Help Me (Joni Mitchell song)

"Help Me" is a love song written, produced, and performed by Joni Mitchell and released on her 1974 album Court and Spark. The song was recorded with jazz band Tom Scott's L.A. Express as the backing band.^[2]

"Help Me"
Single by Joni Mitchell
from the album Court and Spark
B-side	"Just Like This Train"
Released	March 1974
Recorded	1973
Genre	Jazz pop[1]
Length	3:22
Label	Asylum
Songwriter(s)	Joni Mitchell
Producer(s)	Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell singles chronology
"Raised on Robbery" (1973) "Help Me" (1974) "Free Man in Paris" (1974)
Official Audio
"Help Me" on YouTube

"Help Me" was Mitchell's biggest hit single, her only Top 10 hit. It peaked at #7 in June 1974 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it hit #1 on the easy listening chart.^[3] The song would later be referenced in "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" by Prince, who was a huge fan of Joni Mitchell's work.

Lyrics and music

Billboard described the lyrics as Mitchell singing of "needing help to feel good."^[4]

In the lyrics, the singer makes a plea for help that, in later lines, seems a bit of a dichotomy. She knows she's falling in love with "a rambler and a gambler and a sweet-talking ladies' man." But apparently, she has no intention to break things off, even though the last line of each chorus cynically says "We love our loving, but not like we love our freedom." This can be applied to both the singer and her object of affection, a reflection on 1970s outlooks on the challenges of a relationship without boundaries.

Personnel

Source:^[5]

• Joni Mitchell – vocals, acoustic guitar, piano; producer
• Tom Scott – woodwinds, reeds
• Joe Sample – electric piano
• Larry Carlton – electric guitar
• Max Bennett – bass guitar
• John Guerin – drums, percussion
• Henry Lewy and Ellis Sorkin – engineers

Critical reception

The song is ranked #288 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[6]

Covers

Artists who have recorded cover versions of the song include:

• Wynonna (on the 2000 album New Day Dawning)
• Mandy Moore (on her 2003 covers album Coverage)
• Karrin Allyson on her 2004 album Wild For You.^[7]
• Divine Brown (on her 2005 self-titled album)
• k.d. lang (on the 2007 tribute album A Tribute to Joni Mitchell)
• Katharine McPhee (on the iTunes deluxe edition of her 2010 album Unbroken)
• Will Young (recorded live in London as the B-side to his 2009 single Let It Go)
• Judy Kuhn (on her 2013 album All This Happiness)
• Chaka Khan (on the 2019 live tribute album Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration)

In popular culture

The Prince song "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker", from his 1987 album Sign o' the Times, mentions the song in the lyrics: "..and it was Joni singing: ‘Help me, I think I'm falling’." Prince was a huge fan of Joni Mitchell's work.^[8] A sample can also be heard in "Looking Through Patient Eyes" by P.M. Dawn.

In the show South Park, the character Butters briefly sings this song in Season 11/Episode 2 ("Cartman Sucks"). In the Season 6 of the TV series Shameless, the main character Frank Gallagher and his lover Queenie sing the first half of the song during breakfast.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1974) Peak position Canada RPM Top Singles[9] 6 Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[10] 4 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] 7 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary[3] 1 U.S. Cash Box Top 100[12] 8

Year-end charts Chart (1974) Rank Canada RPM Top Singles [13] 82 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [14] 53 U.S. Cash Box [15] 50

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1974 (U.S.)

References

1. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). "Joni Mitchell". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside. p. 547. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011.
2. "Help Me by Joni Mitchell Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
3. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 172.
4. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. March 2, 1974. p. 60. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
5. "Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark". jonimitchell.com. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
6. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Archived from the original on November 27, 2009. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
7. "Karrin Allyson thinks jazz singing deserves attention". Archived from the original on 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
8. "'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker': The Prince song that references Joni Mitchell". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
9. "RPM Top Singles - Volume 21, No. 16". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
10. "RPM Adult Contemporary - Volume 21, No. 13". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
11. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
12. "Cash Box Top 100 6/15/74". Tropicalglen.com. 1974-06-15. Archived from the original on 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
13. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
14. "Top 100 Hits of 1974/Top 100 Songs of 1974". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
15. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1974". Tropicalglen.com. 1974-12-28. Archived from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2016-10-09.