the songs "Number One", "Lakota" which deals with the destruction of Native American culture and the unusual "The Reoccurring Dream" was constructed from samples Mitchell collected by recording TV commercials on her VCR for 2 weeks. "Cool Water" (a Mitchell rewrite of the Bob Nolan original) also discusses water pollution. War is explored in two very different stories: "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)" tells the tale of Mitchell's parents meeting during World War II after a surprisingly prophetic tea-leaf reading, while "The Beat of Black Wings" is about an embittered Vietnam vet named Killer Kyle, who found it difficult to get the sound of helicopter blades out of his head. This song may be based on a scene from the film adaptation of The Looking Glass War. In the more straightforward lovesongs, Mitchell sings of intimacy in "My Secret Place", and young, rambunctious love in "Snakes and Ladders" and "Dancin' Clown". Release The first official single from the album was "My Secret Place". Released in March 1988. The video, shot on grainy, atmospheric black-and-white film featuring Mitchell and Peter Gabriel, got some airplay on VH-1, where it premiered in May 1988. The video was directed by photographer and film director Anton Corbijn, perhaps known best for his many music videos for Depeche Mode. Billboard magazine's Steve Gett reviewed the album and awarded it an early rave. Other reviews were mostly very favorable, and the fact that there were cameos by many well-known musicians brought it a great deal of notice. "Most of the stuff for the isn't-Joni-wonderful club is on side two", noted Fred Dellar in Hi-Fi News & Record Review. "There's a Willie Nelson-assisted version of the Sons of the Pioneers' hoary old 'Cold [sic] Water' that is so immaculately re-shaped it sounds like next year's thing." The album improved on the chart position of her previous album, 1985's Dog Eat Dog, peaking at number 23 in Canada, 45 on the US Billboard 200, and number 26 in the UK. To promote the album, Mitchell also travelled to the UK in May and appeared on the Channel 4 music show Wired where she performed "Number One" and gave an exclusive world premiere of the song "Fourth of July", which would later be retitled "Night Ride Home" and be recorded as the title track for her next album. She also visited Australia and appeared on several television