# Two Grey Rooms > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Two_Grey_Rooms > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Two_Grey_Rooms.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Grey_Rooms > Source revision: 1230787750 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Please help improve this article by citing more sources. Find sources: "Two Grey Rooms" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2021) 1991 single by Joni Mitchell "Two Grey Rooms" Single by Joni Mitchell from the album Night Ride Home Released 1991 Recorded 1982, 1989 Genre Pop adult contemporary Length 3:57 Label Geffen Songwriter Joni Mitchell Producer Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell singles chronology "Cool Water" (1988) "Two Grey Rooms" (1991) "Got 'til It's Gone" (1997) "**Two Grey Rooms**" is a 1991 song written and performed by the Canadian musician [Joni Mitchell](/source/Joni_Mitchell). The song is the last track on her 1991 album *[Night Ride Home](/source/Night_Ride_Home)*. Mitchell wrote a wordless vocal melody and instrumental accompaniment for the song in 1982 during the sessions for her album *[Wild Things Run Fast](/source/Wild_Things_Run_Fast)*. She titled it "Speechless" as lyrical inspiration for the song escaped her until 1989, when she encountered the story of an aristocratic friend of [New German Cinema](/source/New_German_Cinema) director [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](/source/Rainer_Werner_Fassbinder), who, amid the repression of Germany's antigay [Paragraph 175](/source/Paragraph_175) laws, was left broken-hearted by a male lover in his youth. In a 1996 interview with the *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*, Mitchell says of the song: It's a story of obsession ... about this German aristocrat who had a lover in his youth that he never got over. He later finds this man working on a dock and notices the path that the man takes every day to and from work. So the aristocrat gives up his fancy digs and moves to these two shabby gray rooms overlooking this street, just to watch this man walk to and from work. That's a song that shows my songs aren't all self-portraits.[1] ## Video A video for "Two Grey Rooms" was shot with Mitchell as the song’s protagonist set in a barren apartment overlooking a bleak urban landscape. The sepia-and-white clip (perhaps an homage to Fassbinder’s occasional style) was included on Mitchell's 1991 video compilation release *Come in from the Cold*, in which she also discusses the inspiration for the song. ## Cover versions - [Chaka Khan](/source/Chaka_Khan) selected Mitchell's recording of "Two Grey Rooms" for the 2005 tribute album *[Joni Mitchell: Songs Chosen By Her Friends and Fellow Musicians](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joni_Mitchell:_Songs_Chosen_By_Her_Friends_and_Fellow_Musicians&action=edit&redlink=1)* on [Starbucks](/source/Starbucks)’ [Hear Music](/source/Hear_Music) label. - "Speechless", the wordless vocal and instrumental bed for "Two Grey Rooms", was released as “Two Grey Rooms (Demo Version)” on 2003’s *[Joni Mitchell: The Complete Geffen Recordings](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joni_Mitchell:_The_Complete_Geffen_Recordings&action=edit&redlink=1)* (disc 1, track 12). - Canadian pop-jazz singer [Lori Cullen](/source/Lori_Cullen) covered the song on her 2006 album *Calling for Rain*. - [Tom Wopat](/source/Tom_Wopat) covered the song on his 2009 album *Consider It Swung*. - [Carol Grimes](/source/Carol_Grimes) covered the song on her 2003 album *Mother*. - [Paul Kitchen](/source/Paul_Kitchen) covered the song on his 2016 album *Wheelhouse*. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Hilburn, Robert (December 8, 1996). ["Both Sides, Later"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-08-ca-6804-story.html). *Los Angeles Times*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240517043617/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-08-ca-6804-story.html) from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024. ## External links - [Lyrics](http://jonimitchell.com/musician/song.cfm?id=TwoGreyRooms) v t e Joni Mitchell Discography Studio albums Song to a Seagull (1968) Clouds (1969) Ladies of the Canyon (1970) Blue (1971) For the Roses (1972) Court and Spark (1974) The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975) Hejira (1976) Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977) Mingus (1979) Wild Things Run Fast (1982) Dog Eat Dog (1985) Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm (1988) Night Ride Home (1991) Turbulent Indigo (1994) Taming the Tiger (1998) Both Sides Now (2000) Travelogue (2002) Shine (2007) Live albums Miles of Aisles Shadows and Light Amchitka, The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace Joni Mitchell at Newport Compilation albums Hits Misses The Beginning of Survival Dreamland Songs of a Prairie Girl Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced Joni's Jazz Archives series Box sets Volume 1: The Early Years (1963–1967) The Reprise Albums (1968–1971) Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) The Asylum Albums (1972–1975) Volume 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975) The Asylum Albums (1976–1980) Volume 4: The Asylum Years (1976–1980) Auxiliary releases Early Joni – 1963 Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes) Live albums Live at Canterbury House – 1967 Live at Carnegie Hall – 1969 Singles "Chelsea Morning" "Big Yellow Taxi" "Carey" "California" "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" "Raised on Robbery" "Help Me" "Free Man in Paris" "In France They Kiss on Main Street" "Coyote" "My Secret Place" Notable songs "Both Sides, Now" "The Fiddle and the Drum" "Woodstock" "The Circle Game" "Little Green" "Blue" "This Flight Tonight" "River" "A Case of You" "The Last Time I Saw Richard" "Down to You" "Twisted" "Two Grey Rooms" Tribute albums Back to the Garden River: The Joni Letters A Tribute to Joni Mitchell Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration Related articles L.A. Express Blackface controversy Category --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Two Grey Rooms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Grey_Rooms) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Grey_Rooms?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.