Song Lyrics

Eastern Rain

by Joni Mitchell

Rain comes from the east one night
We watch it come
To hang like beaded curtains
Till the morning sun
Water dripping from our clothes
You with raindrops on your nose
Ask me sadly "Please don't go away now"
Till the rain is done, I say
"I'll stay now"

Rain outside but inside we don't mind at all
Shadows by the fire slowly climb and fall
Kisses fade and leave no trace
Whispers vanish into space
The dawn will send me on a chase to nowhere
Why cry as if I were the first to go there

And I know I shouldn't be here
Yes, I know I should go home
But that eastern rain drones in my brain
And I'm so all alone, so all alone

Morning comes up from the east
We watch it come
And far away now rolls the ancient rain God's drum
You with daybreak in your eyes
Afraid to speak for telling lies
I watch you search for some reply to lend me
But when the rain is done
There's no pretending

And I know I shouldn't be here
Yes, I know I should go home
But that eastern rain drones in my brain
And I'm so all alone, so all alone

Transcriptions of Eastern Rain

Eastern Rain has been recorded by 8 other artists

Antonioli, Laurie (from "Songs of Shadow, Songs of Light " - 2014)
Big Yellow Taxi (from "Treasures Of Joni Mitchell" - 2008)
Fairport Convention (from "What We Did On Our Holidays" - 1969)
Fairport Convention (from "Come All Ye - The First 10 Years" - 2017)
Friis, Christina (from "The Quiet Of Knowing" - 2017)
Maupeu, Pascal (from "What Did We Do" - 2015)
The Lazy Eyes (from "tokyo could not be opened because tokyo could not be found" - 2004)
Tinkerscuss (- 2019)
[more information on recordings by other artists]

Comments:

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peterking on 2010-Feb-25 at 22:23:43 GMT-5:

I remember hearing a tape of Joni Mitchell singing this song numerous times in the late '60s and early '70s. The recording was played on Gene Shay's Folklore show out of Philadelphia, a long-running radio program that I believe Shay is still hosting. He would have guests in his studio every Sunday night till about 2 in the morning, and sometimes replay tapes of the songs they sang on his show. Often, the musicians would come over after a weekend stand at The Main Point, a well-run and popular folk club in Bryn Mawr, Pa., a Philly suburb. I was in my first year of high school, as I remember, and I would stay up late to listen to Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and others. Then I would sleepwalk through school on Monday.
"Eastern Rain" was fabulous as played by Joni (and Fairport Convention did a very nice job too). I guess that begs the question: Are tapes of her many early unrecorded songs on bootlegs? (I'm sure they must be.) And if there are others of the same quality as "Eastern Rain," why doesn't someone oversee an official CD or MP3 release?