Banquet - Joni Mitchell

[Bluebear]

Come to the dinner gong,
the table is laden high.
Fat-bellies and hungry little ones,
tuck your napkins in
and take your share!
Some get the gravy
and some get the gristle.
Some get the marrow bone,
and some get nothing
though there's plenty to spare

I took my share down by the sea:
Paper plates and Javex bottles on the tide.
Seagulls come down
and they squawk at me
down where the water-skiers glide.

Some turn to Jesus
and some turn to heroin,
some turn to rambling round
looking for a clean sky
and a drinking stream.
Some watch the paint peel off.
Some watch their kids grow up.
Some watch their stocks and bonds,
waiting for that big deal
American dream.

I took my dream down by the sea:
Yankee yachts and lobster pots and sunshine
and logs and sails
and Shell oil pails.
Dogs and tugs and summertime.
Back in the banquet line,
angry young people crying:

"Who let the greedy in
and who left the needy out?
Who made this salty soup?
Tell him we're very hungry now
for a sweeter fare!"
In the cookie I read:
"Some get the gravy
and some get the gristle
Some get the marrow bone.
and some get nothing
though there's plenty to spare"

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. A great poet of our times. K&R

[Bluebear]

2. Corporate greed and spoiled coastlines in one elegant song.