Behind the Meaning of Joni Mitchell’s “Chelsea Morning”

Joni Mitchell is a visceral songwriter. Her lyrics are chock full of stunning visuals and powerful emotions. Among her most palpable songs is “Chelsea Morning.” Uncover the meaning behind this track, below.

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Behind the Meaning of Joni Mitchell’s “Chelsea Morning”

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning
And the first thing that I heard
Was a song outside my window
And the traffic wrote the words
It came ringin’ up like Christmas bells
And rappin’ up like pipes and drums

Mitchell was inspired by her neighborhood in New York City for this track. The listener is dropped into her surroundings–the sights and sounds of a bustling city street. The lyrics to “Chelsea Morning” speak to the genius of her songwriting. Few artists can write as visually as she does here.

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning
And the first thing that I saw
Was the sun through yellow curtains
And a rainbow on the wall
Blue, red, green and gold to welcome you
Crimson crystal beads to beckon

“I wrote [‘Chelsea Morning’] in Philadelphia after some girls who worked in this club where I was playing found all this colored slag glass in an alley,” Mitchell once explained. “We collected a lot of it and built these glass mobiles with copper wire and coat hangers. I took mine back to New York and put them in my window on West 16th Street in the Chelsea District. The sun would hit the mobile and send these moving colors all around the room. As a young girl, I found that to be a thing of beauty. There’s even a reference to the mobile in the song. It was a very young and lovely time… before I had a record deal.”

Now the curtain opens on a portrait of today
And the streets are paved with passersby
And pigeons fly and papers lie, waiting to blow away

Despite how stunning this track is, Mitchell didn’t think it was some of her best work. She found it somewhat juvenile.

“I think it’s a very sweet song, but I don’t think of it as part of my best work,” Mitchell continued. “To me, most of those early songs seem like the work of an ingenue.”

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What do you think? Is this song one of Mitchell’s best? Or is it, as she says, “the work of an ingenue?” Check out this track, below.

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning
And the first thing that I knew
There was milk and toast and honey
And a bowl of oranges, too
And the sun poured in like butterscotch
And stuck to all my senses

(Photo by Jack Robinson/Getty Images)