Released 1971 Genre Folk Label Reprise | Recorded 1971 Length 4:13 Writer(s) Joni Mitchell | |
"The Last Time I Saw Richard" is a song by Joni Mitchell from her 1971 album Blue. It is the last track on the album.
The song could be a reference to Joni Mitchell's first husband Chuck Mitchell and their brief marriage. According to Richard Flynn, as noted in the official Joni Mitchell website, biographer Karen O'Brien believes "Joni revisits her brief marriage to Chuck Mitchell in this song. O'Brien even refers to the protagonist of the song as Richard/Chuck. Joni and Chuck (who, unlike Joni, sang "material ranging from simple ballads to Brecht theatre songs," according to Broadside Magazine) lived in Detroit after their marriage in 1965, until their break-up in 1967, when Joni moved to New York City".
The song was covered by Brazilian rock band Legião Urbana in 1992 and released on their 1999 Acústico MTV album. This recording was certified Diamond by the Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos, with more than 500,000 copies sold.