Words by joni mitchell Music by charles mingus I almost closed the door Cancelled on everything we opened up for Tonight the shadows had their say Their sad notions of the way Things really are Damn these blues! They'd turn my heart against you Since i was fool enough To find romance I'm trying to convince myself This is just a dance! We move in measures Through loves' changing faces Needy and nonchalant Greedy and gracious Through petty dismissals And grand embraces Like it was only a dance! We are survivors Some get broken Some get mended Some can't surrender They're too well defended Some get lucky Some are blessed And some pretend This is only a dance! We're dancing fools You and me Tonight it's a dance of insecurity It's my solo While you're away Shadows have the saddest thing to say Love We can't live without it Why do we go out and get it Just to turn around and doubt it Like we're scared to care It's hard to talk about it Aw--it's only a dance Tonight the shadows had their say There's a s**er born a day I heard them say Born to lose Am i a s**er to love you? You're such a sweet love You're a proud man You're a treasure Time pa**es gracefully Living can be such a pleasure You make it easy to take it in measures Like it was only a dance! We're dancing fools You and me Tonight it's a dance of insecurity It's my solo Blue way And shadows have the saddest things to say We are survivors Some get broken Some get mended Some can't surrender They're too well defended Some get lucky Some are blessed And some pretend It's only a dance!