The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Album: The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)
Play Video
  • He bought her a diamond for her throat
    He put her in a ranch house on a hill
    She could see the valley barbecues
    From her window sill
    See the blue pools in the squinting sun
    Hear the hissing of summer lawns

    He put up a barbed wire fence
    To keep out the unknown
    And on every metal thorn
    Just a little blood of his own
    She patrols that fence of his
    To a Latin drum
    And the hissing of summer lawns
    Darkness
    Wonder makes it easy
    Darkness
    With a joyful mask
    Darkness
    Tube's gone, darkness, darkness, darkness
    No color no contrast

    Diamond dog
    Carrying a cup and a cane
    Looking through a double glass
    Looking at too much pride and too much shame
    There's a black fly buzzing
    There's a heat wave burning in her master's voice
    Hissing summer lawns

    He gave her his darkness to regret
    And good reason to quit him
    He gave her a roomful of Chippendale
    That nobody sits in
    Still she stays with a love of some kind
    It's the lady's choice
    The hissing of summer lawns
    Darkness
    Darkness
    Darkness
    Darkness
    Darkness
    Darkness
    Darkness
    Darkness
    Darkness
    Darkness Writer/s: John Guerin, Joni Mitchell
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management, Regard Music, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • AnonymousJoni Mitchell is the greatest. Her music is almost mystical, too subtle and too magical to be fully apprehended, even after many listenings.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Benny Mardones

Benny MardonesSongwriter Interviews

His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Peter Lord

Peter LordSongwriter Interviews

You may not recognize his name, but you will certainly recognize Peter Lord's songs. He wrote the bevy of hits from Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

Hardy

HardySongwriter Interviews

The country hitmaker talks about his debut album, A Rock, and how a nursery rhyme inspired his hit single "One Beer."