Joni Mitchell - THE DRY CLEANER FROM DES MOINES lyrics

words by Joni Mitchell

music by Charles Mingus

I'm down to a roll of dimes

I'm stalking the slot that's hot

I keep hearing bells all around me

Jingling in the lucky jackpots

They keep you tantalized

They keep you reaching for your wallet

Here in fools' paradise!

I talked to a cat from Des Moines

He said he ran a cleaning plant

That cat was clanking with coin

Well, he must have had a genie in a lamp

'Cause every time--I dropped a dime--I blew it

He kept ringing bells

Nothing to it!

He got three oranges

Three lemons

Three cherries

Three plums

I'm losing my taste for fruit

Watching the dry cleaner do it

Like Midas in a polyester suit

It's all luck!

It's just luck!

You get a little lucky and you make a little money!

I followed him down the strip

He picked out a booth at Circus Circus

Where the cowgirls fill the room

With their big balloons

The Cleaner was pitching with purpose!

He had Dinos and Pooh Bears

And lions--pink and blue there

He couldn't lose there!

Des Moines was stacking the chips

Raking off the tables

Ringing the bandit's bells

This is a story that's a drag to tell

(In some ways)

Since I lost every dime

I laid on the line

But the cleaner from Des Moines

Could put a coin

In the door of a John

And get twenty for one

It's just luck!