Lyrics to
The Priest

Released by Joni Mitchell in 1970
From the Album: Ladies Of The Canyon |

This version of The Priest was released by Joni Mitchell in 1970.

Our Decade Lyrics Joni Mitchell profile has all of the The Priest lyrics from 1970 and many more songs from the Joni Mitchell discography that we have on file.

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The priest sat in the airport bar
He was wearing his father’s tie
And his eyes looked into my eyes so far
Whenever the words ran dry
Behind the lash and the circles blue
He looked as only a priest can, thru
And his eyes said me and his eyes said you
And my eyes said, let us try

He said, “You wouldn’t like it here
No it’s no place you should share
The roof is ripped with hurricanes
And the room is always bare
I need the wind and I seek the cold”
He reached post the wine for my hand to hold
And he saw me young and he saw me old
And he saw me sitting there

Then he took his contradictions out
And he splashed them on my brow
So which words was I then to doubt
When choosing what to vow
Should I choose them all-should I make them mine
The sermons, the hymns and the valentines
And he asked for truth and he asked for time
And he asked for only now
Now the trials are trumpet scored
Oh will we pass the test
Or just as one loves more and more
Will one love less and less
Oh come let’s run from this ring we’re in
Where the Christians clap and the Germans grin
Saying let them lose, crying let them win
Oh make them both confess


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Joni Mitchell has released many songs over the years besides The Priest. Joni Mitchell released songs from 1968 to 2007 spanning across albums like Song To A Seagull, Clouds, Ladies Of The Canyon, Blue, For The Roses, Court And Spark, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mingus, Wild Things Run Fast, Dog Eat Dog, Chalk Mark In A Rainstorm, Night Ride Home, Turbulent Indigo, Taming The Tiger, Both Sides Now, and Shine. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Joni Mitchell.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1970 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

See also  Got To Be Free

About Lyrics and The Priest by Joni Mitchell

The lyrics to The Priest are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Joni Mitchell in 1970. Elements of the lyrics to The Priest are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Joni Mitchell and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for The Priest back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to The Priest by Joni Mitchell in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to The Priest" means the words set to the music of The Priest, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Joni Mitchell. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to The Priest and the lyrics to The Priest are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Joni Mitchell who came here looking just for the lyrics to The Priest, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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