The Circle Game – Joni Mitchell

THE CIRCLE GAME

 

 

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

And the ___________ they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re ___________ on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Then the child moved ten times round the __________
Skated over ten clear frozen ____________
Words like when you’re older must __________ him
And promises of someday make his dreams

And the __________ they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re _________ on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only _________
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Sixteen _________ and sixteen _________ gone now
Cartwheels turn to car _________ thru the town
And they tell him take your time it won’t be long now
Till you _________ your feet to slow the circles down

And the _________ they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re _________ on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only _________
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

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

And the _________ they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re _________ on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only _________
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game