Mitchell, “Twisted.” Verse 6, Lines 1-4) This change in character from Mitchell shows that she is fed up with letting a man control her identity and her insecurities. By the end of her album, she has had enough of the machismo and is ready to break free from the tight restraints of a ‘man’s world’.
Joni Mitchell makes it more than clear in her album, “Court and Spark”, that she has no trust in men. She finds them to be unfaithful in relationships, shallow and overly critical; these opinions are all evident in songs like “Court and Spark”, “Help Me”, “Car on a Hill”, “People’s Parties” and “Twisted”. However, one is not born a cynic or a skeptic, one becomes so through age, experience and life in general, and Joni Mitchell is no exception. This album shows just how much her rocky past with men has impacted the ties of trust that are essential to a healthy relationship.

Works Cited

1. Joni Mitchell. “Court and Spark.” 1973. Court and Spark. Asylum Records, 1974, Record. 2. Joni Mitchell. “Help Me.” 1973. Court and Spark. Asylum Records, 1974, Record. 3. Joni Mitchell. “Car on a Hill.” 1973. Court and Spark. Asylum Records, 1974, Record. 4. Joni Mitchell. “Peoples’ Parties.” 1973. Court and Spark. Asylum Records, 1974, Record. 5. Joni Mitchell. “Twisted.” 1973. Court and Spark. Asylum Records, 1974, Record.