Joni Mitchell - I Had A King Lyrics






I had a king in a tenement castle
Lately he's taken to painting the pastel walls brown
He's taken the curtains down
He's swept with the broom of contempt
And the rooms have an empty ring
He's cleaned with the tears
Of an actor who fears for the laughter's sting

I can't go back there anymore
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
They never can they never can

I had a king dressed in drip-dry and paisley
Lately he's taken to saying I'm crazy and blind
He lives in another time
Ladies in gingham still blush
While he sings them of wars and wine
But I in my leather and lace
I can never become that kind

I can't go back there anymore
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
They never can they never can

I had a king in a salt-rusted carriage
Who carried me off to his country for marriage too soon
Beware of the power of moons
There's no one to blame
No there's no one to name as a traitor here
The king's on the road
And the queen's in the grove till the end of the year

I can't go back there anymore
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
They never can they never can





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Joni Mitchell I Had A King Comments
  1. J.... B....

    If you play this on the guitar in G, capo on 2, it's quite easy and beautiful.

  2. d.... ....

    Pure genius.

  3. N.... T....

    The sadness is palpable, good grief.

  4. r.... s....

    Beautiful voice! Joni’s friend, the late great Cass Elliot sang this live on Andy Williams many years ago. It was one of her first public appearances after leaving the Mamas & Papas. Her version was fantastic! Wish she had recorded it as well. Thankfully it can be seen on you tube. I like both versions. Both lady’s, the best of the 60’s female vocalist!!
    Cool that they hung out together in Laurel Canyon.

  5. M.... G....

    I have been hearing these tunes since they were written, they inspire me! Thank you Joni for your precious talent, spent upon all of us.

  6. J.... T....

    This song, this album. I'm sure there were deep grooves in the record I played for years.

  7. T.... S....

    I appreciate what pm dawn did with this track......ways of the wind made me listen to this origin version.

  8. M.... G....

    A BEAUTIFUL SONG!!!

  9. C.... ....

    Pm dawn.....

    C.... ....

    You're absolutely right! This song was their idea of their sample for "The Ways Of The Wind".

  10. M.... G....

    Such a haunted sound, desolate, melancholic and introspective

  11. F.... ....

    A brilliant composition. One of her finest in a cannon of work that is a towering achievement.

  12. h.... ....

    The strongest thing I did for Joni as a producer on Song to a Seagull, from 1968, was keep everybody else off of that record. She was a folkie who had learned to play what they call an indicated arrangement, where you are like a band in the way you approach a chord and string the melody along. She was so new and fresh with how she approached it. It's the reason I fell in love with her music. She was a fantastic rhythm player and growing so fast. She had mastered the idea that she could tune the guitar any way she wanted, to get other inversions of the chords. I was doing that too, but she went further. I understood her joy in using bigger tools later – jazz bands, orchestra. But the stuff she did that was basically her, like 1971's Blue, was her strongest stuff. Match her and Bob Dylan up as poets, and they are in the same ballpark. But she was a much more sophisticated musician. By David Crosby

    Key Tracks: "I Had a King," "Nathan La Franeer," "Night in the City," "Coyote," "A Case of You"

  13. W.... I....

    This song is what made Led Zeppelin write the song "Going to California." The "queen without a king" who "cries and plays guitar and sings" in the song is Joni Mitchell.

    W.... I....

    Did Robert Plant bang Joni Mitchell?

  14. L.... D....

    when i heard this song for the first time in 2011 i realized i had to divorce my husband. i was 28.

  15. v.... ....

    I had a king in a tenement castle
    Lately he's taken to painting the pastel walls brown
    He's taken the curtains down
    He's swept with the broom of contempt
    And the rooms have an empty ring
    He's cleaned with the tears
    Of an actor who fears for the laughter's sting

    I can't go back there anymore
    You know my keys won't fit the door
    You know my thoughts don't fit the man
    They never can they never can

    I had a king dressed in drip-dry and paisley
    Lately he's taken to saying I'm crazy and blind
    He lives in another time
    Ladies in gingham still blush
    While he sings them of wars and wine
    But I in my leather and lace
    I can never become that kind

    I can't go back there anymore
    You know my keys won't fit the door
    You know my thoughts don't fit the man
    They never can they never can

    I had a king in a salt-rusted carriage
    Who carried me off to his country for marriage too soon
    Beware of the power of moons
    There's no one to blame
    No there's no one to name as a traitor here
    The king's on the road
    And the queen's in the grove till the end of the year

    I can't go back there anymore
    You know my keys won't fit the door
    You know my thoughts don't fit the man
    They never can they never can

    v.... ....

    Thank you for posting these lyrics.

  16. J.... R....

    that quintessential retro-joni song that you just have to hear on a grey autumn day... <3 thank you for uploading/posting!

  17. G.... O....

    My sister had this album in 1968...was 11 years old....haven't heard it in 49 years!!
    Reeling with memories and emotions of all sorts...

    G.... O....

    Gloria.. WOW, that's some memory you have! Your sister had superb taste. And now so have you!

  18. B.... K....

    I forgot how much I love this song.

  19. N.... S....

    What a debut album!!