Cactus Tree Songtext
von Joni Mitchell

There′s a man who's been out sailing in a decade full of dreams
And he takes her to a schooner and he treats her like a queen
Bearing beads from California with their amber stones and green

He has called her from the harbor
He has kissed her with his freedom
He has heard her off to starboard
In the breaking and the breathing of the water weeds
While she was busy bein′ free

There's a man who's climbed a mountain
And he′s calling out her name
And he hopes her heart can hear 3, 000 miles, he calls again
He can think her there beside him, he can miss her just the same

He has missed her in the forest
While he showed her all the flowers
And the branches sang the chorus
As he climbed the scaly towers of a forest tree
While she was somewhere bein′ free


There's a man who sent a letter and he′s waiting for reply
He has asked her of her travels since the day they said goodbye
He writes, "Wish you were beside me, we could make it if we try"

He has seen her at the office
With her name on all his papers
Through the sharing of the profits
He will find it hard to shake her from these memories
And she's so busy bein′ free

There's a lady in the city and she thinks she loves them all
There′s the one who's thinking of her
There's the one who sometimes calls
There′s the one who writes her letters
With his facts and figures scrawl

She has brought them to her senses
They have laughed inside her laughter
Now she rallies her defenses
For she fears that one will ask her for eternity
And she′s so busy bein' free


There′s a man who sends her medals
He is bleeding from the war
There's a jouster and a jester and a man who owns a store
There′s a drummer and a dreamer
And you know there may be more

She will love them when she sees them
They will lose her if they follow
And she only means to please them
And her heart is full and hollow like a cactus tree
While she's so busy bein′ free

Like a cactus tree
Bein' free