Edith And The Kingpin

Album: Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)
Play Video
  • The big man arrives
    Disco dancers greet him
    Plain clothes cops greet him
    Small town, big man, fresh lipstick glistening
    Sophomore jive
    From victims of typewriters
    The band sounds like typewriters
    The big man, he's not listening
    His eyes hold Edith
    His left hand holds his right
    What does that hand desire
    That he grips it so tight

    Edith in the ring
    The passed-over girls are conferring
    The man with the diamond ring is purring
    All claws for now withdrawn
    One by one they bring
    His renegade stories to her
    His crimes and his glories to her
    In challenge they look on
    Women he has taken grow old too soon
    He tilts their tired faces
    Gently to the spoon

    Edith in his bed
    A plane in the rain is humming
    The wires in the walls are humming
    Some song, some mysterious song
    Bars in her head
    Beating frantic and snow blind
    Romantic and snow blind
    She says, his crime belongs
    Edith and the kingpin
    Each with charm to sway
    Are staring eye to eye
    They dare not look away
    You know they dare not look away Writer/s: Joni Mitchell
    Publisher: Kanjian Music, Reservoir Media Management, Inc., TuneCore Inc.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 3

  • Gayle Bell from Dallas, TxThis is beautiful. I have also heard Tina and Herbie's version. Wonderful work.
  • Paul from Washington Dc, Dc"The Hissing of Summer Lawns" is my favorite Joni album and my favorite album of all time, period. This song and "Shades of Scarlett Conquering" are the best songs on the album, I think.
  • Valerie from Phoenix, AzThere is a great new version now of this song by Tina Turner and Herbie Hancock. It's powerful.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Tommy James

Tommy JamesSongwriter Interviews

"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the Song

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the SongSong Writing

How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.

The End Of The Rock Era

The End Of The Rock EraSong Writing

There are no more rock stars - the last one died in 1994.

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

Randy Houser

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.