Hejira (song)

"Hejira" is the title track from Joni Mitchell's 1976 album. It is the fifth track on the album (the last song on Side One of the original vinyl LP), and the second of four tracks on Hejira which fretless bassist Jaco Pastorius plays on.

The track itself features a distinctive open tuning, B-F#-C#-E-F#-B, which allows Joni to play her distinctive "Weird Chords" and distinctive fingerpicking pattern.

Trivia

The song title is also the title of a chapter from David Sedaris' book, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. He mentions Joni Mitchell in the first paragraph of the chapter: "After six months spent waking at noon, getting high, and listening to the same Joni Mitchell record over and over again, I was called by my father into his den and told to get out." Sedaris mentions Mitchell again on the second page of the chapter: "My sister Lisa had an apartment over by the university and said that I could come stay with her as long as I didn't bring my Joni Mitchell record." The chapter is decidedly melancholy, much like the song itself.