Paprika Plains by Joni Mitchell - Lyrics and Translation

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Paprika Plains

Joni Mitchell

Paprika Plains

Song byJoni Mitchell

in AlbumDon Juan's Reckless Daughter

It fell from midnight skies

It drummed on the galvanized

In the washroom, women tracked the rain

Up to the make-up mirror

Liquid soap and grass

And Jungle Gardenia crash

On Pine-Sol and beer ...

It's stifling in here ...

I've got to get some air ...

I'm going outside to get some air

Back in my hometown

They would have cleared the floor

Just to watch the rain come down!

They're such sky oriented people--

Geared to changing weather ...

I'm floating off in time

I'm floating off

I'm floating off in time

When I was three feet tall

And wide eyed open to it all

With their tasseled teams they came

To McGee's General Store

All in their beaded leathers

I would tie on colored feathers

And I'd beat the drum like war ...

I would beat the drum like war

I'd beat the drum

I'd beat the drum like war

But when the church got through

They traded their beads for bottles

Smashed--on Railway Avenue

And they cut off their braids

And lost some link with nature

I'm floating into dreams

I'm floating off

I'm floating into my dreams

I dream paprika plains

Vast and bleak and God forsaken

Paprika plains

And a turquoise river snaking

(Where crows gaze--vigilant on wires

Where cattle graze the grasses

Far from the digits of business hours

The moon clock wanes and waxes--

But here all time is stripped away

Nowhere on these plains

Is a sprout or an egg in evidence

To measure loss or gain ...

Only a little Indian band

Come down from some windy mesa

No women to make them food and child

No expressions on their faces

I'm low in a helicopter

And the wind from whirling blades

Flaps their woven blankets

And flags their raven braids

How came they to this emptiness?

How came they to this dream?

How came I to this view

From a flying machine

Of earth and air and water

And a band of Indian men

Without herds or flocks or crops

Or families or fires to tend?

Like a phoenix up from ashes now

A blanket figure springs

With a fist raised up to turquoise skies

Like liberty

And at the point of vanishing

Where the sky and the earth meet

A bomb blooms

Deadly mushroom

White

Gold

Heat

Like a phoenix up from ashes

Up from violent mysteries

And growing 'till the giant blast

Is to it like a golfer's tee

there comes a child's beach ball

And memory takes me back

to the beach to toss it up

to the garage to get it patched

A pink and yellow beach ball

Rolling

Grand

Detached

Turning the blues and greens of earth

From space probe photographs

I float out of the hovercraft

Naked as infancy

And weightless

And drifting

Horizontally

Like a filing to a magnet

Like the long descent of rain

I am drawn

I fall against the ball

And lose paprika plains

I suckle at my mother's breast

I embrace my mother earth

I remember perforated blinds

Over the crib of my birth

And just as Eve succumbed

To reckless curiosity

I take my sharpest fingernail

And slash the globe to see

Below me--

Vast Paprika plains

And the snake the river traces

And a little band of Indian men

With no expressions on their faces.)

The rain retreats

Like troops to fall on other fields and streets

Meanwhile they're sweet talking and name calling

And brawling on the fringes of the floor

I spot you through the smoke

With your eyes on fire

From J&B and coke

As I'm coming through the door

I'm coming back

I'm coming back for more!

The band plugs in again

You see that mirrored ball begin to sputter lights

And spin

Dizzy on the dancers

Geared to changing rhythms

No matter what you do

I'm floating back

I'm floating back to you!

LanguageEnglish

Translated byAllen Morningstar

About this Song

Paprika Plains by Joni Mitchell is a complex and poetic song that delves into themes of memory, nostalgia, and introspection. The song, characterized by its vivid imagery and lengthy instrumental sections, reflects on Mitchell's childhood and Native American heritage. It evokes a sense of longing for the simplicity of the past while grappling with the intricacies of adult life. The lyrics are poignant moments, particularly when Mitchell describes her dream-like visions of the prairie, symbolizing a desire for freedom and connectedness with nature. Another key theme is the journey of self-discovery, as Mitchell explores her past to make sense of her present.