Joni Mitchell : The Hissing Of Summer Lawns

E

F#m/b

Bsus4

B

Emaj7

Downtown, my darling dime store thief

G

In the War of Independence

Asus4

A

E

Rock 'n' roll rang sweet as victory

G

Under neon signs

F#

A girl was in bloom

G

E

And a woman was fading in a suburban room

Asus4

I said take me to the dance

A

E

Do you want to dance? I love to dance!

Bsus4

B

And I told him, they don't take chances

Asus4

A

E

They seem so removed from romance

Asus4

A

They've been broken in churches & schools

E

And molded to middle class circumstance

Bsus4

B

Asus4

A

And we were rollin', rollin'

Gsus4

G

Asus4/d

E

Rock 'n' rollin'

F#m/b

Bsus4

B

Emaj7

Downtown, the dance halls and cafes

G

D

Feel so wild you could break somebody's heart

E

Just doing the latest dance craze

G

F#

Gail and Louise in those push up brassieres

G

E

Tight dresses and rhinestone rings, drinking up the band's beers

Asus4

Young love was kissing under bridges

A

E

Kissing in cars, kissing in cafes

Bsus4

B

And we were walking down Main Street

Asus4

A

E

Kisses like bright flags hung on holidays

Asus4

A

In France they kiss on Main Street

E

Amour, mama, not cheap display

Bsus4

B

Asus4

A

And we were rollin', rollin'

Gsus4

G

Asus4/d

E

Rock 'n' rollin'

F#/b

Bsus4

B

E

Downtown in the pinball arcade

Asus4

A

With his head full of pool hall pitches

Emaj7

And songs from the hit parade

G

He'd be singing "Bye, Bye, Love"

F#

While he's racking up his free play

G

Let those rock 'n' roll choir boys

E

Come and carry us away

Asus4

Sometimes Chickie had the car

A

E

Or Ron had the car or Lead Foot Melvin with his hotwire head

Bsus4

B

We'd all go looking for a party

Asus4

A

E

Looking to raise Jesus up from the dead

Asus4

And I'd be kissing in the back seat

A

E

Thrilling to the Brando-like things that he said

Bsus4

B

Asus4

A

And we'd be rollin', rollin'

Gsus4

G

Asus4/d

E

Rock 'n' rolling

Bsus4

B

Asus4

A

Rollin', rollin'

Gsus4

G

Asus4/d

E

Rock 'n' rollin'

Bsus4

B

Asus4

A

Rollin', rollin'

Gsus4

G

Asus4/d

E

Rock 'n' rollin'

D

F#

G#m

C#m

C

Rousseau walks on trumpet paths

D

G#m

Safaris to the heart of all that jazz

A

D#

Through I-bars and girders, through wires and pipes

D

G#m

The mathematic circuits of the modern nights

B

C

Through huts, through Harlem, through jails and gospel pews

A

D#

B

Through the class on Park and the trash on Vine

E

A#

Through Europe and the deep, deep heart of Dixie blue

D

G#m

Through savage progress cuts the jungle line

F#

G#m

C#m

C

In a low-cut blouse she brings the beer

D

G#m

Rousseau paints a jungle flower behind her ear

A

D#

Those cannibals of shuck and jive

D

G#m

They'll eat a working girl like her alive

B

C

With his hard-edged eye and his steady hand

A

D#

B

He paints the cellar full of ferns and orchid vines

E

A#

And he hangs a moon above a five-piece band

D

G#m

He hangs it up above the jungle line

F#

G#m

C#m

C

The jungle line, the jungle line

D

G#m

Screaming in a ritual of sound and time

A

D#

Floating, drifting on the air-conditioned wind

D

G#m

And drooling for a taste of something smuggled in

B

C

Pretty women funneled through valves and smoke

A

D#

B

Coy and bitchy, wild and fine

E

A#

And charging elephants and chanting slaving boats

D

G#m

Charging, chanting down the jungle line

F#

G#m

C#m

C

There's a poppy wreath on a soldier's tomb

D

G#m

There's a poppy snake in a dressing room

A

D#

Poppy poison, poppy tourniquet

D

G#m

It slithers away on brass like mouthpiece spit

B

C

And metal skin and ivory birds

A

D#

B

Go steaming up to Rousseau's vines

E

A#

They go steaming up to Brooklyn Bridge

D

G#m

Steaming, steaming, steaming up the jungle line

Tuning: DAEGCE

Dm7 055555 Fmaj9 333000

Em7/A 777777 A9 779977

Bb6/9(b5) 888000 Dadd9 002220

Dm7/G 555555 Dadd4add9 002020

Gm11 556555

I still haven't convinced myself 100% whether she uses the Dm7/G chord

AND the Gm11 chord - they're almost identical. In fact I think she

just uses the simpler shape (i.e Dm7/G) - but if you like the variation

you can use both shapes.

I'm going to be lazy again and not write out all the words (I can't remember

many of them) - but I'll write out a few phrases I can remember so you

know where the changes come.

Here are the main progressions:

Intro:

Bb6/9(b5)

Em7/a

Dadd9

Bb6/9(b5)

Em7/a

Dm7

Em7/a

Bb6/9(b5)

The big man arrives disco dancers greet him

Dm7/g

Bb6/9(b5)

Plain clothes cops greet him small town big man, fresh lipstick glistening

Dm7

Em7/a

Bb6/9(b5)

Sophomore jive beating frantic and snowblind

Dm7/g

Dadd9

Dadd4add9

Romantic and snowblind he says his crime belongs

Bb6/9(b5)

Em7/a

His eyes hold edith his left hand holds his right

Fmaj9

Bb6/9(b5)

Em7/a

A9

Em7/a

A9

What does that hand desire that he grips it so tight Edith in the ring, the passed over girls are conferring The man with the diamond ring is purring All claws for now withdrawn One by one they bring His renegade stories to her His crimes and his glories to her In challenge they look on Women he has taken grow old too soon He tilts their tired faces gently to the spoon Edith in his bed, a plane in the rain is humming The wires in the walls are humming Some song some mysterious song Bars in her head, beating frantic and snowblind Romantic and snowblind She says his crime belongs Edith and the Kingpin Each with charm to sway Are staring eye to eye They dare not look away You know they dare not look away

Bb6/9(b5)

Em7/a

Dadd9

...

G x0000(0) Eb/Ab 888888

Csus4/G x0301(0) F/Bb AAAAAA

C/G x0201(0) Bb x33333

C x55555

F

Eb

D|---0----0---------------8-------8-------8------0--------|

B|---8----6----10---------8-------8-------8------0--------|

G|---9----7----10---------8-------8-------8------0--------|

D|---10---8----10---------8-------8-------8------0--------|

G|---0----0----0-----8----8--8----8--8----8--8---0--------|

C|-------------------8----8--8----8--8----8--8------------|

C

D|---0----0---------------5-------5-------5------0--------|

B|---6----0----7----------5-------5-------5------0--------|

G|---7----0----7----------5-------5-------5------0--------|

D|---8----0----7----------5-------5-------5------0--------|

G|---0----0----0-----5----5--5----5--5----5--5---0--------|

C|-------------------5----5--5----5--5----5--5---0--------|

Bb

D|---0----0---------------3-------3-------3------0--------|

B|---6----0----5----------3-------3-------3------0--------|

G|---7----0----5----------3-------3-------3------0--------|

D|---8----0----5----------3-------3-------3------0--------|

G|---0----0----0-----3----3--3----3--3----3--3---0--------|

C|-------------------3----3--3----3--3----3--3---0--------|

Csus4/g

G

C/g

G

C/g

G

D|---0---0--0----0---0--0----0----0-----------------------|

B|---1---1--0----1---1--0----0h1--0-----------------------|

G|---0---0--0----0---0--0----0----0-----------------------|

D|---3---3--0----2---2--0----0h2--0-----------------------|

G|---0---0--0----0---0--0----0----0-----------------------|

C|--------------------------------------------------------|

Try to keep the same feel for the verses; Joni tends to play a lot of

short open G chords "between" changes, using hammer-ons and pull-offs

(as in the above tab).

Csus4/g

C/g

G

Don't interrupt the sorrow, darn right

Csus4/g

C/g

G

In flames our prophet witches, be polite

Eb/ab

F/bb

C

D

A room full of glasses, he says "Your notches liberation doll"

Csus4/g

C/g

G

And he chains me with that serpent to that Ethiopian wall Anima rising, queen of queens Wash my guilt of eden, wash and balance me He says "Anima rising, uprising in me tonight" She's a vengeful little goddess with an ancient crown to fight Truth goes up in vapors, the steeples lean Winds of change, patriarchs, snug in your bible belt dreams God goes up the chimney like childhood Santa Claus The good slave loves the good book, a rebel loves a cause I'm leaving on the 1:15, you're darn right Since I was seventeen, I've had no one over me He says "Anima rising, so what? It's a petrified wood process, like tall timber down to rock!" Don't interrupt the sorrow, darn right He says "We walked on the moon, you be polite" He don't let up the sorrow Death and birth and death and birth and death and birth He says "Bring me that bottle now kindly and I'll pad your purse I've got a head full of quandary and a mighty, mighty, mighty thirst" Seventeen glasses, Rhine wine Milk of the Madonna, clandestine He don't let up the sorrow, he lies and he cheats It takes a heart like Mary's these days when your man gets weak

Am7

Bm7

G

Out of the fire like Catholic Saints

D/e

Am7

Comes Scarlett in her deep complaint

Am7

Bm7

G

Mimicking tenderness she sees

D/e

Am7

In sentimental movies

Bm7

Dm7

A celluloid rider comes to town

C

C/b

Cmaj7

Cinematic lovers sway

G

G7

Am7

plantations and sweeping ballroom gowns

A7sus4

Take her breath away Out in the wind in crinolines Chasing the ghosts of Gable and Flynn Through stand-in boys and extra players Magnolias hopeful in her auburn hair She comes from a school of southern charm She likes to have things her way Any man in the world holding out his arm Would soon be made to pay Friends have told her not so proud Neighbors trying to sleep and yelling "not so loud" Lovers in anger "Block of Ice" Harder and harder just to be nice Given in the night to dark dreams >From the dark things she feels She covers her eyes in the X-rated scenes Running from the reels Beauty and madness to be praised 'Cause it is not easy to be brave To walk around in so much need To carry the weight of all that greed Dressed in stolen clothes she stands Cast iron and frail With her impossibly gentle hands And her blood-red fingernails Out of the fire and still smoldering She says "A woman must have everything" Shades of Scarlett Conquering She says "A woman must have everything"

Bm7 = x24232 E6/C# = x4xxxx Dm7 = xx0211

C/B = x20000 Em(maj7)/C = x3xxxx Cm7 = x35343

Dm7/A = x00211 Gmaj7/B = x20032 Bm7b5 = x2323x

D7sus2 = xx0210 Gmaj7/A = x00002 E7* = 020100

D/G = xx5775 G/D = xx0787 E7+ = 020110

D+/E = xx2332 F/D = xx0565 Bm/A = x04432

E7 = 022130 Bbmaj7 = x13231 Bm(add11) = x24430

Gmaj7 = 320002 Ebmaj7 = xx1333

Bm7

C/b

Bm7

Dm7/a

|--2---------0--|---------------| |--2------------|---1-----------|

|--3---------1--|---------------| x4 |--3------------|---1-----------|

|--2------------|---------------| |--2------------|---2-----------|

|--4------4-----|---------------| |--4------------|---0-----------|

|--2---2-----2--|-------0--2-2--| |--2------------|---0-----------|

|---------------|----2----------| |---------------|---------------|

D7sus2

Bm7

He bought her a diamond for her throat

D/g

He put her in a ranch house on a hill

D+/e

E7

She could see the valley barbecues from her window sill

E7

E6/c#

Em(maj7)/c

Gmaj7/b

Gmaj7/a

See the blue pools in the squinting sun

Bm7

Hear the hissing of summer lawns

Dm7/a

D7sus2

Bm7

D/g

He put up a barbed wire fence to keep out the unknown

D+/e

E7

And on every metal thorn just a little blood of his own

E7

E6/c#

Em(maj7)/c

Gmaj7/b

Gmaj7/a

She patrols that fence of his to a latin drum

G/d

And the hissing of summer lawns

G/d

F/d

(Darkness!) Wonder makes it easy

G/d

F/d

(Darkness!) With a joyful mask

G/d

F/d

D7sus2

(Darkness!) Tube's gone, darkness

Dm7

D7sus2

Dm7

D7sus2

Darkness, darkness, no colour, no contrast |

Bbmaj7

|

Bbmaj7

|

Ebmaj7

|

Ebmaj7

| |

Dm7

|

Dm7

|

Dm7

|

Dm7

Cm7

Bm7b5

E7*

E7+

E7*

Dah, dah, dawm, dwee - dawm! Dah, dwee - dawm!

|

Bm/a

|

Bm/a

Bm7

Dm7/a

Beh - dah - don, dwee - da!

Bm7

D/g

Diamond dog carrying a cup and a cane

D+/e

Looking through a double glass

E7

Looking at too much pride, and too much shame

Gmaj7

There's a black fly buzzing

Gmaj7/a

There's a heatwave burning in her master's voice

Bm

Bm(add11)

Bm

Hissing summer lawns

Dm7/a

D7sus2

Bm7

He gave her his darkness to regret

D/g

And good reason to quit him

D+/e

E7

He gave her a roomful of Chippendale that nobody sits in

E7

E6/c#

Em(maj7)/c

Gmaj7/b

Still, she stays with a love of some kind

Gmaj7/a

It's the lady's choice

G/d

F/d

G/d

F/d

The hissing of summer lawns (Darkness! It's darkness!) |

G/d

F/d

| ...

F/a

G/b

C

D/c

F/a

G/b

F/a

G/b

D

e|--5----7---|----------|-5--7-7---5--7-7-|-2-----|

B|--6----8---|-5--7-----|-6--8-8---6--8-8-|-3-----|

G|--5----7---|-5--7-----|-5--7-7---5--7-7-|-2-----|

D|-----------|-5--7-----|-----------------|-0-----|

A|-----------|----------|-----------------|-------|

E|--5----7---|----8-----|-5--7-----5--7---|-------|

D/g

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

Down in the cellar in the Boho Zone

Gsus2

A7sus4

I went looking for some sweet inspiration, oh well

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

Just another hard-time band

Gsus2

A7sus4

With Negro affectations

G

A

G/b

Bm7

I was a hopeful in rooms like this

G

A

Bm7

Em

When I was working cheap

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

It's an old romance, the Boho dance

Gsus2

A7sus4

It hasn't gone to sleep

G7sus4

C

But even on the scuffle

G

A

Bm7

Em

The cleaner's press was in my jeans

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

And any eye for detail

Gsus2

A7sus4

Caught a little lace along the seams

F

G

C

F

G

F

G

D

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

And you were in the parking lot

Gsus2

A7sus4

Subterranean by your own design

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

The virtue of your style inscribed

Gsus2

A7sus4

On your contempt for mine

G

A

G/b

Bm7

Jesus was a beggar, he was rich in grace

G

A

Bm7

Em

And Solomon kept his head in all his glory

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

It's just that some steps outside the Boho dance

Gsus2

A7sus4

Have a fascination for me

G7sus4

C

A camera pans the cocktail hour

G

A

Bm7

Em

Behind a blind of potted palms

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

And finds a lady in a Paris dress

Gsus2

A7sus4

With runs in her nylons

F

G

Bb9

F#

G

F#

G

C

F

G

F

G

F

G

D

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

You read those books where luxury

Gsus2

A7sus4

Comes as a guest to take a slave

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

Books where artists in noble poverty

Gsus2

A7sus4

Go like virgins to the grave

G

A

G/b

Bm7

Don't you get sensitive on me

G

A

Bm7

Em

'Cause I know you're just too proud

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

You couldn't step outside the Boho dance now

Gsus2

A7sus4

Even if good fortune allowed

G7sus4

C

Like a priest with a pornographic watch

G

A

Bm7

Em

Looking and longing on the sly

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

Sure it's stricken from your uniform

Gsus2

A7sus4

But you can't get it out of your eyes

G7sus4

C

Nothing is capsulized in me

G

A

Bm7

Em

On either side of town

A6

Bm7

C#m7

Bm7

The streets were never really mine

Gsus2

A7sus4

Not mine these glamour gowns

F

G

C

F

G

F

G

F

G

F

G

D

C7

Ebmaj7

C

Gm7add4

Ebmaj7

Heatwaves on the runway

F7sus2

Ab9

As the wheels set down

G7sus2

Ebmaj7

He takes his baggage off the carousel

Ebmaj13

He takes a taxi into town

C

Gm7add4

Ebmaj7

Yellow schools of taxi fishes

F7sus2

Ab9

Jonah in a ticking whale

G7sus2

Ebmaj7

Caught up at the lights in the fishnet windows

Ebmaj13

Of Bloomingdale's

C9

Cm9

C6/9

Gm7add4

C9

Watching those high fashion girls

Ebmaj7

Skinny black models with raven curls

C9

Cm9

C6/9

Gm7add4

C9

Beauty parlor blondes with credit card eyes

Ebmaj7

Looking for the chic and the fancy to buy

C

Gm7add4

Ebmaj7

He opens up his suitcase

F7sus2

Ab9

In the continental suite

G7sus2

Ebmaj7

And people thirty stories down

Ebmaj9

Look like colored currents in the street

C

Gm7add4

Ebmaj7

A helicopter lands on the Pan Am roof

F7sus2

Ab9

Like a dragonfly on a tomb

G7sus2

Ebmaj7

And business men in button downs

Ebmaj13

Press into conference rooms

C9

Cm9

C6/9

Gm7add4

C9

Battalions of paper-minded males

Ebmaj7

Talking commodities and sales

C9

Cm9

C6/9

Gm7add4

C9

While at home their paper wives and paper kids

Ebmaj7

Paper the walls to keep their gut reactions hid

C

Gm7add4

Ebmaj7

Yellow checkers for the kitchen

F7sus2

Ab9

Climbing ivy for the bath

G7sus2

Ebmaj7

She is lost in House and Gardens

Ebmaj9

He's caught up in Chief of Staff

C

Gm7add4

Ebmaj7

He drifts off into the memory

F7sus2

Ab9

Of the way she looked in school

G7sus2

Ebmaj7

With her body oiled and shining

Ebmaj13

At the public swimming pool

C9

C

Bb7

A7

Ab

G7

C7

The more I'm with you, pretty baby

G7

C

D7

G7

The more I feel my love increase

C7

I'm building all my dreams around you

G

C

D7

E7

Our happiness will never cease

Am7

D7

'Cause nothing's any good without you

G7

Em7

A7

D7

Baby you're my centerpiece

G7

C7

G7

C7

Dm7

G7

C7

G7

E7

Am7

A7

D7

G

Em7

A7

D7

Gm7

C7

We'll find a house and garden somewhere

Gm7

C

D

Gm7

Along a country road a piece

C7

A little cottage on the outskirts

Gm7

C

D7

E7

Where we can really find release

Am7

D7

Cause nothing's any good without you

Gm7

Em7

A7

D7

Baby you're my centerpiece

Gm7

"When are you going to be home, Harry?" "Get down off of there!" "I sure am sick of that sofa..."

Cm7

"When are you going to be home, Harry?" "I said get down off of there!" "Nothing's any good." "When are you gonna be home, Harry?"

Ebmaj7

"Nothing's any good"

C

Gm7add4

Ebmaj7

Shining hair and shining skin

F7sus2

Ab9

Shining as she reeled him in

G7sus2

Ebmaj7

To tell him like she did today

Ebmaj13

Just what he could do with Harry's House

C7

And Harry's take home pay

Intro

Bm7

Em7

Bm7

Em7

x2

G

C

Verse 1

Cadd9

Em9

Out on some borderline

F/g

C

Some mark of in between

Cadd9

G

Bb/eb

I lay down golden in time

C

G

And woke up vanishing

A/d

C/f

G

C

Sweet bird you are

Cadd9

G

Briefer than a falling star

Cadd9

G

All these vain promises on beauty jars

F/g

Somewhere with your wings on time

Cadd9

You must be laughing

A/d

C/f

G

C

Behind our eyes

Cadd9

G

Calendars of our lives

Cadd9

G

Circled with compromise

F/g

Sweet bird of time and change

Cadd9

You must be laughing

G

Cadd9

Up on your feathers laughing

Interlude

G

Bm7

Em7

Em

C

Em

Bm7

Em7

Em

Cmaj7

Bm7

Am

Em7

Em

Bm7

Em

Bm7

Em

C

Verse 2

Cadd9

Em9

Golden in time

F/g

C

Cities under the sand

Cadd9

Em9

Power ideals and beauty

Bb/eb

Cadd9

G

Fading in everyone's hand

A/d

C/f

G

C

Give me some time

Cadd9

G

I feel like I'm losing mine

Cadd9

G

Out here on this horizon line

F/g

With the earth spinning

Cadd9

G

And the sky forever rushing

A/d

C/f

G

C

No one knows

Cadd9

G

They can never get that close

Cadd9

G

Guesses at most

Cadd9

Em9