Joni Mitchell Lyrics
"Cactus Tree"

There's a man who's been out sailing in a decade full of dreams
And he takes her to a schooner, and he treats her like a queen
Bearin' beads from California with their amber stones and green
He has called her from the harbor
He has kissed her with his freedom
He has heard her off to starboard in
the breakin' and the breathin' of the water weeds
While she was busy bein' free.

There's a man who's climbed a mountain and he's calling out her name
And he hopes her heart can hear 3,000 miles he calls again
He can think that they're beside him
He can miss her just the same
He has missed her in the forest
While he showed her all the flowers, and the branches sang the chorus
As he climbed the scaly towers of a Fortress tree
While she was somewhere bein' free.

There's a man who sends a letter and he's waiting for reply
He has asked her off her travels since the day they said goodbye
He writes, "Wish you were beside me. We can make it if we try."
He has seen her at the office with her name on all his papers
Through the sharin' of the profits
He will find it hard to shake her from his memory
And she's so busy bein' free

There's a lady in the city and she thinks she loves them all
There's the one who's thinkin' of her
There's the one who sometimes calls
There's the one who sends her letters with his facts and figures strong
She has brought them to her senses
They have laughed inside her laughter
Now she rallies her defenses for she fears that one will ask her for eternity
And she's so busy bein' free.

There's a man who sends her medals
He is bleedin' from the war
There's a jouster and a jester and a man who owns a store
There's a drummer and a dreamer, and you know there may be more
She will love them when she sees them
They will lose her if they follow
And she only means to please them
And her heart is full and hollow like a cactus tree
While she's so busy bein' free.

Like a cactus tree
Bein' free,