Just Like This Train by Joni Mitchell - Lyrics and Translation

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Just Like This Train

Joni Mitchell

Just Like This Train

Song byJoni Mitchell

in AlbumCourt and Spark

I'm always running behind the time

Just like this train

Shaking into town

With the brakes complaining

I used to count lovers like railroad cars

I counted them on my side

Lately I don't count on nothing

I just let things slide

The station master's shuffling cards

Boxcars are banging in the yards

Jealous Iovin'Il make you crazy

If you can't find your goodness

'Cause you lost your heart

I went looking for a cause

Or a strong cat without claws

Or any reason to resume

And I found this empty seat

In this crowded waiting room

(Everybody waiting)

Old man sleeping on his bags

Women with that teased up kind of hair

Kids with the jitters in their legs

And those wide, wide open stares

And the kids got cokes and chocolate bars

There's a thin man smoking a fat cigar

Jealous lovin'lI make you crazy

If you can't find your goodness

'Cause you've lost your heart

What are you going to do now

You've got no one

To give your love too...

Well I've got this berth and this roll down blind

I've got this fold up sink

And these rocks and these cactus going by

And a bottle of German wine to drink

Settle down into the clickety cIack

With the clouds and the stars to read

Dreaming of the pleasure I'm going to have

Watching your hairline recede

(My vain darling)

Watching your hair and clouds and stars

I'm rocking away in a sleeping car

This jealous lovin's bound to make me

Crazy

I can't find my goodness

I lost my heart

Oh sour grapes

Because I lost my heart

LanguageEnglish

Translated byAllen Morningstar

About this Song

Just Like This Train by Joni Mitchell is a reflective song that delves into themes of solitude, introspection, and the passage of time. The lyrics illustrate the singer’s journey, both physically on a train and metaphorically through life. Mitchell touches on moments of self-doubt, loneliness, and the search for meaning. Poignant moments in the song include her observations of her fellow passengers and her own personal musings, which evoke a sense of transient beauty and melancholy.