I've thought this was one of Joni Mitchell's most powerful songs. Maybe because of the way it's sung in the first person. The version on Tears Of Stone is the most powerful, I think. You can just hear the sad resignation in the lines. I, too have experience with mean nuns. I was raised in a Catholic orphanage in Phila. Anyone who shared a similar experience could tell some stories that could make your hair curl. I know I could.