Joni Mitchell - The Circle Game 

This is such a nice comment section. None of us will ever see each other ever again, yet we leave stories behind for others to take. May all the people passing through here do well with their lives and be happy. Godspeed everyone.

It's November 15, 2023..i'm here listening to this beautiful song...Peace and love to everyone who passes through this comment section.

In 1979 my wife and I had a child, he was much like the child described in this song. We lost him two years ago on November 29th. Love you children and hold them close.

First heard this song at a Hospice Christmas tree-lighting ceremony a few days ago. Cried all the way through. Almost 82 years old, lost my husband of 38 years last spring. I tell everyone, love your family and spend time with them now, because once they are gone, there are only the memories.

I've loved the sound of this song for many years. Today, at age 71, I paid attention to the words. I have tears in my eyes.

My mother passed away on 4-19-21 from cancer. She was a fan of Joni Mitchell and this was played at her service. We miss you Mom.

This was the lullaby my mom sang to me every night while rubbing my back and I’ve had it memorized for as long as I can remember and listening to it turning 19 made me cry really listening to the lyrics. Hope we all continue to pass this song to the next generation❤️

Go peacefully through the noise and haste of life. I still wonder from time to time where my 74 years went. This song talks to my soul.

I first heard this song when I had 16 springs and summers behind me. Now with 61 springs and summers behind me I appreciate this song even more. I sing it to my sons, and even though they're embarrassed at their mother's singing, I hope that they will begin to understand the passages they will go through in their lives, and share it with their children whenever they may come along.

My sister Christine introduced me to this song 45 years ago, when I was 14....cancer took her 5 years ago. God I miss her.

First heard this song when I was “a boy of twenty”. Still have the record I bought back then, over 50 years ago. Going on 72 rides on the carousel and the song is still as touching and beautiful. Just heard Joni’s rendition of Both Sides now from her Newport performance last year, as a 79 year old woman. If that is all she ever did with her life is compose and record The Circle Game and Both Sides Now would be a life well lived! God Bless Joni and thrilled to just find out she recovered from her illness. A timeless treasure!

I'm turning 69 in a few weeks and have loved this song from when it first came out. Tears are streaming down my face now as I look back on a life well lived and the people I've met and the friends I've made.

After just sending my one and only child off to college, the meaning of this song has never hit harder. I CANNOT for the life of me get through the song without crying. the line that gets me EVERY time is "and they tell him take your time it won't be long now til you drag your feet to slow the circles down." Try telling that to a wide-eyed teenager who can't wait for their life to start. It truly, truly seems like yesterday she was catching those dragonflies in a jar. Life is amazingly fast. No matter how hard I try, I can't slow those damned circles down

My middle school social studies teacher passed away today and she used to sing this during class. Rest in Peace, Mrs. H.

I've been riding the Carousel for going on 79 cycles and with each magical season I only am more thankful for Joni's words and music. Try as I might I'm unable to slow the circles down but joy, love and amazement grow stronger with each revolution. Thanks for the ride.

As an older person ... the lyrics in this beautiful song can make it painful to listen to. She showed her genius at a young age.

I cant believe she wrote this. I cant believe a human wrote this. Its so beautiful. A true art.

I came here today because of This Is Us. I don't remember ever hearing this song before, but on last night's TIS this sound was uses as Rebecca moved along the cars on the train. What a poetic song and it was just perfect for the show - and just perfect for all of us, especially those of us of a certain 'senior citizen' age. Bless you Joni Mitchell. Just perfect

This song is very near and dear to my heart. I am 22, and my grandfather shared this song with me, and what a gift! There was not a dry eye between the two of us. I long to slow the circles down just to try and get as much time with him as I can, I have so much to learn from him and not enough time. Rest assured, there is someone from Gen Z that will carry this song to the next generation. I will sing this to my kids, and share this song with my grandchildren, just like my grandfather did with me. This song will stand the test of time; The Circle Game.

This song gave the fuller house one of the most beautiful scenes in the entire series. What a lovely song!!

I love this song. I remember when I was really little, my mom had this on a cd. When we were in the car, we would sing to it together. I remember listening to it when I was little in the car with my mom, and she had the windows open and we were going by all of these trees and it was fall, so there were all these beautiful different colors. It was so nice. I always think about that when I hear this song.

The nostalgia and sentimentality of this tune really hits you when you've experienced sixty some "circles", and experienced Joni Mitchell from the beginnings of her music life. This is an anthem of my generation as much as any, and brings back a plethora of memories, and elicits strong emotions. Parents of all generations should teach their kids to relish every time of their lives and make the most of each day. There ARE no do overs.

This song is so precious to me, I can't listen to it without my chest tightening and eyes watering. My dad gave me an unusual present for my 20th birthday, a small collection of songs including this song. When I listened to it, I was happy that my dad found a nice song but didn't quite grasp the significance of it. Unfortunately he passed away a couple of years ago. In the wake of that, listening to this song suddenly had a different perspective; it was practically a recital of his thoughts watching me grow up. Now when I listen to this song, I can't help but reminisce over those years

I don't think I could sing this song in front of anyone. I can't get through listening to it without crying. It makes me think of how short life is and so many other things. This song strikes a chord with so many for different reasons. Even though it brings me to tears everytime I listen to it, it is a reminder not to waste time, to hug your wife, kids, family, friends, and to be a better person during the time we have left on this earth. God Bless...

I would give anything to go back just for one day when I was a child in 1965-1966.

I just wanted to say that this song is so inspiring to me, and I feel happy every time I listen to it. Whoever reads this, I hope you are doing well, and are living a peaceful and happy life. 🥰🙂

"it won't be long now till you drag your feet to slow the circles down", ouch, now that hits home...

This song is a masterpiece brilliantly performed by joni, its as real now as it was 43 tears ago when I first heard it.

Reading the comments you realize how huge an effect this song has had on so many people's lives--how many people have sung it to their children, sung it in choir, at camp--how it binds together generations.

“This is Us” brought me here. Joni Mitchell is a little before my time, but what absolutely beautiful lyrics her songs have 💜🙏🏼🌼🌸

I sang this song to my sons thirty years ago every night after coming home from work … it has brought so much peace and hope as the circles have kept going round and round over the years🙏❤️

I had never heard this song until last night watching one of the last episodes of " This is Us." What an eloquent, poetic gem this is.

Years ago, when I was maybe 25-27 years old, one day I went walking into the Best Buy store in Ft. Worth, I. Bought the movie that song is in the last part of the movie. Now I am 51 years old and I love this song as much or more now than when I first heard it at the end of the movie I bought that day so many years ago. As I listened to this song today, I sang along with the lyrics on this video.Folks, we as a nation and a people of this country, need a lot more songs like this one, Anne Murray’s songs, the songs of the carpenters, John Denver and so many more. These songs are a legacy , handed down from truly great artists, singer song writers, like Helen Reddy and others.we have got to not just sing along with these songs, but really listen to these lyrics of these songs of the words we’re singing. I thank you for taking tie read my little narrative. I was adopted at the age of 5-51/2 months old to really great people.I was chosen, more than being adopted by these two people. Sadly, my daddy went to Heaven on the way to work one morning in a tragic car crash from our house to the ship. He was in the United States Navy and was almost to complete a total of 10 years when he died. I was only halfway between the ages of two years old and two and a half years old. My mom was 24 years old at the time. Sadly, after about 45 or so years of smoking menthol cigarettes, she left earth to join my daddy in Heaven 11 years ago this coming December 8th at exactly noon. I miss both of them alot more than some even know, but just like a sailors daughter that I am, I raise my chin and March along with my life with two people who chose to adopt me and are watching over me from Heaven, knowing I will someday join them there along with a bunch of other relatives and friends who have gone on to Heaven. And I do this with a brave smile on my face. Life’s short. Enjoy this time on earth while you can. God bless you all and Godspeed to all of you.

i’m about a half hour from turning 20 and super anxious about it, this song was mentioned in one of many articles about turning 20 i was scrolling through. this is my first time hearing it and i’m sobbing hysterically.

There is a profound introspection and wisdom in this song. Joni never fails to amaze.

I sang this to my newborn son yesterday.....I first heard to song the day I was born in 1985 when my father sang it to me....Not only am I & his mother blessed, he is blessed to have us as well as grand parents & great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins great aunts & uncles who love him. Ive waited 33 years to sing this song to him & say "Welcome to the world, my son."

This woman gave me my voice...I was born in 1960 and watched my brothers, all older than me in '69 take off for the Woodstock festival only a couple of hours from our home in Brooklyn, NY. I was 9 then and very shy. Just before the festival one of my bothers who was a musician heard me in my room singing along with my Joni Mitchell album.. I had all of them....and taught myself the guitar chords to each of her songs so I could sing to myself when I was blue. One day my brother told me..."You sound just like her...you should be very proud" In later years, when I became a mother, I sang to my babies as I cradled each one in my carrier on our journey to the market and around the apartment, lulling each to sleep. To this day, when I feel the blues coming on, I sing to myself while going about my day. My heart broke when I heard she was rushed to the hospital. I cried and prayed...There is no one, absolutely no one who compares to this Angel on Earth. She is radiant!

This might be the most underrated song ever

I cry every time I hear this masterpiece. Only Joni Mitchell could write something so beautiful & thought provoking.

Thank you Joni, for the years of beautiful music -- from my teens to my sixties.

IMO, the great Joni Mitchell has never gotten her just due.... she is every bit Lennon and McCartney wrapped into one. The words she puts together are second to NONE! There is no equal to the clarity of her wonderful voice and the chords she strums. Thank you Joni for allowing us to enjoy your talent... a fan for life, Randy Codd

I listen to this song & can't help but cry. My second grade teacher would always play this song & throughout second grade would take pictures and at the end of the year she compiled all the pictures and made a slide show with this song playing. I watch it now that I'm 20 and can feel my childhood slip through my fingers. An amazing and upsetting sensation. Beautiful song.

Our daughter, julie, was 7 years old, 1982, first time I heard it, her 2nd grade teacher, Barb, overholt, played it on her guitar for a school performance...our daughter will celebrate her 47th birthday on feb. 24th, I just watched a movie where this was performed by elementary school children dressed like we did in the 60s.. brought back memories 😥❤

One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Joni was underappreciated.

I had forgotten about this song. Sure enough it was the one I remembered a dear friend from college had played for me years ago. We've lost touch now. We're both 49 now. Oh how I wish to go back to when we were 18. Man I'm crying now. Beautiful and so true.

At a summer camp I go to my age group play this at end of summer every year. The entire camp usually sings it every Friday during Shabbat. I have been going to the camp sines 2016 and I now I’m 17. Next year I’ll be a counselor. It will only be a few more years till I can’t even work there anymore. This camp has shaped me and time is just flying by. My age group all cry every year to this song. This song means so so much to me and has such a special part in my heart.

What a beautiful, moving song. It never fails to fill my eyes with tears. "Cartwheels turn to car wheels..." what a lyric. Wow.

I'm 18 and joni soothes me in the way my mother's lullabies did

This is one of the most beautiful songs written. So touching and sad.

I first heard this song 35 years ago on the episode “Mom Wars” of The Wonder Years. I didn’t know it was Joni Mitchell. That episode stayed with me all this time. I was so touched by it. I finally found it again and I can’t stop crying as I listen to it. Now I’m a Mother and I feel it so deeply. So profound and beautiful. ❤

Heard of this song years ago from Neil young’s sugar mountain. I’m 23 years old now, but I still long for those days when I was even younger. Growing up is scary but these songs always remind me to enjoy the present moment. Much love to you all passing through the comments :)

In my twenties, this was just another good tune by Mitchell. But now, with the experience of years, the lyrics are so true.

As an approaching middle aged parent of two young kids, I can't make it 20 seconds into this song without ugly crying. She captures the beauty and bittersweetness of life so well here. A true gem, that Joni.

HOW TRUE-Made sure my best friend dying of cancer had a chance to hear this and it became he favorite and listened to it as she slowly passed away. ❤️🙏😇lkh

My mom used to sing me to sleep with this song when I was little. I just found out I’m pregnant, so I’m singing it to my little one now too. 💕

I have been singing this song at camp for 6 years. It is my favorite song from campfire and my favorite song, period. This camp is my second home, and I feel like this song is the perfect extension of it. Although I love to sing, I have never sung in front of an audience because it is so perfectly intimate to me and anyone who is lucky to find it. It reminds me that all of the people who I have met at camp, especially one who I have kept in touch with for three years, are preserved in my memories even if I never see them again. It reminds me that new friends will come too, and I never have to let go of memories of them. It just makes me want to cry and smile at the same time. Although I am far from being the heartfelt genius who wrote these lyrics, this song teaches me that dreams can change you for the better if you believe in them enough. To anyone who has taken the time to read this lengthy comment, I hope something is as special in your life as The Circle Game is for me. Have a wonderful day. ❤️🍀

Everytime I hear this song I just start sobbing. It's so beautiful but at the same time it's very melancholy

It's my 77th Birthday..... this Joni masterpiece is one of her finest, and my all time favourite. Our sons are 32 and 35 years old and these lyrics still ring true!

I’m 65 now and I can remember when I was in my late teens early 20s liking a lot of Joni Mitchell’s songs but for some reason I did not care for this one. Maybe I didn’t take the time to listen to the words. Now that I’m old this song has so much more meaning it almost makes me cry every time I here it . God Bless you Joni Mitchell ❤️….

I am not only grateful for this song but for the comments on this page, which I wholeheartedly feel at one with. It is comforting to know that the sentiments of that age have not gone but still survive with us, even if our softer voices are often drowned out by the senseless noise of this age.

I get teary eyed when I hear this song

A magical song, about life and aging from a surprisingly young women to have gleaned all these truth from life already.

I sing the sun a bus to my son going to the park in San Francisco. The people on the bus saying along with me. My son still a baby smile at all the people. We didn’t know then but eight years later he would be diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor he would die at the age of 20. He was not afraid. He would say I know where I’m going mommy I’m not afraid. God bless you for this song for the memories that it gives me. I hope the people on the bus remember they’re beautiful baby and how happy they made him. Thank you for this beautiful song that always brings me to tears

I’ve been looking for this song for YEARS!!! I first heard it at a summer camp. We’d sing it at night, and I loved it. I forgot it soon afterwards, but kept it in my heart. Today it just popped in my head. Chills!!!! A fragment of my childhood was brought back to me. Beautiful,

I love this song , I lost my son at 19 and it gave me joy and sorrow genius

this song is sheer poetry and speaks volumes about why we should never take a single day in our life for granted...for each day we wake up is a blessing...

THIS SONG IS PURE MAGIC. I'm 33 years young and I wish to god I could have been around in the old days. 70's, 60's, 50's was a GOLDEN ERA of music that will NEVER be redone.

Beautiful lady with a beautiful voice, listening to her always brings tears to my eyes remembering my youth. Love her songs.

This song is so beautifully written and performed by Joni. I get goosebumps on my goosebumps when I listen to it. It is one of the most relatable songs ever written in my humble opinion. I have heard it was written as a response of sorts to Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain" which is about not wanting to grow older, " You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain, though you're thinking you're leaving there to soon". When we are young we want nothing more than to grow up faster and once we've achieved that, we want to turn the time back or at least slow it down. They say "Youth is wasted on the young" and to a point, they are right. We don't appreciate what a special time it is during our lives and it seems, nobody seems to bother to tell us. Not that I'm sure it would have made a difference. Life is so very ironic. It's only been the past few years that I have wanted to put my feet down and slow the circle that seems to be picking up speed. All I know is that I have accumulated many great memories throughout my life and when I take my last breath, it's those treasured memories that will be all I take with me. All the material things people work so hard to obtain, is for not. You spend so much time working for it, you are missing out on making the only thing that in the end, will truly matter. The memories you made during your lifetime. The rest is simply fluff.

I used to sing this all the time In kindergarten. I’m 17 now, and I had completely forgot about this song until my dad played it on his USB. So many nostalgic memories came back to me, and the more I listen to this, the more I understand the depth and meaning to the lyrics.

I have been listening to this masterpiece since it came out with tears in my eyes. Now at 70 I have been fortunate to see my circle , my children's circle, my grandchildren's circle, and now am watching my great grand baby's circle begin. I am the luckiest man alive. Appreciate every moment and leave a place better than when you came.

I may not be much older than a teen, but this song was my childhood. It wasn't from parents or friends that I heard it, but a summer camp that meant the world to me. And I don't think this song will ever leave me.

70 years old here. This song has always moved me. I understand it better now. Still makes me tear up.

my best friend turned 16 today and we both cried to this song together. i know i'm young but this song has changed my life.

My youngest brother, (youngest of 8 children) choose this to dance with my Mom at his wedding. He and his wife have been married for 18 years now, and my mom died 5 years ago after suffering for about 12 years from senile dementia and then kidney cancer. Them dancing to this song is my last truly happy memory of my mom.

Beautiful song, I first heard it in the 90s at the end of a Wonder Years episode and it somehow stuck with me. I'm happy that I'm able to appreciate this eternal music. Thanks and bravo for uploading it. Blessings to everyone out there may y'all find bliss and peace during your lifetime. Amen...✍

Man, the imagery of this song is top notch. You don't find many songs like this anymore.

I was that young man. After the war in the Pacific, my parents and my sister and I started a new life in a small college town in Missouri where dad taught. When I came of age, I went to war, too. I hope our children on down the ages never have to go to war again. I shudder to hear the warmongers who want to send our children off to die. There must be better answers.

Flat out, unsurpassed genius. Nothing, absolutely nothing, compares in beauty and originality. We have devolved. The world is no longer able to produce something that uniquely beautiful. The only sense that grows keener with age is the sense of “appreciation”. Her music gets better and better as I age.

I heard this song the day we found out we were having a second son. My wife called me glowing. I just thought how kind God has been to us, and how grateful I am for just the experience of life. Why do anything but love in this short time we're here. This song for some reason helps me feel that way at a deeper level.

Came to listen because today is my birthday and I’m reminiscing all the years that have gone by I’m 32 now but I remember as a little girl probably 25-27 years ago dancing around my aunts house with her holding hands frolicking through fields and woods with her so may beautiful memories thank you aunt Eddie

It's my Birthday...in less than 2 hrs... 60 sunrises I've been on this earth to experience, counting the one on my first day...arriving in the wee hours of the morning... Childhood, Youth, Teen, Young Adult, Seasoned adult, Motherhood, and now Grandmother. Im next on the list to pass on...eventually. Oh the experiences as the circle goes round and round. Oh what we yearn to convey to the young. Goodwill to all of you.

Nothing like this song to evoke bright windy Fall days and singing the chorus with one's first love...many many circles ago.Thanks Joni...

I was about 11 or 12 at summer camp when I learned this song sitting by the fire at night before bedtime. Many years later I found out the lovely campfire song I thought I'd never hear again was actually a famous song by Joni Mitchell, and that I could hear it any time I wanted. And when I eventually had kids of my own, I sang to them this song every night when it was time for bed. And like many of you commenting here, I also have tears in my eyes as I hear the song.

My father sang this song to me since I was a baby, and it was the first song I ever knew the words to. I’m not sure if there’s anything that can bring me as much comfort as this song can.

A beautiful encapsulation of the transiency, poignancy, and mystery of life, written and performed by a 23-year-old woman with the voice and appearance of an angel.

Arguably the best song ever written in the rock era. What a gem.

As you get older this song becomes even better...... Joni Mitchell is well a genius First heard this song in the Strawberry Statement about a million years ago...... everything comes around in a circle...... maybe we will change

I recently began to discover how true this song is myself... Beautiful, just beautiful

I’m balling my eyes out right now and I don’t know why. This song is so hauntingly beautiful and something about it just struck me. Every time I hear the chorus I just cry harder.

A beautiful summation of what LIFE is all about. Thank you, Joni!

In 4th and 5th grade, I had a teacher who would use a projector with lyrics to give us a bit of music time every day. This was one of my favorite songs he would play. Thank you, Kent. This, with many more, were songs that helped us through so many obstacles in our lives. A lot of us went our own ways but never forgot what you taught us.

Again, I thank you all for your comments. Not in behalf of Joni, of course, but for my joy of discovering things I didn't know about. And that's all folks!

This is astoundingly beautiful musical poetry about the passage of time and the beauty of the human experience, and human heart. I love it, and it touches me deeply.

The Circle Game, Jodie Mitchel, is a song sung during an episode i viewed of the series DEFENDING JACOB, Apple Plus TV. It brought back a life time of memories as a mom of two, grandmom of five, & now great grandma of four…my immediate family ranges in ages from almost three to 59. I am a woman blessed with music enjoyed & now needed throughout my life time; ‘my kind of music’ as I call it keeps me sane, grounded, & learning. Thanks for this comment section…happy Cinco de Mayo🕯️

In 1969-70 I was in Barry Gordon's 4th grade class at Lakewood Elementary in Park Forest Illinois. He was teaching as he was getting his film making degree at the University Of Chicago. We made a movie about our 4th grade year with this song as the theme and title of the movie. I was in charge of the soundtrack (with his suggestions, which were amazing), and I immediately fell in love with this song. Would love to hear what happened to him, and wish I could see our movie today. It also inspired me to learn guitar, just love her special tunings, very different and also amazing! Thank you Joni. Scott

I performed this song in elementary and now listening to it again when I’m older brings memories back and tears 😭💗

I’ve consistently shared this song with my grandchildren. I pray that when I’m gone, they’ll find consolation and inspiration in this song.

I first heard this song in outdoor school. It was in the evening on the last night and we were all sitting around a big fire. Years later I would sing it to my children. All 4 of them. And now I sing it for my grandbabies. It holds a very special place in my heart ♥️

Poets (and some musicians) are our window on what we understand but cannot articulate, except in our hearts. Joni is in that pantheon, on both counts. I have always been in awe of her beauty. Thank you for posting.