Just Like Me

by Joni Mitchell (as taught to Pat Boland)

He's so independent,
He acts like he couldn't care less for us all
He's someone's descendent, their child,
Though he'll never acknowledge their call
He's afraid to feel loved,
Yet I know he's afraid not to be
And he'll laugh and he'll cry,
And someday he'll die,
Just like me

Just like me, he's settling a score with a world
That wants a reason every time you turn around
Just like me, he's lookin' for a door standing open,
Saying "welcome, come and lay your troubles down"
Just like me

If he'd drop his defenses
You'd see through the stone
To the heart of the man
But the moment he senses
You've seen him he'll leave you
As fast as he can
He'll return to his shadows
Where no one can look in and see
And he'll wake in the night
And cry like a child just like me.

Just like me, he's settling a score with a world
That wants a reason every time you turn around
Just like me, he's lookin' for a door standing open,
Saying "Welcome, come and lay your troubles down"
Just like me

Well, I've seen him looking for someone to tell him
"You're doin' just fine."
And the songs that he sings
They have loneliness woven between every line
There are no strings to hold him
I guess you could call him so free
Yes, he's free to be lonely and empty
And lost just like me

Just like me, he's settling a score with a world
That wants a reason every time you turn around
Just like me, he's lookin' for a door standing open,
Saying "welcome, come and lay your troubles down"
Just like me

© 1968; Gandalf Publishing: copyright owned by Siquomb Publishing

Additional information:

Guitar Transcriptions of Just Like Me

» Guitar chords by Pat Boland
» Guitar chords by Mia Ortlieb

Just Like Me has been recorded by one other artist

Big Yellow Taxi (from "Treasures Of Joni Mitchell" - 2008)
» [more information on recordings by other artists]

Comments on Just Like Me

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phenry on 2011-Jul-04 at 17:07:02 GMT-5:
"I knew Joni back in '66 before she started recording. My situation was that I was the 'booking guy' at our coffeehouse, The Cellar in Michigan, and also the house performer which meant I played the interval set for all the people who played there including Joni, plus I played the weekends when we didn't get anyone else booked. I crashed at the place and on the weekends when Joni played there she would come over during the day on Saturday to work on her writing and to rehearse, understandable because she literally lived on the road in those days. I was always there, alone with her on those days and often she would jam with me, asking me to play the odd guitar part or harmonize with her as she was 'thinking' her music. I witnessed her doing so many times as she worked on writing her songs, trying different lines and chords. (a lot of times I just listened) It was on one of these Saturday afternoons that she taught me how to play 'Just Like Me' at my request because I loved the song and it was then that she told me that she'd written it about her friend, Stephen Stills."

rriverstone on 2010-May-21 at 22:05:45 GMT-5:
Oddest thing: I thought I knew every JM song from that period. I'm watching "Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind" on NetFlix. I'm not a stalker type fan. I was a teen runaway who stumbled on Mitchell when I was studying literature and poetry back in the '70s, so I had all the albums because I was so impressed with the writing, vocalizations and guitar compositions. But this song is totally new to me!