Joni Mitchell, “Barangrill,” Live at The Troubadour, November 17, 1972.
“This is a song about searching for the “Great Guru,” you know? I’ve combed through a lot of books, various different books on philosophy. It kind of reminds me of that song of David Blue’s, “These 23 Days In September.” --- “On the floor pages tore from books she reads, ancient wisdom, magic, and philosophy.” --- He wrote that about his lady, I sorta identify with that tune a lot, combing through books, looking for the answer. Climbing hills looking for the answer. ‘Tell me Guru, what is the meaning of life?’ --- ‘Life is a bowl of cherries.’ (laughs). So anyway at one point in my search in one of the junctions of my path, I became so low in spirits that it seemed to me that everybody in the world knew more than me. The garbage collector knew more, he certainly knew more about garbage, and certainly he knew more, just about everything else. So I started seeing Guru’s everywhere, I could tell that they were Guru’s, by a certain light in their eyes. The configuration of their faces, I knew they really knew something. Back in my hometown when I was growing up, it was like really the thing for a guy to give a girl, either on Christmas or her birthday was to give her a ‘Black Diamond Ring.’ Like sort of fancy coal, only it doesn’t smudge on your clothing, it has sort of a pearly shine to it. So I walked into this restaurant, and I thought I saw my Guru...”
