Who is Joni Mitchell’s ‘Help Me’ written about?
Joni Mitchell approaches her songs like a painter would a canvas. Although there might not be anything tangible on the surface at first, Mitchell infuses heart and muscle into every one of her songs, with a commanding grip on melody and a voice that could break someone’s heart if they weren’t careful. Like any great folk singer, she could always bring people to their knees when writing love songs.
Though ‘Help Me’ might seem like a traditional love song, there’s a lot more nuance underneath this tune’s hood. From the opening lines, Mitchell is crying out for help, thinking that her love is something she needs to be saved from. As much as Mitchell might be lovestruck by this man, she often wonders whether this infatuation is a poisonous one.
Throughout the tune, Mitchell begins questioning herself, wondering if she’s in over her head and not wanting to fall in love too fast if it isn’t for the right reasons. Whoever Mitchell is singing about did a number on her, but who is this mystery man?
Since Mitchell has always been cagey about the meaning of her songs, this man is described as a “rambler and a gambler” who loves his freedom much more than he will probably ever love her. Although it’s easy to chalk that up to many different rock stars, one needs to look no further than Mitchell’s romantic company at the time.
During the 1970s, Mitchell had struck up a brief romance with Jackson Browne, which broke off when she wrote this song. Although both Browne and Mitchell have poured their hearts into their work, hearing lines about people flirting around feel a bit on the nose for Mitchell to insert the song. Later, Browne would even write his semi-retort to Mitchell, penning the song ‘Fountain of Sorrow’, saying that the song is about “people always looking for something in each other that they may not find, and says that not only is that OK but what’s more enduring is the goodwill and acceptance of each others’ right to be on this search and to make your own choices.”
On the other hand, Mitchell’s ode to love trepidation could also trace back to Glenn Frey of the Eagles, who was involved with her around the same time. Since Frey was writing songs like ‘Desperado’, it’s not hard to picture him in the persona of this “rambler” in ‘Help Me’, especially since he was getting into his own persona as an outlaw around the same time.
Despite having some of Mitchell’s personal details, she had always thought of the song as a bit of a throwaway, going on to say: “My record companies always had a tendency to take my fastest songs on the album for singles, thinking they’d stand out because they did on the LPs. Meantime, I’d feel that the radio is crying for one of my ballads”.
While this might be more accessible to listeners than something like ‘River’, Mitchell keeps the song universal enough so anyone could relate to it. Even if it were about her relationship drama, the lyric is open so that aspiring songwriters can look at these words and see a mirror into their lives.
