the sand that makes the pearl

This song is about Joni Mitchell and specifically about her

relationship with Graham Nash. A lot of the ideas in the song

come from things Joni herself said during various interviews

in a wonderful documentary about her life "Woman of Heart

and Mind." Do see it.

She was standing in a pool of light

Beauty shining through the opal of her eye

Like a new moon rising in the night

In years to come it's how he'd always see her -

Blue and gold and green and silver

As filaments of hair like a corona caught the light.

She said "It broke my heart to let him go

I suppose that even then I must have known

My path would always be a long and lonely road

And that's been my redemption and my curse:

It's the sand that makes the pearl."

Pearls spilled from her lips like rain

Raw emotions falling in great swathes

And spreading out around her like a veil.

She sang alone and undefended
When she sang she really meant it

"I could never settle for an easy life" she said

"I suppose I was afraid to

It's always seemed to me that if you

Chase away your demons then your

Angels leave you too

And you can't escape from sorrow in this world:
It's the sand that makes the pearl."

"If you hold your precious things too tightly in your hands

They slip right through your fingers just like sand."

"As a child" she said "I used to sit for hours

And watch the cars drive in and drive away across the plain.

I was born into a line of bitter women who like caged birds

Beat their damaged wings against the bars and never learned to fly

Time and time again the choice for me

Either to be loved or to be free

Has left me wheeling skyward frozen and alone

But it's a winter that brings springtime to my world:

The sand that makes the pearl."