The song is about David Geffen, who was a close friend of Joni's in the early 1970s. In the song, Joni describes how he works hard creating hits and launching careers, but can find some peace while vacationing in Paris.
I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
There was nobody calling me up for favors
And no one's future to decide
I heard this song at work last night. It's one of my all-time favorites.
It's not in the rate, but it's always been one of my favorites. This song is about a Vietnam vet named Killer Kyle, who found it difficult to get the sound of helicopter blades out of his head.
They want you they need you
They train you to kill
To be a pin on some map
Some vicarious thrill
The old hate the young
That's the whole heartless thing
The old pick the wars
We die in 'em
To the beat of the beat of black wings
According to Joni, the best review she got for Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm came from Janet:
Quote:
Chalk Mark In A Rainstorm really deserves a big audience, as big as anything the contemporary females have. It's not difficult music. I was disappointed that the company couldn't somehow or other - I was disappointed in the industry at large, that had closed me out from the marketplace, so to speak, that no one would allow me the normal venues that are open to announce that you have product out, with pride. Or that nobody saw. Except Janet Jackson saw it - and she touted it in her interview.
Joni wrote this song in response to her record label's desire for her to write a hit song. The song became Joni's first top-ten hit in her native Canada, and her first top-forty hit in the United States.
Joni wrote this song in response to her record label's desire for her to write a hit song. The song became Joni's first top-ten hit in her native Canada, and her first top-forty hit in the United States.