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Joan Baez — Diamonds and Rust
Album: Diamonds and Rust
Avg rating:
7.4

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1114









Released: 1975
Length: 4:27
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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
Comments (279)add comment
“Wow, I wonder where that boy is today. The one I associate with this song. Time traveling, less painful over the course of years - lots of them.” This was written about Bob Dylan, I guess he did alright!
I never gave Joan Baez much attention, but this song just grabbed me hard and transfixed me. Godlike? … Godlike.
 xcranky_yankee wrote:

nothing against this song but when i read Lenny Bruce's biography, the comment that comedians were hired to break up the monotony of folk singers, Joan Baez came to mind...



Spy Magazine's list of the 100 Things That Killed Rock 'n' Roll, numbers 66, 67 and 68: Peter, Paul and Mary.
I've been a fan as long as I've been alive. Its a privelege to be in the same world as her!
Amazing
“We could have died then and there”
Powerful emotion
The best of music
Thank you for playing 
nothing against this song but when i read Lenny Bruce's biography, the comment that comedians were hired to break up the monotony of folk singers, Joan Baez came to mind...
She and I are almost the same age. I've been a fan since forever. This cut is one of her best!
hauntingly beautiful - I have a love/hate relationship with nostalgia
i heard this FIRST through a cover by Judas Priest (i like one too)

both good!
 Stratocaster wrote:

Autobiographical romance song about Joan and Bob Dylan, apparently.

...antithetical perhaps. liked his breakup song better

 ploba wrote:

Not a huge fan of her - but this song...o this song.   Its a 10.



I'm the other way around. Love Joan, this song not so much.
Brings up memories of the version Metal church made. I have the tape somewhere or did I leave it in the player when I sold the car?  Story of my life. Wrong tape! it must have been my Judas Priest tape that I sold with the car,  that means I have my Metal church tape still somewhere. 
 casey1024 wrote:

Wow, I wonder where that boy is today.  The one I associate with this song.  Time traveling, less painful over the course of years - lots of them.



That "unwashed phenomenon" is Robert Allen Zimmerman — better known as Bob Dylan.
Autobiographical romance song about Joan and Bob Dylan, apparently.
 ReneMacon wrote:

...one of those songs, that simply make you cry.



I know.

The vibrato is painful.
Love this song - where would Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin  be without Joan Baez
Lovely strings-vocals
 junebaby65 wrote:


I'd love to hear Priest's version here.  The sensitive ears of many of the listeners here would probably have a major freak out, though.

 
I've heard Priest's version many times, especially from a decent local hard rock/metal band that I used to be friends with. But the melancholy and personal ache presented by Joan never comes through from trying to "hardcore" this. The lyrics and descending chord structure just don't fit the genre IMO - it mostly sounds contrived done as metal.

But then that's always been my beef with metal as a genre - much of it sounds contrived and somewhat ridiculous.
 GeorgeMWoods wrote:
Brilliant and one of her best. (Love Song to a Stranger is also a favorite.) Just a bit autobiographical? I'm surprised Bob didn't sue.

 
Maybe he has become nostalgic now that he is 75...
 daveesh wrote:
oh my god. this is painful. bordering on comedic.

 
No, it isn't.
Wow, I wonder where that boy is today.  The one I associate with this song.  Time traveling, less painful over the course of years - lots of them.
sung and loved before I was even born and I bet long after I'm dead! {#Innocent}
I like the Judas Priest-version as well {#Roflol}
 jhorton wrote:
Two songs in a row in F minor is just weird.

 
I thought this was in E minor.    Oh, yeah, she always used a capo.
I gave this song a 9... What was I thinking? It's a 10 (ten) no less...
...one of those songs, that simply make you cry.
Joan still sounds just as good as the first time I heard her in a bar in the village in 1964.  She passed the hat and I contributed.  How could I not?  
Live-Aid -  a what if moment  - Judas Priest & Joan Baez singing Diamonds & Rust together.
They where both at the Philadelphia show.
 daveesh wrote:
oh my god. this is painful. bordering on comedic.

 
Totally agree. That's why I prefer the Judas Priest version on Rocka Rolla {#Surprised}
This is much longer than Stormtroopers of Death's version.
good gravy. not again.
 ploba wrote:
american pie - don mclean
pretty bird - jenny lewis
joan baez - diamonds and rust

wow - awesome playlist this morning Bill!  <3

 

I'll second that outstanding trio, cheers to you Bill much appreciated.
 Propayne wrote:
Love it and love Joan.

Lot's of her music played around our house when I was growing up in the '60s. 

 
Amazing 
Very communicative 
Loved her voice, then
 
Love it and love Joan.

Lot's of her music played around our house when I was growing up in the '60s. 
oh my god. this is painful. bordering on comedic.
american pie - don mclean
pretty bird - jenny lewis
joan baez - diamonds and rust

wow - awesome playlist this morning Bill!  <3
 RockyRollinghill wrote:

I'm not either, but this reminded me of the Judas Priest version, which is much better IMHO.

 
Every time I read about JP covering this, I have to google it. I prefer Joan, but the Judas version isn't bad. Would love to know what inspired them to record it. 
Brilliant and one of her best. (Love Song to a Stranger is also a favorite.) Just a bit autobiographical? I'm surprised Bob didn't sue.
Any United Farm Worker of America AFL-CIO supporters or volunteer community organizers here?  

Joan was a big supporter. 
Two songs in a row in F minor is just weird.
Wrong, one of her best songs....
Hmmm - really does nothing for me, except perhaps to cause me to rediscover the mute button.  I don't think it's representative of her best works, either.
 esacconcia wrote:
I don't know why, but this song always makes me cry

 
.....its such a lovely song, brings lots of emotion and a bit of melancholy with it...


...just beautiful....love Joan to bits
I don't know why, but this song always makes me cry
{#Clap}{#Clap}{#Clap}  "Outstanding" song from a wonderful lady.
 btt wrote:
Not really a fan of Joan , and I would never choose to listen to her too often , but hearing this one once in a while is a real treat .

 
I'm not either, but this reminded me of the Judas Priest version, which is much better IMHO.
Not really a fan of Joan , and I would never choose to listen to her too often , but hearing this one once in a while is a real treat .
I'm very happy to have discoverd Joan Baez a couple of years back. What a voice!

I've been in love with her voice since the Vanguard years...

My favorite is "Any Day Now"... played end-to=end for months on deployment...

Her voice has lost range but gained timbre... not a mature woman... and as an older guy, I appreciate older women.

 


 michaelc wrote:
Don't work for me - sorry
 
Me neither. I respect her place in music history, but was never a fan of the warbling falsetto.
 Mad_Padre wrote:
Hard to think of a song that starts with stronger lyrics than this one.  She wasn't just a singer, she was a fine writer.
 
Bloody 'ell - she's not dead yet.
 oldfart48 wrote:

NO, IT IS ASUREDLY NOT EASY TO FIGURE HOW GREAT MUSIC COULD BE IGNORED FOR TRASH ROCK....NEW , OLD, YOUNG OR ANCIENT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. GREAT MUSIC IS GREAT MUSIC. JOAN AND BOB ARE PROOF THAT IT WILL LAST FOREVER.

 
very true! 
 Siljanus wrote:
Just for a change of pace, it would be nice to hear Judas Priest belting this out right after.  {#Guitarist}

This version doesn't seem to irk me as much today so I'll bump up my 3 rating a bit.

 

I'd love to hear Priest's version here.  The sensitive ears of many of the listeners here would probably have a major freak out, though.
Easily a '10'. Listen to Joan's many live versions...awesome.
Hard to think of a song that starts with stronger lyrics than this one.  She wasn't just a singer, she was a fine writer.
 Grammarcop wrote:
Joan Baez, a New York City native, was a fixture of the Northeast folk scene in the 1970s. This was released in 1975, just as New York's punk scene was taking off. After listening to this yet again, it's easy to see how a new generation of New Yorkers could reject this in favor of simplistic three-chord songs played fast and loud. 

 
NO, IT IS ASUREDLY NOT EASY TO FIGURE HOW GREAT MUSIC COULD BE IGNORED FOR TRASH ROCK....NEW , OLD, YOUNG OR ANCIENT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. GREAT MUSIC IS GREAT MUSIC. JOAN AND BOB ARE PROOF THAT IT WILL LAST FOREVER.
 ScottFromWyoming wrote:

Annoying, no it is not. Horrifying, now you're getting close.

 

GET A CLUE, IDIOTS......
 jadewahoo wrote:
Like a knife to the heart, begging to be pushed in deeper, deeper, until it reaches the explosive sweetness of love divine to be found beneath all the scar tissue.

 
Absolutely........grave beauty and heartbreak in this song. I love love love it!!
Haunting, evocative, exquisitely recorded, beautiful lyrics....a solid 10.
Forget the carping, Joan's soprano is superb.
 coccyx wrote:
At least this singing about Dylan is not as annoying as Dylan himself singing.
 
Annoying, no it is not. Horrifying, now you're getting close.
At least this singing about Dylan is not as annoying as Dylan himself singing.

but.

just watched the documentary Searching for Sugarman about Sixto Rodriguez.  now THAT'S a story...

Don't work for me - sorry
Wish I could rate this a 12.
It doesn't matter who she wrote it about. It appeals because it could apply to -all- of us. Every one has some fond memories that get clearer as time passes. They are our own history. Drunk dialing is not  something unique to Joan and Bob...

There is no going back... No "Do Overs" in real life.  


  
A mild case of Dolly Partonesque warblage. Ack.
Just kind of depresses me really, and I know she is a great songwriter with a beautiful voice and...
Just for a change of pace, it would be nice to hear Judas Priest belting this out right after.  {#Guitarist}

This version doesn't seem to irk me as much today so I'll bump up my 3 rating a bit.
IfIPrattleAPreachySpeechInASingingVoiceICanCallItASooooooooong!
I'm glad she made it to Woodstock and the Doors got nixed. NOT
Make Joan Laugh
A very good singer.  Liked her songs and her sister's songs too (her sister was Mimi Farina who recorded with her husband Richard).  I think Richard died in the motorcycle accident that Dylan survived.
I wonder what crummy hotel over Washington Square she refers to. Almost 50 years later (holy s***, half a century) a lot of that 'hood is simultaneously quite the same but entirely different. 
 
Joan Baez, a New York City native, was a fixture of the Northeast folk scene in the 1970s. This was released in 1975, just as New York's punk scene was taking off. After listening to this yet again, it's easy to see how a new generation of New Yorkers could reject this in favor of simplistic three-chord songs played fast and loud. 
 Giselle62 wrote:

20 years later? It came out in '75. They were going out around '65. I think they really did love each other. This a beautiful and very moving song about that brief moment.
Is the song you are talking about "Love is just a 4-letter word?" Which song are you talking about? He wrote a lot of his best put-down songs about another woman, Suze Rotolo.
 I'm not sure what you're trying to say: that it's not okay for a married woman to seek fame? I'd like to know where you are coming from with that comment.
 She couldn't help her fame, just like he couldn't help his—-(and because he was vastly more famous he had vastly more problems with the whole thing)
They were both very talented and very much a part of their time. I don't love her style, but I think he treated her  badly and was a downright and total asshole in "Don't Look Back."

 
My understanding is that "Diamonds and Rust" was an answer to "Tangled Up in Blue"—the classic song about a intermittent romance over time. Of course "Tangled" came out with Blood on the Tracks in 1975. She didn't waste any time, eh?
I was 16 when this song was on the local Rock stations.
When I was 20 the live Judas Priest version was on the same local Rock stations. 

I'm one of the few who can say - I still love both versions.

Great song Joan 
"...and I remember your eyes were bluer than robin's eggs." One of the greatest love songs ever written.
Love the song now! When I was a kid my mom used to play it all the time and it drove me nuts. Then I heard a Judas Priest cover and loved their version. Perhaps they were a gateway band, but now I love everything about Joan Baez's version (plus many of her other songs). Thank you!
 jadewahoo wrote:
Like a knife to the heart, begging to be pushed in deeper, deeper, until it reaches the explosive sweetness of love divine to be found beneath all the scar tissue.
 

Yes Great comment. I have somebody that comes to mind with this song. I have to stop whatever I am doing and listen...
 jadewahoo wrote:
Like a knife to the heart, begging to be pushed in deeper, deeper, until it reaches the explosive sweetness of love divine to be found beneath all the scar tissue.
 
Very poetic comment.  Couldn't agree more!
Such a poet, such a voice. Thanks, Joan.
America's women of folk are fundamental to music's history and deserve more credit.  Super song Joan!
Like a knife to the heart, begging to be pushed in deeper, deeper, until it reaches the explosive sweetness of love divine to be found beneath all the scar tissue.
 nailed it!

AndyJ wrote:

The music and lyrics are by Joan Baez... I think this maybe about Dylan. The "Washington Square: reference is more likely a clue to NYC than SF...

She has a great voice and phrasing... I love her sound...Makes me wish for a bit of wine...and quiet conversation with a good friend, o someone in the process of becoming...
 


 
yes!  and close my eyes and go back to that time.......what a treat to hear this

goodbugs wrote:
Everything stops. I have to listen to every word, again. Never enough!
 


My 27 year old question to Joan & Rob Halford is - How come you two didn't sing this song together at Live Aid.
 goodbugs wrote:
Everything stops. I have to listen to every word, again. Never enough!
 
Exactly
 fingerpin wrote:

I was taking issue with the fact that here it is used as a measurement of time rather than the distance it actually represents. As far as a measurement of time, a light year is still just a year. Just wanted to clarify. :)
 

 drivingunit103 wrote:

,,,with less calories?
 
...apparently there's a gluten-free version now.
Everything stops. I have to listen to every word, again. Never enough!
Jeez. And I thought Bryan Ferry was heavy on the vibrato
Gimme Judas Priest, please...
 GarageDragon wrote:
Remember the scene in "Animal House" where Belushi grabs some guy's guitar and smashes it against the wall? This song reminds me of that.
 
I'd set it on fire too.

 
 fingerpin wrote:

I was taking issue with the fact that here it is used as a measurement of time rather than the distance it actually represents. As far as a measurement of time, a light year is still just a year. Just wanted to clarify. :)
 
,,,with less calories?

The music and lyrics are by Joan Baez... I think this maybe about Dylan. The "Washington Square: reference is more likely a clue to NYC than SF...

She has a great voice and phrasing... I love her sound...Makes me wish for a bit of wine...and quiet conversation with a good friend, o someone in the process of becoming...
 Moak wrote:


 
fingerpin wrote:
"A couple of light years ago". Arrrg...a light year is just a year. Okay, I'll chalk it up to poetic license. 
 
A light year isn't a year...it's the distance light travels in a year.
...a couple of light years ago...still sounds good though.



 
I dunno 'bout that: I've had a few dark years. ;-)
 bev wrote:


...yes...those have got to be my favorite lines from the song...which I believe is filled with amazing lines. It's a solid "10" for me — from the very first time I heard it and through every time since. So haunting. And knowing some of the history of Joan's affair with Bob Dylan just makes it even more poignant.

"...and if you're offering me Diamonds and Rust...I've already paid..."

Wow.

 
Yeah, this song and Jackson Browne's "Fountain of Sorrow" are both filled with amazing imagery and emotional insight. Both make me stop whatever I'm doing and listen, for the thousandth time, to the last note.

 
 fingerpin wrote:

I was taking issue with the fact that here it is used as a measurement of time rather than the distance it actually represents. As far as a measurement of time, a light year is still just a year. Just wanted to clarify. :)
 
I always thought she meant how QUICKLY the couple of years had gone....at the speed of light
Still beautiful....so descriptive.
One of Steve Jobs favorite ladies.
 CMax wrote:
Is this about Bob Dylan? 
 
That what I've always understood.
oh I'll be damned if I'll listen to this...
PSD.
 CMax wrote:
Is this about Bob Dylan? 
 
...yep...
Is this about Bob Dylan? 
 Moak wrote:


 
fingerpin wrote:
"A couple of light years ago". Arrrg...a light year is just a year. Okay, I'll chalk it up to poetic license. 
 
A light year isn't a year...it's the distance light travels in a year.
...a couple of light years ago...still sounds good though.

 
I was taking issue with the fact that here it is used as a measurement of time rather than the distance it actually represents. As far as a measurement of time, a light year is still just a year. Just wanted to clarify. :)


 
fingerpin wrote:
"A couple of light years ago". Arrrg...a light year is just a year. Okay, I'll chalk it up to poetic license. 
 
A light year isn't a year...it's the distance light travels in a year.
...a couple of light years ago...still sounds good though.



 vandal wrote:
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


 

...yes...those have got to be my favorite lines from the song...which I believe is filled with amazing lines. It's a solid "10" for me — from the very first time I heard it and through every time since. So haunting. And knowing some of the history of Joan's affair with Bob Dylan just makes it even more poignant.

"...and if you're offering me Diamonds and Rust...I've already paid..."

Wow.

"A couple of light years ago". Arrrg...a light year is just a year. Okay, I'll chalk it up to poetic license. 
Remember the scene in "Animal House" where Belushi grabs some guy's guitar and smashes it against the wall?

This song reminds me of that.
Not a huge fan of her - but this song...o this song.   Its a 10.
This would be a NO for me...
Joan Baez two days in a row? Bill, are you okay? Are you going through a crisis or something?
bill likes joan
 
 "I never did see what my father saw in her."

That's because you're not your father.  I've often wondered about choices my father (and my children) have made, and then rejoiced that I am not living their llives.
 Cynaera wrote:
 
Well, word of advice - next time you feel like slitting your wrists, use a scalpel and open your carotid artery instead. You'll bleed out much quicker that way. {#Wave}
 
No, no: the femoral artery. Leave a beautiful corpse. 

 Cary Grant, gagged and bound in "Arsenic and Old Lace"


You might investigate some of her very early work on Vanguard. My favorite of hers is "Any Day Now" with lyrics by Bob Dylan. She makes it flow and adds new meanings to his presentations.   I'd also recommend her sister, Mimi's, work with Richard Farina... Folk-ish but lots of references to the Tolkien Trilogy and changes... Not expensive now as Amazon has them used... Richard's book "Been Down So Long Seems Like Up To Me" is a bit of fun-dated before the hippie world but still fun..

TMI-?   Sorry. Just sharing

 
claya wrote:
I wish my parents had played this instead of Crystal Gale..... although some parts do feel dated, her voice is simply beautiful. The first song I remember was Heartache Tonight by the Eagles.... on 8track.... and then some Crystal stuff.
 



Don't hear this often.   Every time it seems it relates to new memories and experience.
If you don't remember those who passed close by like a comet or meteor...  Well, that's probably your issue. Not theirs.

Very nice and must say that is a beautiful photo.