"Raised on Robbery" is a song written by

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

. It was the lead single from her 1974 album ''

Court and Spark ''Court and Spark'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Released in January 1974, it infuses the folk rock style of her previous albums with jazz elements. It was an immediate commercial and critical success— ...

''.

Lyrics and music

The lyrics are about a prostitute who tries to pick up a man sitting alone in a hotel. The prostitute tells him about her life, until at the end of the song the man leaves. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' music critic

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wor ...

explains that although the lyrics are provocative, they are "camouflaged enough" for

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...

, for example by using a cooking

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

. "Raised on Robbery" has a

strophic Strophic form – also called verse-repeating form, chorus form, AAA song form, or one-part song form – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. Contrasting song forms include through-composed, w ...

structure with a refrain at the end of each verse and a four-line introduction section to describe the setting and characters. The music is more commercial than much of the music Mitchell performed before releasing this song, and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic William Ruhlmann describes it as "an outright rock tune," although retaining the

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

work that Mitchell was known for.

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...

of the Band plays

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

on the song to enhance the rock music feel. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the guitar playing as "funky" and said that the guitars and

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

s keep the music flowing. According to music professor Lloyd Whitesell, Mitchell "employs vocal histrionics to portray" the prostitute and conveys her brash personalities through "a bright, forceful vocal tone and suggestive, flamboyant slides."

Reception

Music critic

Sean Nelson Sean Nelson (born June 12, 1973) is an American musician and journalist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock group Harvey Danger and is the arts editor for '' The Stranger'' newspaper in Seattle, Washington. Music career Nelson i ...

regarded "Raised on Robbery" as a tribute to such 1950s rock and roll songs as "

Shake Rattle and Roll "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone (usually credited as Charles Calhoun, his songwriting name). The original recording by Big Joe Turner is ranked number 127 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of The 500 Grea ...

" and performers such as

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

but did not think it was very convincing, saying that it sounded "stodgy and wrinkled." On the other hand, Ruhlmann regarded the song as a perfectly realized "short story in song" with "funny and saucy" lyrics. Fellow Allmusic critic Jason Ankeny stated that "Raised on Robbery" " offers an acutely funny look at the predatory environment of the singles bar scene." Hilburn called it the "liveliest track" on ''Court and Spark,'' calling it a "surprising, but welcome exercise in humor." ''Tallahassee Democrat'' critic Bud Newman claimed that it was the only song on ''Court and Spark'' that "comes right out and grabs you, holding you captive to the lyric and the musical package." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "a rocking, rolling hard driving effort by Joni is a rarity...but this one was well worth waiting for." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' said that "Joni goes for a boogie-woogie beat, tight '30s harmonies and great instrumental backup on her spectacular new single entry." "Raised on Robbery" reached No. 50 on the '' Cashbox'' singles chart, No. 65 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and No. 40 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. "Raised on Robbery" was later included on the video version of Mitchell's 1980 live album '' Shadows and Light'', along with her compilation albums ''

Hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

'' (1996) and '' Songs of a Prairie Girl'' (2005), the latter album being dedicated to Saskatchewan's centenary celebrations.

Charts

References

{{Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell songs Songs written by Joni Mitchell 1973 songs 1973 singles Song recordings produced by Joni Mitchell Asylum Records singles