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Cactus Treeby Joni Mitchell There's a man who's been out sailing In a decade full of dreams And he takes her to a schooner And he treats her like a queen Bearing beads from California With their amber stones and green He has called her from the harbor He has kissed her with his freedom He has heard her off to starboard In the breaking and the breathing Of the water weeds While she was busy being free There's a man who's climbed a mountain And he's calling out her name And he hopes her heart can hear Three thousand miles he calls again He can think her there beside him He can miss her just the same He has missed her in the forest While he showed her all the flowers And the branches sang the chorus As he climbed the scaley towers Of a forest tree While she was somewhere being free There's a man who's sent a letter And he's waiting for reply He has asked her of her travels Since the day they said goodbye He writes "Wish you were beside me We can make it if we try" He has seen her at the office With her name on all his papers Thru the sharing of the profits He will find it hard to shake her From his memory And she's so busy being free There's a lady in the city And she thinks she loves them all There's the one who's thinking of her There's the one who sometimes calls There's the one who writes her letters With his facts and figures scrawl She has brought them to her senses They have laughed inside her laughter Now she rallies her defenses For she fears that one will ask her For eternity And she's so busy being free There's a man who sends her medals He is bleeding from the war There's a jouster and a jester And a man who owns a store There's a drummer and a dreamer And you know there may be more She will love them when she sees them They will lose her if they follow And she only means to please them And her heart is full and hollow Like a cactus tree * While she's so busy being free © 1968; Siquomb Publishing Company |
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Additional information:*Footnotes
In a 1970 interview, Joni says, " I wrote a song called 'Cactus Tree' which is Dylan influenced in its melody and even its style. I even lengthen my A's when I sing it because it sings better. It's all sort of in a monotone - I wrote it after I saw 'Don't Look Back which I think left a big impression on me." Literally, a "cactus tree" is the Saquaro cactus found only in the Sonoran Desert region of Arizona and northern Mexico. Joni's line "And her heart is full and hollow like a cactus tree" could be a metaphor for how the cacti use and store water. Many features assist the saguaro in conserving that most precious of desert commodities. Accordion-like pleats allow the saguaro to expand and hold water collected through the roots. Spongy flesh in the trunk and branches serves as a reservoir where water is stored as a slow to evaporate gelatin like substance. Unlike most plants, the saguaro cactus has no conventional leaves, which transpire large amounts of water. The food-making process of photosynthesis normally carried out by green leaves is performed in the trunk and branches. Spines discourage animals from taking the cactus' moisture, shade the plant, and shield it from drying winds. Waxy skin aids in reducing moisture loss. The saguaro collects water with a network of roots that lies about 3 inches below the surface and stretches as far out from the main stem as the saguaro is tall. In a single rainfall, these shallow roots, along with special small root hairs that grow in response to moisture, may soak up as much as 200 gallons of water, enough to last the saguaro a year. The saquaro cactus then - depending on the time of year and amount of rainfall - is sometimes full and sometimes hollow... just like Joni's character's heart.
Guitar Transcriptions of Cactus Tree
» Guitar chords by Harlan Thompson
» Guitar tablature by Sue McNamara » Guitar tablature by Les Irvin
Cactus Tree has been recorded by 22 others
Adams, Julie (from "Julie Adams & The Mountain Stage Band - Live" - 1997)
Alberstein, Chava (- ) Annevik, Frida (- ) Cactus Acoustic Duo (- ) Collins, Judy (from "Bohemian" - 2011) d'Armand, Jeannette (from "Stage Road" - 2009) Farkasember, Jay (- ) Flynn, Richard (- 2012) Fox, Lauren (from "Love, Lust, Fear & Freedom: The Songs of Joni Mitchell & Leonard Cohen" - 2013) Gamble, William (from "Wild Bill and the Arkanauts" - 2008) Geraldine (from "Geraldine" - 1971) Herring, Caroline (from "Golden Apples Of The Sun" - 2009) Iris Koch - Werner Tharandt (from "Zündholz" - 1978) Irma Schultz Keller (from "Blank is sånger av Joni Mitchell" - 2010) Jättner, Klas (- ) King, Kristin (- 2010) Restless Wind (- 2004) Sauce (from "Waiting For Godiva" - 2002) The Steve Klink Trio (from "Places To Come From, Places To Go" - 2002) The Travelers (from "Tomorrow Is A Long Time" - ) Verheyen, Carl (from "Solo Guitar Improvisations" - 2001) Volker Niehusmann & Christiane Weber (from "Another Blue" - 1997) » [more information on recordings by other artists]
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