When I Get Where I'm Going Lyrics Meaning

Urge For Going

I awoke today and found
the frost perched on the town
It hovered in a frozen sky
then it gobbled summer down
When the sun turns traitor cold
and all the trees are shivering in a naked row...

I get the urge for going
But I never seem to go

I get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
And summertime is falling down and winter is closing in

I had a man in summertime
He had summer-colored skin
And not another girl in town
My darling's heart could win
But when the leaves fell on the ground
And bully winds came around
and pushed them face down in the snow...
He got the urge for going
And I had to let him go

He got the urge for going
When the meadow grass was turning brown
And summertime was falling down and winter was closing in

Now the warriors of winter give a cold triumphant shout
And all that stays is dying all that lives is gettin' out
See the geese in chevron flight
Flapping and racing on before the snow...
They've got the urge for going
And they've got the wings to go

They get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
And summertime is falling down and winter is closing in

I'll ply the fire with kindling now
I'll pull the blankets up to my chin
I'll lock the vagrant winter out
And I'll bolt my wandering in
I'd like to call back summertime
And have her stay for just another month or so...
But she's got the urge for going
So I guess she'll have to go

She gets the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
And all her empire's falling down
And winter's closing in.

And I get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
And summertime is Falling Down.

This lyric has been formatted exactly as Joni preferred it to appear (capitalization, punctuation, line breaks, changes in wording, etc). Joni collaborated with Lisa and John Sornberger by making these changes for presentation in their book, Gathered Light.

© March 28, 1966; R. Joan Mitchell, then August 22, 1966; Gandalf Pub Co

Footnotes to Urge For Going

Transcriptions of Urge For Going

• Guitar chords by Harlan Thompson
• Guitar chords by Dylan Rush

Piano Transcriptions of Urge For Going

• by Michael Dunn

Urge For Going has been recorded by 122 other artists

• A Bird That Whistles (from "A Bird That Whistles" - 1996)
• Abraham, Elazar (from "Digital Single" - 2016)
• Adams, Julie  (from "Julie Adams & The Mountain Stage Band - Live" - 1997)
• Agranoff, Mike  (from "Straight Lines" - 2014)
• Allison (from "Allison: Volume One" - 2016)
• Barwick, Bill (from "Cowboys, Liars and Lovers " - 1993)
• Berlau (from "Greatest Hits" - 2019)
• Bikel, Theo  (from "A New Day" - 1969)
• Bilides, Sophia (from "Winter Warm" - 2006)
• Black, Mary (from "Babes in the Wood" - 1991)
• Black, Mary (from "Orchestrated" - 2019)
• Bloom, Luka  (from "Keeper of the Flame" - 2000)
• Bradley, Sharon (from "Hello In There" - 1982)
• Brinton, Melissa (from "Born With The Moon" - 2018)
• Bronwyn Fryer (from "Into This Night" - 2017)
• Brother Seamus (from "Hale & Sound" - 2010)
• Brown, Erinn (from "Road Signs to the Sun" - 1999)
• Brown, Suzie (from "Heartstrings" - 2012)
• Bullard, Len (- 2014)
• Burhenn, Laura (from "Strathmore Presents - A Tribute To Joni Mitchell" - 2009)
• Cantor, David  (from "Songs Of Now And Then" - 2007)
• Cat Sank Trio (from "The Bean Project" - 2003)
• Chupity, Lisa (from "Grow Your Own" - 2009)
• Circle 'round the Sun (- )
• Claire, Kathryn  (from "Shimmering Blue" - 2014)
• Colvin, Shawn  (from "(Live - unreleased)" - 1975)
• Cosmic Guilt (from "The Philly Holiday Album 2020 " - 2020)
• Courage Of Lassie (from "This Side Of Heaven" - 1994)
• Cox, Danny (from "Sunny" - )
• Dan Aitken And Friends (from "Ireland In Our Hearts" - 2004)
• David Crosby & Graham Nash (from "Crosby, Stills & Nash " - 1991)
• Dean, Christopher (from "Shenandoah" - 2013)
• DeCotiis, Katherine (- )
• Eddie Nuenning & Lara Schallenberg (from "From A Wooden House" - 2007)
• Ellevator (from "Home for the Holidays" - 2020)
• Fahl, Mary (from "Winter Songs and Carols" - 2019)
• Faith NYC (from "Digital Single" - 2017)
• Foehammer (from "(45 Single)" - 1970)
• Foiled Again (from "Blanket of Winter" - 2014)
• Hamill, Claire  (from "One House Left Standing" - 1971)
• Hamilton IV, George (from "Folksy" - 1967)
• Hasson, Gemma (from "Looking For the Morning" - 1975)
• Hazlewood, Lee (from "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" - 1973)
• Hechter, Doug  (from "Out of My League" - 2015)
• Helen, Josepha (from "Joni" - 2021)
• Holstein, Fred (from "Live At The Earl Of Old Town" - 2007)
• Hot Toddy (from "Craic (Good Times)" - )
• Jordan, Bob (from "The Country That Never Was" - 2010)
• Joy, Susan (from "Like A Bird" - 1978)
• Kaffenberger, Bill  (from "This World Is Bound To Fall" - 2005)
• Kennedy (from "Classic Kennedy" - 1999)
• Kenney, John  (from "Vonnegut Bugatti" - 2018)
• Kipyn Martin & Allison Shapira (from "(Live - unreleased)" - 2015)
• Kuhr, Lenny (from "De Zomer Achterna" - 1972)
• Lawsing, Courtney (- )
• Léa Castro & Antoine Delprat (from "Fall" - 2021)
• Lee, Robin (from "45 Single" - 1968)
• Lichter, Eric Michael  (from "Lost Songs" - 2016)
• Loconsolo-Taylor, Kathy (- )
• Lovett, Marcus (from "Marcus Lovett, Where is Love?" - 2014)
• Lydia Fortune & Company (from "All Over The Map" - 2003)
• MacNeil, Madeline  (from "As Time Goes By" - 2000)
• Malloy, R.J.  (from "Liars, Crooks & Felons" - 2007)
• Mann, Debra (from "Full Circle: The Music of Joni Mitchell" - 2018)
• Martin, Charlotte (from "Reproductions" - 2007)
• McConnell, Mike (from "The Mike McConnell Country Album" - )
• Miller, Jody (from "The Nashville Sound of Jody Miller" - 1968)
• Moon, Lynsey  (from "Okay, One More & That's It" - 2012)
• Morian, Marge (from "The Nameless Coffeehouse Strike 2" - 1969)
• Moseley, Phil  (from "Songs That Go Think in the Night" - 2014)
• Murphy's Law (from "Red Rose Cafe" - 2013)
• Nelson, Ron (- )
• Piano Project (from "Piano Tribute to Joni Mitchell" - 2021)
• Price, Kate (from "The Kitchen Table Archives" - 2015)
• R. Michael Torrey (from "Past Lives And Present Follies" - 2000)
• Raphaël Imbert, Marion Rampal, Pierre Fenichel, Paul Elwwod (from "The Appalachians" - 2014)
• Reed, Catherine (from "Help From My Friends" - 2016)
• Restless Wind (- 2003)
• Rice, Tony (from "Native American" - 1988)
• Rick White Archive (from "RICK WHITE + EIYN SOF (single 2020)" - 2020)
• Roberts, Terry (from "Got the Urge For Goin..." - )
• Robin & Linda Williams (from "Back 40" - 2013)
• Rondeau, Katherine  (from "Unfortunate Point of View" - 2018)
• Rothenberg, Jeff (from "It's Time" - 2015)
• Rush, Tom (from "The Circle Game" - 1968)
• Rush, Tom (from "New Year, Live At Symphony Hall" - 1982)
• Rush, Tom (from "45 RPM Single" - 1966)
• Sauce (from "Waiting For Godiva" - 2002)
• Sciaky, Carla (from "In Between" - 1985)
• Scott, Darrell (from "Modern Hymns" - 2008)
• Scott, Darrell (from "Live at the Station Inn" - 2017)
• Seanachie (from "Telling Tales" - 1996)
• Shane (from "A Natural Man" - 1970)
• Side By Side (from "Best of Side By Side" - )
• Smith, Adam (from "100 Days of Winter" - )
• Smith, Don (from " Pages In A Book Chapter 2 (Just Like You Remember)" - 2009)
• Smith, Kathryn (from "With Every Breath I Take" - 2010)
• Soden, Bill (from "(45 single)" - )
• Steele, Jae C. (from "Covering Ground" - 2012)
• Stone, Eric Richard  (from "Fire, Waterfall, & Wave" - 2019)
• Sumeau (from "Digital Single" - 2016)
• Suzanne M. Sheridan & And the Suzanne Sheridan Band (from "Suzanne Sheridan Sings the Music of Joni Mitchell & Leonard Cohen" - 2012)
• The Bards (from "Time For The Bards" - 1971)
• The Dog Run Boys (from "Fresh Tracks" - 1997)
• The Johnstons (from "Give A Damn" - 1968)
• The Lone Tree Canyon Band (- 2019)
• The Loons (from "You Draw Me In" - 2000)
• The Nevershanks (from "Music for Q4" - 2017)
• The P.D.U.S.M. (from "(45 single)" - 1967)
• Theriot, Lisa (from "Turning Of Seasons" - 2001)
• Toran, Arthur (- )
• Townsend, John (from "All Kinds Of Everything Vol. 2" - 1977)
• Travis (from "Why Does It Always Rain On Me (CD-Single)" - 1999)
• Tribe (from "The Gathering" - 2002)
• Van Ronk, Dave (from "Van Ronk" - 1971)
• Vertisi, Janet (- )
• Viggiano, Lisa  (from "Invited to Stay" - 2020)
• White, Simone (from "Dream Comfort Memory" - 2021)
• Whiteley, Ken (from "Another Day's Journey" - 2010)
• Whyton, Wally  (from "It's Me, Mum" - 1968)
• Wundrock, Tracy (from "Sea Dreams - A Tribute to Joni Mitchell" - 2013)
• Wyland, Dede (from "Urge For Going" - 2018)
• [more information on recordings by other artists]

This song appears on:

• 

  View album Songs of a Prairie Girl Released April 26, 2005

• 

  View album Archives - Volume One: The Early Years (1963-1967) Released October 30, 2020

• 

  View album Live at Canterbury House: 1967 Released October 30, 2020

• 

  View album Archives - Volume One: The Early Years (1963-1967) Highlights Released June 12, 2021

• 

  View album Blue at 50 - Demos & Outtakes Released June 21, 2021

• 

  View album Archives - Volume Two: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) Released October 29, 2021

• 

  View album Live at Carnegie Hall, 1969 Released October 29, 2021

When I Get Where I'm Going Lyrics Meaning

Source: https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=71

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