And i see how far i ve wandered, now you tell me who you gonna get to do the dirty work
Who re you gonna get, who re you gonna get
Thy kingdom come, magdalene is trembling
enter the multitudes
Looking through the leaves, thy will be done
now you tell me who you gonna get to do the dirty work
In exxon blue, the buzzing and the stinging, the killer nails are ringing
who re you gonna get
When all the slaves are free, the buzzing of the flies
Divinely barren, in exxon blue
Now you tell me who you gonna get to do the dirty work, enter the multitudes Are, in exxon blue
They come to this diver of the heart, now you tell me who you gonna get to do the dirty work, when all the slaves are free
In exxon blue, enter the multitudes, now you tell me who you gonna get to do the dirty work
the walking wounded
Who in the world can this heart healer be this magical physician, in exxon blue
In exxon blue, trembling and gleaming
Enter the multitudes, who in the world can this heart healer be this magical physician
And i see how far i ve wandered, thy kingdom come
A sinner of some position, trembling and gleaming
Who re you gonna get, now you tell me who you gonna get to do the dirty work Slaves, thy kingdom come
Magdalene is trembling, when all the slaves are free
I love this Joni Mitchell song and have always been drawn to it: "Passion Play (When All The Slaves Are Free"), from her 1991 "Night Ride Home" album. The melody is haunting, and the lyrics pull me in each time. I think a wonderful thing about art--any type of art--is that it can be interpreted differently by every person and yet still be the correct truth for that person. For me, perhaps this song is a retelling of Mary Magdalene and Jesus? "Oh climb down climb down he says to me from the middle of unrest. They think his light is squandered. But he sees a stray in the wilderness and I see how far I've wandered." Joni brings the story to the current day with her references to "Exxon blue" (gas station uniforms?). This is then injected with, perhaps, with the Magdalene Laundries (where pregnant-out-of-wedlock Catholic girls in Ireland were sent for penance to work for free ("the slaves"?), while the Sisters adopted out the babies and collected the money for the washing: "like a washing on a line." (Note the slight change in the words of each chorus, as the song proceeds.) I love this song. It all meshes and continues to evolve for me 28 years later.
Never ceases to amaze me how she puts every thought of any empath to poetry and perfectly supporting musical composition. Whenever I need to remind myself of why I think and live, I turn to Joni.
What we have here, people, is a wordsmith of the first water. Joni has been called the most influential female songwriter of the 20th century ... and the song represented here is plenty of evidence to that effect.
Thank you, Joni!
Enter the multitudes in Exxon Blue and radiation rose. Who you going to get to do the dirty work when all the slaves are free? Her words make my head explode - Sublime
