music.wikisort.org - Composition

"The Last Time I Saw Richard" is a song by Joni Mitchell from her 1971 album Blue. It is the last track on the album.

"The Last Time I Saw Richard"
Song by Joni Mitchell
from the album Blue
Released	1971
Recorded	1971
Genre	Folk
Length	4:13
Label	Reprise
Songwriter(s)	Joni Mitchell
Producer(s)	Joni Mitchell

Contrary to rumours regarding the song being about Mitchell's first husband Chuck Mitchell, she has said it was inspired by a conversation with fellow folk singer Patrick Sky, in which he told her "Oh, Joni, you're a hopeless romantic. There's only one way for you to go. Hopeless cynicism."[1][2]

In October 2015 the song was included in "Joni Mitchell: 20 essential songs" by The Daily Telegraph which said "One of the two greatest songs on Blue and most enduring and beloved songs of Mitchell’s entire canon, "The Last Time I Saw Richard" is surely among the most poignant songs about romantic disillusionment ever written, in which a former lover’s fate is delineated with a devastating precision. "Richard got married to a figure skater/ And he bought her a dishwasher and a coffee percolator /And he drinks at home now most nights with the TV on /And all the house lights left up bright."[3]

References

---