JOAN BAEZ – Welcome Me

Welcome me to The City of Angels
Devil prophets still hold my hand
I walked your stillborn streets for hours
Ethnic echoes spitting out their trials
They tell me I’ll

I’ll be the first to praise the sun
The first to praise the moon
The first to hold the lone coyote
Last to set it free

Welcome me to a haven given
Oh, it’s well received into my open arms
Oh, I, I ran in my sleep through shaking tremors
I felt the splitting earth echoing in my ears
And I feel it all

I’ll be the first to praise the sun
The first to praise the moon
The first to hold the lone coyote
The last to set it free

Welcome me to your City of Angels
There’s a Devil monkey laying on our backs
Now tell me, where’s the heart? Where’s the bullet for breaking?
Who’s gonna give me a weapon, a pacifying weapon?
An’ I need it all

I’ll be the first to praise the sun
The first to praise the moon, oh
The first to hold the lone coyote
The last to set it free
I said, I said, “Welcome me”

I’ll be the first to praise the sun
The first to praise the moon, oh
The first to hold the lone coyote
The last to set it free
I said, “Welcome me”

JOAN BAEZ – Tears Of Rage

We carried you in our arms
On Independence Day,
And now you’d throw us all aside
And put us on our way.
Oh what dear daughter ‘neath the sun
Would treat a father so,
To wait upon him hand and foot
And always tell him, “No”?
Tears of rage, tears of grief,
Why must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We’re so alone
And life is brief.

We pointed out the way to go
And scratched your name in sand,
Though you just thought it was nothing more
Than a place for you to stand.
Now, I want you to know that while we watched,
You discover there was no one true.
Most ev’rybody really thought
It was a childish thing to do.
Tears of rage, tears of grief,
Must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We’re so low
And life is brief.

It was all very painless
When you went out to receive
All that false instruction
Which we never could believe.
And now the heart is filled with gold
As if it was a purse.
But, oh, what kind of love is this
Which goes from bad to worse?
Tears of rage, tears of grief,
Must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We’re so low
And life is brief.

JOAN BAEZ – Streets Of Laredo

As I walked out on the streets of Laredo.
As I walked out on Laredo one day,
I spied a poor cowboy wrapped in white linen,
Wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay.

“I can see by your outfit that you are a cowboy.”
These words he did say as I boldly walked by.
“Come an’ sit down beside me an’ hear my sad story.
“I’m shot in the breast an’ I know I must die.”

“It was once in the saddle, I used to go dashing.
“Once in the saddle, I used to go gay.
“First to the card-house and then down to Rose’s.
“But I’m shot in the breast and I’m dying today.”

“Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin.
“Six dance-hall maidens to bear up my pall.
“Throw bunches of roses all over my coffin.
“Roses to deaden the clods as they fall.”

“Then beat the drum slowly, play the Fife lowly.
“Play the dead march as you carry me along.
“Take me to the green valley, lay the sod o’er me,
“I’m a young cowboy and I know I’ve done wrong.”

“Then go write a letter to my grey-haired mother,
“An’ tell her the cowboy that she loved has gone.
“But please not one word of the man who had killed me.
“Don’t mention his name and his name will pass on.”

When thus he had spoken, the hot sun was setting.
The streets of Laredo grew cold as the clay.
We took the young cowboy down to the green valley,
And there stands his marker, we made, to this day.

We beat the drum slowly and played the Fife lowly,
Played the dead march as we carried him along.
Down in the green valley, laid the sod o’er him.
He was a young cowboy and he said he’d done wrong.

JOAN BAEZ – Stones In The Road

When we were young, we pledged allegiance every morning of our lives
The classroom rang with children’s voices under teacher’s watchful eye
We learned about the world around us at our desks and at dinnertime
Reminded of the starving children, we cleaned our plates with guilty minds
And the stones in the road shone like diamonds in the dust
And then a voice called to us to make our way back home

When I was ten, my father held me on his shoulders above the crowd
To see a train draped in mourning pass slowly through our town
His widow kneeled with all their children at the sacred burial ground
And the TV glowed that long hot summer with all the cities burning down

And the stones in the road flew out beneath our bicycle tires
Worlds removed from all those fires as we raced each other home

And now we drink our coffee on the run, we climb that ladder rung by rung
We are the daughters and the sons, and here’s the line that’s missing

The starving children have been replaced by souls out on the street
We give a dollar when we pass, and hope our eyes don’t meet
We pencil in, we cancel out, we crave the corner suite
We kiss your ass, we make you hold, we doctor the receipt

And the stones in the road fly out from beneath our wheels
Another day, another deal, before we get back home

And the stones in the road leave a mark from whence they came
A thousand points of light or shame, baby, I don’t know

JOAN BAEZ – So We’ll Go No More A-Roving

So we’ll go no more a-roving
So late into the night
Though the heart be still as loving
And the moon be still as bright

For the sword outwears the sheath
And the soul wears out the breast
And the heart must pause to breathe
And love itself must rest

Though the night was made for loving
And the day returns too soon
Still we’ll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon

JOAN BAEZ – Song Of Bangladesh

Bangladesh, Bangladesh
Bangladesh, Bangladesh
When the sun sinks in the west
Die a million people of the Bangladesh

The story of Bangladesh
Is an ancient one again made fresh
By blind men who carry out commmands
Which flow out of the laws upon which nation stands
Which is to sacrifice a people for a land

Bangladesh, Bangladesh
Bangladesh, Bangladesh
When the sun sinks in the west
Die a million people of the Bangladesh

Once again we stand aside
And watch the families crucified
See a teenage mother’s vacant eyes
As she watches her feeble baby try
To fight the monsoon rains and the cholera flies

And the students at the university
Asleep at night quite peacefully
The soldiers came and shot them in their beds
And terror took the dorm awakening shrieks of dread
And silent frozen forms and pillows drenched in red

Bangladesh, Bangladesh
Bangladesh, Bangladesh
When the sun sinks in the west
Die a million people of the Bangladesh

Did you read about the army officer’s plea
For donor’s blood? It was given willingly
By boys who took the needles in their veins
And from their bodies every drop of blood was drained
No time to comprehend and there was little pain

And so the story of Bangladesh
Is an ancient one again made fresh
By all who carry out commands
Which flow out of the laws upon which nations stand
Which say to sacrifice a people for a land

Bangladesh, Bangladesh
Bangladesh, Bangladesh
When the sun sinks in the west
Die a million people of the Bangladesh

JOAN BAEZ – Simple Twist Of Fate

They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark
She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones
It was then he felt alone and wished that he’d gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate.

They walked alone by the old canal
A little confused I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burning bright
He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate.

A saxophone someplace far off played
As she was walking on by the arcade
As the light bust through a-beat-up shade where he was waking up
She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate.

He woke up the room was bare
He didn’t see her anywhere
He told himself he didn’t care pushed the window open wide
Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate.

He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailers all come in
Maybe she’ll pick him out again how long must he wait
One more time for a simple twist of fate.

People tell me it’s a sin
To know and feel too much within
I still believe she was my twin but I lost the ring
She was born in spring but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate.

JOAN BAEZ – Silver Dagger

Don’t sing love songs, you’ll wake my mother
She’s sleeping here right by my side
And in her right hand a silver dagger,
She says that I can’t be your bride.

All men are false, says my mother,
They’ll tell you wicked, lovin’ lies.
The very next evening, they’ll court another,
Leave you alone to pine and sigh.

My daddy is a handsome devil
He’s got a chain five miles long,
And on every link a heart does dangle
Of another maid he’s loved and wronged.

Go court another tender maiden,
And hope that she will be your wife,
For I’ve been warned, and I’ve decided
To sleep alone all of my life.

JOAN BAEZ – Silent Night

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

JOAN BAEZ – Seven Curses

Old Reilly stole a stallion
But they caught him and they brought him back
And they laid him down on the jailhouse ground
With an iron chain around his neck.

Old Reilly’s daughter got a message
That her father was goin’ to hang.
She rode by night and came by morning
With gold and silver in her hand.

When the judge he saw Reilly’s daughter
His old eyes deepened in his head,
Sayin’, “Gold will never free your father,
The price, my dear, is you instead.”

“Oh I’m as good as dead,” cried Reilly,
“It’s only you that he does crave
And my skin will surely crawl if he touches you at all.
Get on your horse and ride away.”

“Oh father you will surely die
If I don’t take the chance to try
And pay the price and not take your advice.
For that reason I will have to stay.”

The gallows shadows shook the evening,
In the night a hound dog bayed,
In the night the grounds were groanin’,
In the night the price was paid.

The next mornin’ she had awoken
To know that the judge had never spoken.
She saw that hangin’ branch a-bendin’,
She saw her father’s body broken.

These be seven curses on a judge so cruel:
That one doctor will not save him,
That two healers will not heal him,
That three eyes will not see him.

That four ears will not hear him,
That five walls will not hide him,
That six diggers will not bury him
And that seven deaths shall never kill him.

JOAN BAEZ – Seven Bridges Road

Seven Bridges Road
There are stars
In the Southern sky
Southward as you go
There is moonlight
And moss in the trees
Down the Seven Bridges Road
Now I have loved you like a baby
Like some lonesome child
And I have loved you in a tame way
And I have loved you wild
Sometimes there’s a part of me
Has to turn form here and go
Running like a child from these warm stars
Down the Seven Bridges Road
There are stars in the Southern sky
And if ever you decide
You should go
There is a taste of time sweetened honey
Down the Seven Bridges Road

JOAN BAEZ – Scarlet Tide

Well I recall his parting words must I accept his fate
Or take myself far from this place I thought I heard a black bell toll
A little bird did sing man has no choice when he wants everything

We’ll rise above the scarlet tide
That trickles down through the mountain
And separates the widow from the bride

Man goes beyond his own decision gets caught up in the mechanism
Of swindlers who act like kings and brokers who break everything
The dark of night was swiftly fading close to the dawn of day
Why would I want him just to lose him again

We’ll rise above the scarlet tide
That trickles down through the mountain
And separates the widow from the bride

We’ll rise above the scarlet tide
That trickles down through the mountain
And separates the widow from the bride

JOAN BAEZ – Satisfied Mind

How many times have you heard someone say
“If I had his money, I could do things my way?”
Little they know that it’s so hard to find
One rich man in a hundred with a satisfied mind.

Once I was waitin’ for fortune and fame
Everything that I dreamed for to get a start in life’s game
Suddenly it happened, I lost every dime
But I’m richer by far with a satisfied mind

Money can’t buy back your youth when you’re old
Or a friend when you’re lonely, or a love that’s grown cold
The wealthiest person is a pauper at times
Compared to the man with a satisfied mind

When my life is ended, my time has run out
My trials and my loved ones, I’ll leave them no doubt
But one thing’s for certain, when it comes my time
I’ll leave this old world with a satisfied mind
I’ll leave this old world with a satisfied mind

JOAN BAEZ – San Francisco Mabel Joy

Lord his Daddy was an honest man, just a red dirt Georgia farmer
And his momma lived her short life having kids and baling hay
He had fifteen years and he ached inside to wander
So he jumped a freight at Waycross and wound up in LA.

The cold nights had no pity on that Waycross, Georgia farm boy
Most days he went hungry, and then the summer came
He met a girl known on the strip as San Francisco’s Mabel Joy
Destitution’s child, born of an LA. street called “Shame”

Growing up came quietly in the arms of Mabel Joy
Laughter found their mornings brought a meaning to his life
And the night before she left sleep came and left that Waycross, country boy
With dreams of Georgia cotton and a California wife

Sunday morning found him standing ‘neath the red light at her door
When a right cross sent him reeling, put him face down on the floor
And in place of his Mabel Joy he found a merchant mad marine
Who growled, “Your Georgia neck is red but Sonny you’re still green”

He turned twenty-one in a grey rock federal prison
The old judge had no mercy on that Waycross, Georgia boy
Staring at those four grey walls, in silence he would listen
To the midnight freight he knew would take him back to Mabel Joy

Sunday morning found him lying ‘neath the red light at her door
With a bullet in his side, he cried “Have you seen Mabel Joy!”
Stunned and shaken someone said “Son, she don’t live here no more
She left this house four years today, they say she’s looking for …
Some Georgia farm boy

JOAN BAEZ – Sailing

I am sailing, I am sailing,
Home again ‘cross the sea.
I am sailing stormy waters,
To be near you to be free.

I am flying, I am flying,
Like a bird ‘cross the sky.
I am flying passing high clouds,
To be with you to be free.

Can you hear me, can you hear me,
Thro’ the dark night far away.
I am dying forever trying,
To be with you who can say.

We are sailing, we are sailing,
Home again ‘cross the sea.
We are sailing, stormy waters,
To be near you to be free.

JOAN BAEZ – The Ballad Of Sacco And Vanzetti, Part 1

“Give to me your tired and your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.”

Blessed are the persecuted
And blessed are the pure in heart
Blessed are the merciful
And blessed are the ones who mourn

The step is hard that tears away the roots
And says goodbye to friends and family
The fathers and the mothers weep
The children cannot comprehend
But when there is a promised land
The brave will go and others follow
The beauty of the human spirit
Is the will to try our dreams
And so the masses teemed across the ocean
To a land of peace and hope
But no one heard a voice or saw a light
As they were tumbled onto shore
And none was welcomed by the echo of the phrase
“I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Blessed are the persecuted
And blessed are the pure in heart
Blessed are the merciful
And blessed are the ones who mourn

JOAN BAEZ – Ring Them Bells

Ring them bells ye heathen from the city that dreams
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries cross the valleys and streams
For they’re deep and they’re wide
And the world on its side
And time is running backwards
And so is the bride.

Ring them bells Saint Peter where the four winds blow
Ring them bells with an ironhand
So the people will know
Oh it’s rush hour now
On the wheel and the plow
And the sun is going down upon the sacred cow.

Ring them bells Sweet Martha for the poor man’s son
Ring them bells so the world will know that God is one
Oh the shepherd is asleep
Where the willows weep
And the mountains are filled with lost sheep
Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf
Ring them bells for all of us who are left
Ring them bells for the chosen few
Who will judge the many when the game is through
Ring them bells for the time that flies
For the child that cries
When innocence dies.

Ring them bells Saint Catherine from the top of the room
Ring them from the fortress for the lilies that bloom
Oh the lines are long and the fighting is strong
And they’re breaking down the distance between right and wrong.

JOAN BAEZ – Rider, Pass By

Tell me when you see them
Gathered at the shore
Dancing on their broken chains
Ah, the ladies are no more
In their blue jeans and their necklaces
Against an evening sky
But some of them are weeping
Crying rider, please pass by

The ship with all the riders
Has drifted out to sea
Compass cracked and stars unnamed
It’s lost to history
And the riders in captivity
Watch ancient waves roll high
And hear the distant voices
Crying rider, please pass by

All you men who should have been
Your fathers beat you down
Your mothers loved you badly
Your teachers stole your crowns
And the wars you fought have taken toll
The price was far too high
You’ve buried all the images
Of riders passing by

The horses of the riders
Have waited at the tide
But years have passed, they know at last
Their heroes will not ride
So the women oh so gracefully
Mount noble horses high
Shattering the timelessness
Of rider, please pass by

But who can dare to judge us
The women or the men?
If freedom’s wings shall not be clipped
We all can love again
So the choice is not of etiquette
Or finding lonesome ways to die
But liberty to ships at sea
And riders passing by

But liberty to ships at sea
And riders passing by

JOAN BAEZ – Queen Of Hearts

To the queen of hearts is the ace of sorrow
He’s here today, he’s gone tomorrow
Young men are plenty but sweethearts few
If my love leaves me what shall I do?

Had I the store in yonder mountain
Where gold and silver is there for counting
I could not count for thought of thee
My eyes so full I could not see

I love my father, I love my mother
I love my sister, I love my brother
I love my friends and relatives too
I’ll forsake them all and go with you

To the queen of hearts is the ace of sorrow
He’s here today, he’s gone tomorrow
Young men are plenty but sweethearts few
If my love leaves me what shall I do ?

JOAN BAEZ – Please Come To Boston

Please come to Boston for the springtime
I’m stayin’ here with some friends and they’ve got lots of room
You can sell your paintings on the sidewalk
By a cafe where I hope to be workin’ soon
Please come to Boston
She said no, would you come home to me

[Refrain:]
And she said, hey ramblin’ boy, why don’t you settle down
Boston ain’t your kind of town
There ain’t no gold and there ain’t nobody like me
I’m the number one fan of the man from Tennessee

Please come to Denver with the snowfall
We’ll move up into the mountains so far that we can’t be found
And throw “I love you” echoes down the canyon
And then lie awake at night till they come back around
Please come to Denver
She said no, boy, would you come home to me

[Refrain]

Now this drifter’s world goes ’round and ’round
And I doubt that it’s ever gonna stop
But of all the dreams I’ve lost or found
And all that I ain’t got
I still need to cling to
Somebody I can sing to

Please come to LA to live forever
California life alone is just too hard to build
I live in a house that looks out over the ocean
And there’s some stars that fell from the sky
Livin’ up on the hill
Please come to LA
She just said no, boy, won’t you come home to me

[Refrain]

I’m the number one fan of the man from Tennessee