The Circle Game
Joni Mitchell
Index Contents
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C F C
1. Yesterday a child came out to wonder
F G
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
C F Em
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
F G C
And tearful at the falling of a star.
Refrain
C F
And the seasons they go round and round
C F C
And the painted ponies go up and down
F C
We're captive on a carousel of time
F Em
We can't return we can only look behind
F
From where we came
Em F
And go round and round and round
C
In the circle game
2. Then the moon moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like "when you're older" must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams
3. Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels round the town
And you tell him take your time it won't be long now
Til you drag your feet to slow the circles down
4. So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through