Born with the moon in Cancer
Choose her a name she will answer to
Call her green and the winters cannot fade her
Call her green for the children who made her
Little Green, be a gypsy dancer.

. . .

(chorus)
Just a little green
Like the colour when the spring is born
There’ll be ccrocuses to bring to school tomorrow
Just a little green
Like the nights when the Northern lights perform
There’ll be icicles and birthday clothes
And sometimes there’ll be sorrow.

. . . . . . . . . . . “””””””””“ . . . . . . . . . . .

-- This is part of a song called Little Green, written by Joni Mitchell after she gave her baby up for adoption around 40 years ago. She’d called her Kelly, as in kelly green. But she wished her a “happy ending” and wrote this heartrendingly beautiful song to her.

You know, when she sings the chorus for the last time and draws out the word ‘sorrow’ as only Joni can do, that she is describing her own deep, deep longing for this child.

. . . . . . . . . . . “””””””””“ . . . . . . . . . . .

Little Green is on Joni’s fourth album, for which she became famous. It’s called Blue, and was her last folk album.

She followed it with pop, rock and jazz, and now I wouldn’t know what to call her lush, life-describing music. It’s in a category all its own. Pure Joni. No one can touch it.