The Circle Game - (Joni Mitchell cover) sung by Jack Marti

"The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever." Ecclesiastes 1:1-4.

This is only a slight departure from what I normally do here on You Tube, in that this song cannot really be interpreted as a gospel song. It does, however, state the same basic thesis that Solomon did in the book of Ecclesiastes. That is, if this life is all there is, then life itself is vain, because we live, we do what we do, and then we die. And then someone else takes up where we left off and does the same thing again. However, Solomon, unlike Joni, didn't stop there. His conclusion allows that there is something we can learn from this life or "circle game," if you will, and that is this: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

I would like to give Joni credit, though. She did end the song on a positive note when she said, "there'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams, and plenty, before the last revolving year is through." Perhaps the "better dream" is coming to a realization that God is love, and that there's something far more wonderful than just this circle game of life.

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star

Chorus
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
Were captive on the carousel of time
We cant return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

And the seasons...

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, when youre older, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him, take your time, it wont be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down

And the seasons...

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.

And the seasons...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Circle
• Game
• Joni
• Mitchell
• folk
• song
• Taylor
• NS54ce
• Ecclesiastes
• 1:1-4
• Jack
• Marti

[evanlam98]

Wow, this will have to be the best version I've heard besides Joni Mitchell's. The guitar sounds so clear and sweet! You've done an excellent job.

[guitmartiman]

@evanlam98 Thank you! I have played this song for more than 35 years, so I ought to be fairly good at it by now. I learned to play it by ear, so I play it a bit differently than Joni, but it works for me this way. I, of course, still love to hear and watch Joni play it. She's the best!

[big123moth]

your great at this song!!!!!!!!

[guitmartiman]

@big123moth I should be. It's been in my repertoire since the mid '70s. I've known it since cartwheels should have turned to car wheels were it not for my visual limitations, and I've been living it ever since!

[jkell42]

The Earth circles the sun, as the moon circles the Earth, as we spin around the Globe counting Days and Months and Years.

Quite the Circle Game!

[1butterflykiss]

Keep them coming. I love listening to you!

*kisses*

Therese

[lyektho]

This is excellent. Thank you ...



[Wunderdogg]

Nice cover. Classic Mitchell. Such great songwriting.

[drelfei]

Thanks.

This is a song that I sang when putting my daughters to bed when they were young. Made me a little ferclempt.

[Pappireizx]

It's very beautiful... your performance is good too. I especially like the chorus part... rather touching actually...

[Beggar000]

Thanks for recording this, Jack. You've done a wonderful job. This song was performed at the service for my mom who passed at age 67. I'm in a melancholy mood and missing her and listening to every rendition of "The Circle Game" I can find. Glad to have found yours. Now I'm going to listen to the other song from her service, "I Can Only Imagine." I wonder if you might have covered that, too. Thanks again.

[Sarahon06]

good job. A rough song to cover.