Favorite Colour

by Joni Mitchell

I met a child a year ago
Whose eyes would never see.
She asked me with a timid smile,
"What colour is a tree?"

"In summertime a tree is green;
In autumn gold and red;
In winter they are frosted white
when all their leaves are shed."

"I know the sky is blue," she said.
"And silver is the sand;
And apples are the brightest red.
What colour is a man?"

"Man is many colours child:
Some are yellow, some are brown.
And some are black as sightlessness,
Some white as eiderdown."

She took her crayons from a box
And placed them in my glove
And said, "By mixing all of these
Comes my favourite colour--love."

© 1965; Joni Mitchell

Printed from the official Joni Mitchell website. Permanent link: https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=296

Copyright protected material on this website is used in accordance with 'Fair Use', for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis. Please read 'Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement' at JoniMitchell.com/legal.cfm