The Circle Game
Henry Lewy recorded all of Joni Mitchell’s records — not only an astounding feat but a rare creative partnership between artist and producer. I remember my favorite English teacher in High School played this song from a little tape recorder. Stopping it occasionally, he lectured on the lyrics and meaning with insightful 70’s social commentary. All of this was new to me.
I’ll never forget his lectures and curriculum which featured fiction I still love. I remember Bernard Malamud’s THE ASSISTANT and 1984 — both had a profound impact on me. CATCHER IN THE RYE was a pivotal book and his lectures helped me understand why it was important. It saddens me to see backlash against books that, to me, feel like timeless, valuable works of art.
So his AP English course literally changed the trajectory of my life. The idea that I would work in the medical field ended that semester. Thank God. Realizing this as a kid was very exciting because that day I began to choose my destiny. I would do everything in my power to keep studying the stuff that made me excited about living life.
So when I got to college it was all about English lit, creative writing, cinema studies and theater. After an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in Theater Arts — I studied filmmaking in graduate school and for the first time took filmmaking seriously. And I’m not sure any of this would’ve happened quite like it did without that English course. And I have to give credit to this beautiful song — that crisp guitar and Joni’s perfectly recorded vocals as cartwheels turned to car wheels — which is something I’ve witnessed in my daughter’s life recently. Watching her move from 11 to 16 the past five years has been one of the greatest joys of my life so far.
And this live performance from ‘68 is chilling, stunning. What an angel and what a performance.
Yesterday a child came out to wander
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game
Then the child 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
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game
16 springs and 16 summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town
And they tell him, "Take your time, it won't be long now
'Til you drag your feet to slow the circles down"
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game
So the years spin by and now the boy is 20
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
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game
And go round and round and round, in the circle game
