Raised on Robbery

Joni Mitchell:  Raised on Robbery

Quiz by Sharon Michiko Yoneda

"He was sitting in the lounge of the Empire Hotel (in Regina, Saskatchewan). "


"Look at those jokers losing that damn hockey game"

"A little money riding on the Maple Leafs."

The Toronto Maple Leafs

artist:  Joni Mitchel

songwriter:  Joni Mitchell

date released:  1974 by Joni Mitchell

"Raised on Robbery" is a song written by Joni Mitchell that was the lead single from her 1974 album Court and Spark . The lyrics are about a prostitute who tries to pick up a man sitting alone in a hotel. The prostitute tells him about her sad life story until the man leaves at the end of the song.

I intuit from the lyrics, that the prostitute's father was an alcoholic and a con man as she repeats that she was "raised on robbery."   Sad story, but it's not an uncommon one.  You just never know who you'll meet in the lounge of the Empire Hotel in Empire Hotel in Regina, Saskatchewan.  The old hotel is still standing on Saskatchewan Drive.