Help Me (Joni Mitchell song)


"Help Me" is a love song written, produced, and performed by Joni Mitchell, from her 1974 album Court and Spark. The song was recorded with jazz band Tom Scott's L.A. Express as the backing band.
"Help Me" was Mitchell's biggest hit single: it peaked at #7 in June 1974 on the Billboard Hot 100, her only Top 10 hit; it hit #1 on the easy listening chart.

Lyrics and music

Billboard described the lyrics as Mitchell singing of "needing help to feel good."

Critical reception

The song is ranked #288 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Covers

Artists who have recorded cover versions of the song include:
The Prince song "Ballad of Dorothy Parker" mentions the song in the lyrics. A reference to "Help Me" - "..and it was Joni singing: ‘Help me, I think I'm falling’." a sample can also be heard in "Looking Through Patient Eyes" by P.M. Dawn.
In the show South Park, the character Butters briefly sings this song in episode 2 of season 11, "Cartman Sucks". In the sixth season of TV series Shameless main character, Frank Gallagher, and his lover, Queenie, sing during breakfast the first half of the song.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts