Joan Baez

Diamond and Dust



Foever young



We shall overcome



NEW YORK (CNN) -- Joan Baez is in a celebratory mood. And rightly so: She's survived 50 years in show business.
The legendary singer, who rose to fame during the folk movement of the 1950s and 1960s, is marking the occasion with a new album called "Day After Tomorrow." Produced by Steve Earle (whom Baez likes to call "Mister Gruff"), it's a collection of bluegrass-tinged songs reminiscent of her early repertoire.

"We were looking for songs that feel like now but sound like back then," she said.

Earle penned one of the album's standout tracks, "God Is God," which he describes as "recovery speak." Baez also covers "Scarlet Tide," a song written by Elvis Costello and T Bone Burnett for the 2003 film "Cold Mountain."

At 67, Baez's voice may not have the sheer power it did in her 20s, but her political spirit is intact. She passionately expressed her support for Barack Obama during the presidential campaign, the first time the self-described pacifist has taken sides in party politics.

"I haven't heard an orator like that since King," she said. Baez knew the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and famously sang the protest song "We Shall Overcome" to a massive crowd at the Lincoln Memorial during King's 1963 March on Washington.

Baez spoke to CNN about sustaining her voice and finding happiness in her 60s. The following is an edited version of that interview, which was conducted before Tuesday's election.

CNN: What did Steve Earle bring to the table with your new album?

Joan Baez: Oh, everything but the voice. Spirit, some songs. His gruffness to my non-gruffness. He worked fast, really fast, and I like that. And he brought the musicians. I don't know who to choose for musicians. We were a good match.

CNN: Is there a song on the album that speaks to you more than others?

Baez: I guess the ones I go back listening to are "God Is God" and "Rose of Sharon." "Rose of Sharon" sounds exactly like an old folk song. I wouldn't have guessed in a million years that it's contemporary.

CNN: How does it feel to be embarking on a new tour at such a politically charged time?

Baez: I've never seen this country this politically charged. I realized something this morning. I was watching Obama on TV and I thought, "I really love this guy." I love what he's capable of, I love that he's genuine. He's a statesman, and he's brilliant. People say do you think he can change America? He already has. ...

And I know most of the things he'll have to do I would battle him to the death. He's going to be commander in chief of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and I'm a pacifist [laughs].

CNN: So you would almost prefer that he didn't run for president, that his talents could be applied in other ways?

Baez: Yeah. I've thought that, yeah. Part of me wishes very strongly that Obama would be outside the system and his hands would be less tied.

CNN: In the '50s and '60s, you lived and breathed the causes you rallied behind. When you look at young musicians today, do you feel they're attaching themselves to charities or causes because it's hip, rather than meaningful?

Baez: I think it's probably a combination of things. I think people are afraid of risk so they'll [only] go so far. But I don't think people have felt the urgency that we felt in the '60s. But it's there. The urgency is there. There's a need for community, but we don't feel it.

CNN: Why is that?

Baez: That we don't feel it? Because we live more and more separately. Kids are walking down the street plugged in [to personal electronics]. The only place there's community really is in the ghetto, where they need each other and they know it. We need each other, and we don't know it.

CNN: You look back at all the causes you've rallied behind, and there have been so many. ...

Baez: It makes me dizzy.

CNN: [Do] you feel emotionally wrung out?

Baez: No. It's the opposite. What happens is it starts generating energy for myself.

There's some part of me that's wiped out. I feel that sometimes.

CNN: Do you find you have to work harder to keep your voice in shape?

Baez: Oh God, yeah. It was very humiliating to find out that I was like everybody else in the world and that I had to get coaching. And now it's a real issue. I have to do [vocal exercises] every day, especially on tour. It's pretty exhausting.

CNN: Would you say that life in your 60s is easier than life in your 20s and 30s?

Baez: Oh God, yes. ... I was a highly neurotic kid, not particularly happy, which probably accounts for all those beautiful songs, those beautiful sad ballads. I found my home there.

And as the years went by and as the therapy went on I was holding together. And then at around 50, I decided to fall apart and find the pieces and put them back where they should've been. And I did. And I did what I thought was impossible, which was really drag the stuff up, look at it, go through all that and then each time I did that ... it became a daily thing with the therapist ... to find out something huge. Go through the terror, go through all of it and then by the end of the week something had changed a little bit. This went on for a number of years.

So I am now in a stage nothing like where I was before then. There's no stage fright now. Just the joy of singing.

CNN: You're happy being single, aren't you?

Baez: Yeah. After all I've been through, I don't want to risk [pats her heart]. I mean I feel so extraordinary, so much better. And you know if something walked into my life that feels right ... the question is, am I ready to see it or not? I'm sure it's wandered by me a few times. But at some point maybe I'll be ready to see that in which case it would be a good thing. ...

[In] Buddhism there's no real happiness without the struggle. But the struggle has to defeat you in a way [before] you get to be like the Dalai Lama. You know those monks all giggle? All the time! They've got it figured out. Because things are what they are on Earth, and you be as good as you can, and you die, it's the next life. So what's the big f****** deal?

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附。轉帖網友yanglinwan在yykd貼的關於Diamond and dust

*************民謠的分割線***************


1975年瓊貝茨(Joan Baez)出版了一張全部由她自己創作的專輯，其中的標題歌曲《鑽石與鐵鏽》(Diamond and Rust)被認為是貝茨最出色的歌曲之一，並立即成為主流樂壇的暢銷歌曲。這首曲子以Baez和鮑勃8226;迪倫(Bob Dylan)十四年間亦師亦友，分分合合的感情為背景描寫的一段貝茨的內心獨白。歌詞或可說晦澀但卻蘊含真情。那之後人們以為他們倆人能夠重歸於好，然而他們隻是繼十年的分手後在當初相識的地方又合作了一場。

貝茨後來說：和鮑勃8226;迪倫一起演出好象總有觸電的感覺，特別是早期，他那種叛逆性的超凡魅力對我很有吸引力。我雖然是個嚴謹而有度的人，可我們真能融為一體。聽眾總是為我們之間神話般的合作而傾倒，我們的音樂素材也總是新鮮而獨特的！
1977年英國重金屬樂隊Judas Priest翻唱該首歌曲，把《鑽石與鐵鏽）從民謠風格帶到搖滾，從此該首歌曲也成為Judas Priest現場演出時的保留節目。近年，該樂隊重新演奏該首歌曲，使歌曲的搖滾味道減弱，而更接近最初的創作風格，歌曲在樂隊靈魂人物Robert Halford性感磁性嗓音的演繹下變得舒緩和深情。





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