"Phoenix In Your Heart" by Rickie Lee Jones

Just recently I had the pleasure of seeing the incomparable Rickie Lee Jones in concert -- I have been a forever fan and this last concert marks the tenth time I have seen her live over the years (including a very memorable evening at the Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco where she and her band played her first two albums, the eponymous "Rickie Lee Jones" and her second album "Pirates" in their entirety, back to back, without a break!). After the concert, I was searching on Youtube for other live performances and came across this song, "Phoenix In Your Heart" that is unrecorded, only performed a few times on tours recently. And I was struck by the power of it, the urgency and hugeness of its message. Although she did not perform it for us the night I saw her, I am glad this exists so we can enjoy the ephemerality of what she does best.

Whatever they think we are, I don’t care
If she never gives me back my car, I don’t care
Long as we wake up there when the sun goes down
Following our footsteps through the desert town
Long as we wake up
Touch me darlin’
As you look into my eyes

Whatever they think I took, I don’t care
If I never get my name in the book, I don’t care
Cuz everything we ever did or ever will be ever saw or said or still see
Is waiting for us there
Is waiting for us
Oh darlin’
and now you look into my eyes

HEY baby, but don’t you believe its over
Don’t you believe it
You got a phoenix in your heart you got a phoenix in your heart
Got a phoenix in your heart
There’s a phoenix in your heart
There’s a phoenix in your heart
There’s a phoenix in your heart
There’s a phoenix in your heart

There’ll be another walk across the rooftop
There’ll be another kiss up to the moon
We’re walking arm in arm by the riverside
Somebody playing Dixieland
A song we both remember and
Finally darlin’
You look into my eyes
And can you see through my disguise

HEY baby,
Don’t you believe its over
Got a phoenix in your heart
Got a phoenix in your heart

RLJ is still on tour ... she plays east coast dates through December, 2026. Check her site for info.

https://rickieleejones.com/