Twisted is a cover, with the original being a 1952 recording by Annie Ross. That cover itself is a “vocalese” song, a jazz song where words are added to a soloist’s prior improvisation. In this case, the original solo was a 1949 recording by tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray, also called “Twisted.”
[Chorus 1]
My analyst told me that I was right out of my head
The way he described it, he said I'd be better dead than live
I didn't listen to his jive
I knew all along that he was all wrong
And I knew that he thought I was crazy but I'm not
Oh no
[Chorus 2]
My analyst told me that I was right out of my head
He said I need treatment but I'm not that easily led
He said I was the type that was most inclined
When out of his sight to be out of my mind
And he thought I was nuts
No more ifs or ands or buts
[Verse 1]
They say as a child, I appeared a little bit wild
With all my crazy ideas, but I knew what was happening
I knew I was a genius
What's so strange when you know that you're a wizard at three
I knew that this was meant to be
[Verse 2]
Now I heard little children were supposed to sleep tight
That's why I got into the vodka one night
My parents got frantic, didn't know what to do
But I saw some crazy scenes before I came to
Now do you think I was crazy?
I may have been only three but I was swinging
[Verse 3]
They all laugh at angry young men
They all laughed at Edison and also at Einstein
So why should I feel sorry if they just couldn't understand
The idiomatic logic that went on in my head?
I had a brain, it was insane
Oh, they used to laugh at me when I refused to ride
On all those double decker buses
All because there was no driver on the top
[Chorus 3]
My analyst told me that I was right out of my head
But I said, "Dear doctor, I think that it's you instead
Because I, I've got a thing that's unique and new
To prove it I'll have the last laugh on you
'Cause instead of one head, I got two
And you know two heads are better than one"
Twisted was written by Wardell Gray & Annie Ross.
Twisted was produced by Joni Mitchell.
Joni Mitchell released Twisted on Thu Jan 17 1974.