Joan Baez Here Comes Your Ghost Again

Music Friday: Joan Baez Recounts a Telephone call From Bob Dylan in 1975's 'Diamonds & Rust' Feb 7, 2020

Welcome to Music Friday when we feature classic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the championship or lyrics. Today, folk music fable Joan Baez recounts an unexpected telephone call from former lover Bob Dylan in her hauntingly beautiful 1975 ballad, "Diamonds & Rust."

Baez and Dylan had been in a relationship ten years earlier, and Dylan's call sparks a cascade of memories — both uplifting and heartbreaking — that are symbolically reflected in the title of the song and the following lyrics...

She sings, "Ten years ago / I bought y'all some cufflinks / You brought me something / We both know what memories tin bring / They bring diamonds and rust."

Baez goes on to tell the story of the "unwashed phenomenon" and "original vagabond" who strayed into her artillery. She sweetly recalls how his eyes were bluer than robin's eggs. She as well explains how he seemed "temporarily lost at sea" and how she did her best to continue him unharmed. Sadly, the relationship wasn't reciprocal and the couple parted ways.

When Dylan placed the surprise phone call to Baez in 1974, she sensed his life was "heading straight for a fall." Music historians believe this was a fourth dimension when Dylan'south marriage was on the rocks and he was looking to rekindle his relationship with Baez.

Merely, as nosotros come across in the last line of the song, Dylan'southward outreach is strongly rebuked. With nothing left to give him, she sings, "It'due south all come back too conspicuously / Yes I loved y'all dearly / And if you lot're offering me diamonds and rust / I've already paid."

Oft regarded as ane of her best compositions, "Diamonds and Rust" topped out at #5 on the Billboard U.S. Developed Contemporary chart and #fourteen on the Canadian Developed Contemporary nautical chart. It was as well the title song of Baez's gold-selling album, which was released in 1975.

When introducing "Diamonds & Rust" at live performances, Baez describes Dylan every bit "by far, the almost talented and crazy person I've ever worked with."

Joan Chandos Baez, who was born in Staten Island, N.Y., in 1941, is best remembered for her folk music performances of the 1960s, which included fourteen songs at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. She was inducted into the Stone and Curlicue Hall of Fame in 2017. Later 60 years of performing, Baez announced her retirement in 2019.

Delight check out the sound rail of Baez performing "Diamonds & Rust." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Diamonds & Rust"
Written and performed past Joan Baez.

Well I'll exist damned
Hither comes your ghost over again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a vocalism I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall

As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin'south eggs
My poetry was lousy you lot said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the midwest
Ten years ago
I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust

Well y'all burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And in that location you stayed
Temporarily lost at ocean
The Madonna was yours for gratis
Yes the girl on the one-half-shell
Would keep yous unharmed

Now I see yous standing
With brown leaves falling around
And snow in your pilus
Now you're smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could accept died so and there

Now you're telling me
Y'all're not cornball
Then give me some other word for it
Y'all who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
Considering I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come up back besides conspicuously
Yes I loved you lot dearly
And if you're offer me diamonds and rust
I've already paid

Credit: Image by Rowland Scherman [Public domain].

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Source: https://www.clodiusco.com/blog/music-friday-joan-baez-recounts-a-call-from-bob-dylan-in-1975s-diamonds-rust/