Joni Mitchell – Barangrill Lyrics

Joni Mitchell · For the Roses

Folk

Three waitresses all wearing
Black diamond earrings
Talking about zombies
And Singapore slings
No trouble in their faces
Not one anxious voice
None of the crazy you get
From too much choice
The thumb and the satchel
Or the rented Rolls-Royce
And you think she knows something
By the second refill
You think she's enlightened
As she totals your bill
You say "Show me the way
To Barangrill"

Well some say it's in service
They say "Humble Makes Pure"
You're hoping it's near Folly
'Cause you're headed that way for sure
And you just have to laugh
'Cause it's all so crazy
Ah, her mind's on her boyfriend
And eggs over easy
It's just a trick on you
Her mirrors and your will
So you ask the truck driver
On the way to the till
But he's just a slave
To Barangrill

The guy at the gaspumps
He's got a lot of soul
He sings Merry Christmas for you
Just like Nat King Cole
And he makes up his own tune
Right on the spot
About whitewalls and windshields
And this job he's got
And you want to get moving
And you want to stay still
But lost in the moment
Some longing gets filled
And you even forget to ask
"Hey, Where's Barangrill?"

Comments (1)

Anonymous 2009-09-07 15:52:00

What makes this a great song is not just the line...Ah...eggs over easy, as a (derogatory) reference to Baran and Sweezy's famous book, Monopoly Capitalism. Its the tension in the song between that and the sense of a (freedom) restaurant named Barangrill as a contrast on the one hand, and following on that contrast, the tension between it and forgetting to ask Where is Barangrill because knowingly, deep down a longing has got filled and in the forgetting to ask, however temporal or whatever the contrast of the former tension is, the forgetting to ask fulfills the liberation longing, and that is the answer. It reminds one of Deleuze and Guattari's stetement. The day when human beings can act as intentionless phenonmena, on that day the integrity of existence will have been declared. And without being facetious the bonus at the end, as the climax, reminds one of the apparition of Mary to St. Bernadette whereupon she warned people to think of her son's words in terms of eg. wild, flowers (For The Roses!) which, are intentionless (yet not even King Solomon and his temple can compete with them).