独乐乐——Joan Baez

DIAMONDS AND RUST
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Well I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost 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 voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall

As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you 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 you burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes the girl on the half-shell
Would keep you unharmed

Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling around
And snow in your hair
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 have died then and there

Now you're telling me
You're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
Because I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid

DON'T BLAME MY MOTHER
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Look for me in crisis centers
Padded cells
Oh, wish me well
Oh, shame, don't blame my mother

As I am moving out I see
she wanted all the best for me
Those were the days when phrases never spoken
led to broken lives
I think of all the things that she once had
Her magic moments with my dad
Before I came, before he left her
And now alone my mother tries
Stands by my bed at night and cries
While I am sleeping in my blue lagoon
Her child of the moon

And neither can you blame my dad
He gave me everything he had
I wish that all the light years between his ears
And my lips were gone
His business kept him on the run
The weekends spared no time for fun
On holidays we drove him crazy
And so he took the easy route
Called up one year and wanted out
And ever since, around my birthday time
I get a line from Dad

Look for me in crisis centers
Padded cells
Oh, wish me well
Oh, shame, don't blame my father

THE DREAM SONG
(Written by Joan Baez and Ron Davies)

I had a dream I was following a barefoot girl
Beside a stream that flowed around the world
And we spoke of many things though her mouth never moved
As the most peculiar scenes were disappearing into view

Oh what a dream beyond the realm of why
Pretty little beings beneath the yawning sky
Speaking of God as though they could define
Music to the deaf and color to the blind or God to man

And then the leaves became a thousand tears
And I was on my knees in a crazy house of mirrors
I couldn't find my face but a voice was drawing nearer
Hush baby, sweet baby, hush don't you cry

And I thought I woke and my mother was standing there
And my heart broke as the ribbons in her hair
Turned into highways surrounded and swirled
Like a crown come down around a not so perfect world

In the corner of the dream was the man with the blue guitar
It had no strings but the music touched the stars
And his long dark curls turned to gold before my eyes
And the barefoot girl smiled off to the side and it was real

Then a thousand birds took flight with a joyful noise
And I heard the angels up on high rejoice
I could see my face and I recognized the voice
Hush baby, sweet baby, hush baby hush

It's just a dream, one of those that goes on and on
Scene after scene with the rhythm of a gypsy song
When I really woke I was frozen in between
I didn't know who I was, it was a dream inside a dream

It's all a dream
Oh what a dream
I had a dream

EDGE OF GLORY
(Written by Joan Baez, Wally Wilson, Kenny Greenberg & Karen O'Connor)

My house stands at the edge of glory
Steady as the seasons change
Dreams of grace arise before me
And they call me home again

I went forth with no protection
Through a fierce and blinding rain
Seeking truth but not perfection
Saw my father's face again

Father, father can you hear me
Through this swirl of thoughts unsaid
All you wanted I did not know
All you asked I tried to give

My house stands at the edge of glory
Steady as the seasons change
Dreams of grace arise before me
And they call me home again

Take this hand that I hold out
Meant to bridge the years apart
Come in, come in from the howling wind
To the clearing of my heart

Still and lovely came the morning
Gone was my father's face
In my house a bright reflection
New among my dreams of grace

My house stands at the edge of glory
Steady as the seasons change
Dreams of grace arise before me
And they call me home again

FIFTEEN MONTHS
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

The cats are sleeping here in the autumn sun.
Your dog has flushed a deer and he's on the run.
And the coffee cup is cold
and the morning's feeling very old.

Fifteen months of time my man's been gone.
The second winter now is coming on.
And our fates could all be worse
But sometimes I still must curse my own.

And hello
I wish you well
where you sleep
all in your cell.

As for friends I can't complain, they've been good to me.
The fire's burning bright, they've left wood for me.
And the roof has been repaired.
And I thank them for the love they've shared.

You see, there's really nothing wrong, I've just got the blues.
Because if you give a damn you're going to pay some dues.
But if you see the game we're in
like I do, you know in time we'll win.

And hello
I wish you well
where you sleep
all in your cell.

So time give me a break of a week or more.
My head is reeling and my back is sore.
And the baby cries for me.
And I think I'll walk by the sea alone.

FOR SASHA
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Here by my window in Germany
A morning bird flies close to me
On his wing I see a yellow star
The lights are on in the factory
The frost is hung on the linden tree
And I remember where we are

And I remember the holocaust
I remember all we lost
The families torn and the borders crossed
And I sing of it now for Sasha

A young German officer lies in his bed
Bandages from toe to head
A prisoner of the camps draws nigh
If you are Abel and I am Cain
Forgive me from my bed of pain
I know not why we die

It was I who ordered the building burned
The job was over and as I turned
A father and his son
Caught in the flames high above the ground
From cradled arms the boy looked down
One leap and their lives were done

And I remember the holocaust
I remember all we lost
The children gone and the borders crossed
And I sing of it now for Sasha

You in frozen streets of Heidelberg
Your youth unbearded takes form in words
And the ghosts of the past are kind
For this was your university
The years were long but the spirits free
And your river runs to the Rhine

The smoke filled taverns that you once roamed
With the discontented who'd stayed at home
You must have whiskey or you'll die
The beer garden under the old chateau
Our faces now in the candle glow
See the memories how they shine

But you remember the holocaust
You remember all we lost
The families torn and the borders crossed
And we'll sing of it now for Sasha

GABRIEL AND ME
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

The grey quiet horse wears the reins of dawn,
and nobody knows what mountain he's from.
In his mouth he carries the golden key,
and nobody sees him but Gabriel and me.
Gabriel and me.

His nose is silver and his mane is white,
his eyes are black and starry like night.
So softly he splashes his hoofs in the sea,
that nobody hears him but Gabriel and me.
Gabriel and me.

He comes in the morning when the air is still,
he races the sun and he always will.
We raise up the window and call through the trees,
oh we'd love to fly with you, Gabriel and me.
Gabriel and me.

For your back is wingless and there's room for two,
we'll mount from a tree and ride straight on through.
But I guess you're wiser than I thought you'd be,
for you never will listen to Gabriel and me.
Gabriel and me.

For you know that one day we'll forget to wake,
call it destiny, call it fate.
You'll nuzzle us softly and so silently,
we'll ride in the morning, Gabriel and me,
with the golden key.
Gabriel and me,
forever to the sea.

GOSSAMER
(Music by Joan Baez, Lyrics by Nina Duscheck)

When I was young then all my boughs
were thickly hung with glittering hopes.
But one by one they've blown away
and only one remains today.
It flutters out upon the air,
one hope all pinned on gossamer.

What are all lives but gossamer
in one lacy cobweb crossed?
Yet strand by strand we tear at it
until the pattern's lost.
And one by one hopes blow away
till only one remains today.

I hope the forest will return
to climb the mist-hung morning slopes.
Where falling leaves deep-banked in fern
may meet the water ouzel's hopes.
But one by one they've blown away
and only one remains today.

And when the condor opens flight
on crystal air not cracked or stained
by any fallen angel's flight,
these glittering hopes may be regained.

© 1967 Robbins Music Corporation and Chandos Music (ASCAP)
Rights throughout the world controlled by Robbins Music Corporation

GULF WINDS
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

It's only when the high winds blow that I wish my hair was long
Sailing through the autumn leaves singing an ancient song
Or falling in love in the streets at night at the edge of a local square
It's only that I'm here tonight thinking I was there

There are high winds on the pier tonight, my soul departs from me
Striding like Thalia's ghost south on the murky sea
And into midnight's tapestry she fades, ragged and wild
Searching down her ancestry in the costume of a Persian child

And gulf winds bring me flying fish that shine in the crescent moon
Show me the horizon where the dawn will break anew
And cool me here on this lonely pier where the heron are flying low
Echo the songs my father knew in the towns of Mexico

When I was young my eyes were wise, my father was good to me
Instead of having a flock of sons he had two other girls and me
And if we had used our Spanish names, here's the way they'd run
Thalia, Margarita and Juanita, I'm the middle one.

The screen door kept the demons in as we moved from town to town
It's hard to be a princess in the States when your skin is brown
And mama smoothed my worried brow as I leaned on the kitchen door
Why do you carry the weight, she said, of the world and maybe more?

My grandfathers were ministers and it came on down the line
My father preached in his parents' church when he was ten years and nine
And mama dressed in parishoners' clothes and didn't believe in hell
Her daddy fought the DAR, if he'd lived I'd have known him well

They said go find a Sunday School, we must have tried them all
I never stole from the silver plate, my sisters had more gall
One preacher said sing out loud and clear, it's the only life you've got
And the next one said be good on earth, you've another life at the feet of God

My father turned down many a job just to give us something real
It's hard to be a scientist in the States when you've got ideals
And mama kept the budget book, she kept the garden, too
Bought fish from the man on Thursday, fed all of us and strangers, too

But time will pass and so, alas, will most of what we know
Though tonight my memory's eye is clear as the story's being told
And I'll play ball with the underdog and sit with the child who's wrong
Be still when the earth is silent and sing when my strength is gone

Now father's going to India sometime in the fall
They tried to stay together but you just can't do it all
I'll think about him if he goes, there's a little grey in his hair
Though not much because he's Mexican, they don't age, they just prepare

And if he goes to India I'll miss him most of all
He'll see me in the mudlarks' face, hear me in the beggar's call
And mama will stay home, I guess, and worry if she did wrong
And I'll say a prayer for both of them and sing them both my song

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEONID BREZHNEV
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Happy birthday, Leonid Brezhnev
What a lovely seventy-fifth
We watched the party on TV
You seemed to be taking things casually
What a mighty heart must beat in your breast
To hold forty-nine medals on your chest
Think of all the gifts that you've got
Some were acquired and some were not
Like a natural talent for marionettes
Who do your dirty work and cover your bets
So with one hand waving free
The other one crushed a budding democracy

Congratulations, Jaruzelski
What a wonderful job you have done
Let me mention to a sane man's eye
You've lost the meaning of compromise
They're comparing you to General Pinochet
It's a dubious compliment at best
Your people are freezing, the workers are bleeding
You've already arranged numerous deaths
The only difference in the camps from the stadiums
Is not much for the doomed all cry
It's only the weather and the songs people sing
Just before they die

Do you hear us, Lech Walesa?
What a terrible price you have paid
For being ahead of your time
Has surely constituted a crime
Oh, Mr. Brezhnev, look
Somebody read the little red book
And took it all seriously
The way you did when you were young and you believed
And you workers and you black Madonna
You're not supposed to utter a word
But the courage of you and your man of the year
Is a symphony the world has seldom seen or heard
Through the Siberian gates of hell
The Pope and the bishops are wishing you well
We see your candles in the park
Hear your fearless promises in the dark
How they cheat and when tried to win
They didn't know that there would always be within you
And we hear you, Lech Walesa
Yes, we hear you, Lech Walesa
Yes, we hear you, Lech Walesa
Yes, we hear you, Lech Walesa

A HEARTFELT LINE OR TWO
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Though the songwriters of the industry
Write most of the songs I do
And it's clear that no one will ever
Sing them quite the way I do
I think tonight I'll sit down and write
A heartfelt line or two
And if they turn out good enough
I owe every word to you

To the kid I thought was a little too young
To know what sadness was
Who took me out when I was down
And set out to find the cause
Of why the lady had the blues
And seemed on the verge of tears
I tell you that kid must have been around
For a hundred and fifty years

And to the tough guy blonde with the front tooth gone
And ships all over his chest
Who approached me out on the promenade
Of the beach heading into the west
His friends lay around on the muscleman lawn
Like a drunken pirate band
But he turned into a gentleman
Called me a lady and kissed my hand

To the man and the woman who threw me a glance
As they picnicked by the sea
And returned their gaze to the kid and the food
So as not to bother me
They got up to leave and the woman looked on
As the man leaned down to say
"You've always meant so much to us
Don't want to bother you and have a nice day"

And to the band of gypsies I call friends
Who speak so carefully
To their friend with a life unlike their own
In its strange complexities
Who have the patience of the saints
When I've been down for a spell
I wish it were a whole lot easier
To find the words to wish them well

HERE'S TO YOU
(Lyrics by Joan Baez, Music by Ennio Morricone)

Here's to you, Nicola and Bart
Rest forever here in our hearts
The last and final moment is yours
That agony is your triumph

THE HITCHHIKERS' SONG
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

When the mist rolls in on Highway One
like a curtain to the day
A thousand silhouettes hold out their thumbs
and I see them and I say
You are my children
my sweet children
I am your poet.

With hair just like the burning tree of Moses
the girl beside you is your twin
Behind your fiery make-up you should know this
I am your sister, I am your kin, your flesh and kin
I'll write this tune
in matching phrases
just to show it

You are the orphans in an age
of no tomorrows
and with your walking you wage a war
against the sorrows
Your fathers left you
a row to hoe
and you'll hoe it.

If I could write you easy directions
on a list
you would not read it, you could not see it
for the mist
Besides my pen is
very righteous
and I know it.

So walk to the edges of a dying kingdom
There's one more summer just around the bend
The amber in your smile is brave and winsome
for though your highway has no end, it never ends
There is still the sky
the windy cliff
and the sea below it
I'd take an angel's ram horn trumpet
and I'd blow it
I'd blow it.

HONEST LULLABY
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Early early in the game
I taught myself to sing and play
And use a little trickery
On kids who never favored me
Those were years of crinoline slips
And cotton skirts and swinging hips
And dangerously painted lips
And stars of stage and screen
Pedal pushers, ankle socks
Padded bras and campus jocks
Who hid their vernal equinox
In pairs of faded jeans
And slept at home resentfully
Coveting their dreams

And often have I wondered
How the years and I survived
I had a mother who sang to me
An honest lullaby

Yellow, brown, and black and white
Our Father bless us all tonight
I bowed my head at the football games
And closed the prayer in Jesus' name
Lusting after football heroes
tough Pachuco, little Neroes
Forfeiting my A's for zeroes
Futures unforeseen
Spending all my energy
In keeping my virginity
And living in a fantasy
In love with Jimmy Dean
If you will be my king, Jimmy, Jimmy,
I will be your queen

And often have I wondered
How the years and I survived
I had a mother who sang to me
An honest lullaby

I travelled all around the world
And knew more than the other girls
Of foreign languages and schools
Paris, Rome and Istanbul
But those things never worked for me
The town was much too small you see
And people have a way of being
Even smaller yet
But all the same though life is hard
And no one promised me a garden
Of roses, so I did okay
I took what I could get
And did the things that I might do
For those less fortunate

And often have I wondered
How the years and I survived
I had a mother who sang to me
An honest lullaby

Now look at you, you must be growing
A quarter of an inch a day
You've already lived near half the years
You'll be when you go away
With your teddy bears and alligators
Enterprise communicators
All the tiny aviators head into the sky
And while the others play with you
I hope to find a way with you
And sometimes spend a day with you
I'll catch you as you fly
Or if I'm worth a mother's salt
I'll wave as you go by

And if you should ever wonder
How the years and you'll survive
Honey, you've got a mother who sings to you
Dances on the strings for you
Opens her heart and brings to you
An honest lullaby

I'M WITH YOU
(Written by Joan Baez, Wally Wilson, Kenny Greenberg, Pat Bunch)

So it's time to set you free
Watch you sail away from me
Though I'll miss you when you do
I'm with you

Turn your face into the wind
Let your greatest dreams begin
Take the high road, win or lose
I'm with you

I was there in the morning light
With a love that would last
And I'll be there on your darkest night
When the sun's long gone and your heart is sinking fast

When you stumble, when you fall
When they back you to the wall
After all the rest are through
I'm with you

So it's time to set you free
Let you sail away from me
I've done all that I can do
I'm with you

Take the high road, win or lose
I'm with you

IN THE MORNING LIGHT
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Well there you stand
A figure at my door
And shadows fall
On those that are no more
And each time I love and take the fall
Then like the sun I rise above it all

In the morning light
In the morning light
Yes now's the time
The time I shed my tears
And now's the time
The time I know my fears
Now's the time
The time I feel the years
But come on in
The wind is on your heels

In the morning light
In the morning light
Let us now lay down the fight
Let us now make all things right
At the closing of the night
In the morning light
In the morning light
In the morning light

My room is small
The curtains are of gold
And down below
The Paris streets are cold
Here in my room I've loved a thousand times
Well, seriously, I've sung a thousand rhymes

In the morning light
In the morning light
Let us now lay down the fight
Let us now make all things right
Standing at the edge of night
In the morning light
In the morning light
In the morning light

ISAAC & ABRAHAM
(Written by Joan Baez, Wally Wilson, & Kenny Greenberg)

Hard times, hard times in Canaan land
Trouble in the mind of a man
A voice came whispering softly to him
Go offer, offer up the lamb

Abraham took his only son
High up on a hill
His test of faith had finally come
As the wind, the wind begin to chill

Cold steel, cold steel in the father's hand
Tears falling from the sky
The angels, the angels did not understand
Why the righteous, the righteous boy should die

Then Abraham most mysteriously
Laid down that deadly knife
Said "My darlin' son, I wish I was the one
Who spared you, spared your precious life"

Oh Isaac
The light of all your days
Will shine upon this mountain high
And never, never fade away
And never fade away