The Last Time I Saw Richard

"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
Released1971
Recorded1971
GenreFolk
Length4:13
LabelReprise
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
  1. "Joni Mitchell – Last Time I Saw Richard – lyrics". JoniMitchell.com. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  2. Mercer, Michelle (2009). Will You Take Me As I Am: Joni Mitchell's Blue Period. Simon and Schuster. pp. 107–. ISBN 978-1-4165-6655-7.
  3. "Joni Mitchell: 20 essential songs". October 16, 2015 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
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