Joni Mitchell Follow

Downtown

My darling dimestore thief

In the War of Independence

Rock 'n Roll rang sweet as victory

Under neon signs

A girl was in bloom

And a woman was fading

In a suburban room

I said, "Take me to the dance"

"Do you want to dance?"

"I love to dance"

And I told him, "They don't take chances

They seem so removed from romance"

"They've been broken in churches and schools

And molded to middle class circumstance"

And we were rolling, rolling, rock n' rolling

Downtown

The dance halls and cafes

Feel so wild you could break somebody's heart

Just doing the latest dance craze

Gail and Louise

In those push-up brassieres

Tight dresses and rhinestone rings

Drinking up the band's beers

Young love was kissing under bridges

Kissing in cars, kissing in cafes

And we were walking down Main Street

Kisses like bright flags hung on holidays

"In France they kiss on Main Street"

"Amour, mama, not cheap display"

And we were rolling, rolling, rock n' rolling

Downtown

In the pinball arcade

With his head full of pool hall pitches

And songs from the hit parade

He'd be singing "Bye, Bye, Love"

While he's racking up his free play

Let those rock 'n roll choir boys

Come and carry us away

Sometimes Chickie had the car

Or Ron had a car

Or Lead Foot Melvin with his hot-wire head

We'd all go looking for a party

Looking to raise Jesus up from the dead

And I'd be kissing in the back seat

Thrilling to the Brando-like things that he said

And we'd be rolling, rolling, rock n' rolling