Joan Baez

[fox69]

"Guantanamera"

"Guantanamera"


Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera

Yo soy un hombre sincero,
De donde crece la palma,
Yo soy un hombre sincero,
De donde crece la palma,
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma

Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera

Mi verso es de un verde claro,
Y de un carmin encendido,
Mi verso es de un verde claro,
Y de un carmin encendido,
Mi verso es un ciervo herido
Que busca en el monte amparo.

Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera

Con los pobres de la tierra,
Quiero yo mi suerte echar,
Con los pobres de la tierra,
Quiero yo mi suerte echar,

El arroyo de la sierra,
Me complace mas que el mar.

Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera

 

[fox69]

"Gulf Winds"

"Gulf Winds"


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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[fox69]

"Hallowed Be Thy Name"

"Hallowed Be Thy Name"


I'm waiting in my cold cell when the bell begins to chime
Reflecting on my past life and it doesn't have much time
'Cause at 5 o'clock they take me to the gallows pole
The sands of time for me are running low

When the priest comes to read me the last rites
I take a look through the bars at the last sights
Of a world that has gone very wrong for me

Can it be theres some sort of error
Hard to stop the surmounting terror
Is it really the end not some crazy dream

Somebody please tell me that I'm dreaming
It's not so easy to stop from screaming
But words escape me when I try to speak
Tears they flow but why am I crying
After all I am not afraid of dying
Don't believe that there is never an end

As the guards march me out to the courtyard
Someone calls from a cell God be with you
If theres a God then why has he let me die?

As I walk all my life drifts before me
And though the end is near I'm not sorry
Catch my soul 'cause it's willing to fly away

Mark my words please believe my soul lives on
Please don't worry now that I have gone
I've gone beyond to see the truth

When you know that your time is close at hand
Maybe then you'll begin to understand
Life down there is just a strange illusion.

 

[fox69]

"Hand To Mouth"

"Hand To Mouth"


Jimmy Got Nothing Made Himself A Name
With a gun that he polished for a rainy day
A smite and a quote from a vigilante movie
Our boy jimmy just blew them all away
He said it made him crazy
Twenty five years living hand to mouth
Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth

Sweet little baby on a big white doorstep
She needs her mother but her mother is dead
Just another hooker that the lucky can forget
Just another hooker
It happens everyday
She loved her little baby
But she couldn't bare to see her living hand to mouth
Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth

I believe in the gods of america
I believe in the land of the free
But no one told me
(no one told me)
That the gods believe in nothing
So with empty hands I pray
And from day to hopeless day
They still don't see me
(see me)

Everybody talks about the new generation
Jump on the wagon or they'll leave you behind
But no one gave a thought to the rest of the nation
"like to help you buddy but I haven't got the time"
Somebody shouted save me
But everybody started living hand to mouth
Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth

There's a big white lady
On a big white doorstep
She asked her daddy and her daddy said "yes"
Has to give a little for the dollars that we get
Has to give a little -
They say it's for the best
Somebody shouted
Maybe
But they kept on living from hand to mouth
Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth

So she ran to the arms of america
And she kissed the powers that be
And someone told me
(someone told me)
That the gods believe in nothing
So with empty hands I pray
And I tell myself
One day
They just might see me

 

[fox69]

"Happy Birthday, Leonid Brezhnev"

"Happy Birthday, Leonid Brezhnev"


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

 

[fox69]

"Heaven Help Us All"

"Heaven Help Us All"


Heaven help the child who never had a home
Heaven help the girl who walks the streets alone
Heaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall
Heaven help us all

Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day
Heaven help the white man if he turns his back away
Heaven help the people with their backs against the wall
Heaven help us all
Heaven help us all, Heaven help us all,
Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call, heaven help us all

Heaven help the boy who won't reach twenty-one
Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun
Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl
Heaven help us all
Heaven help us all, Heaven help us all
Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call, heaven help us all

Now I lay me down before I go to sleep
In this troubled world, I pray the Lord to keep,
Keep hatred from the mighty, and the mighty from the small
Heaven help us all
Heaven help us all, Heaven help us all,
Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call, heaven help us all

 

[fox69]

"Hello In There"

"Hello In There"


We had an apartment in the city,
Me and Loretta liked living there.
It's been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own left us alone.
John and Linda live in Omaha,
And Joe is somewhere on the road.
We lost Davy in the Korean war,
Still don't know what for, don't matter anymore.

Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
But old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."

Me and Loretta, we don't talk much now.
She sits and stares through at back door screen.
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen.
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what'd I tell him if he asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do."

Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people they just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello,"
Say, "Hello in there, hello."

 

[fox69]

"Help Me Make It Through The Night"

"Help Me Make It Through The Night"


Take the ribbon from my hair
Shake it lose and let it fall
Layin soft upon your skin
Like the shadows on the wall

Come and lay down by my side
Till the early morning light
All I'm taking is your time
Help me make it through the night

I don't care who's right or wrong
I don't try to understand
Let the devil take tomorrow
Lord tonight I need a friend

Yersterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight
It's so sad to be alone
Help me make it trough the night

I don't care who's right or wrong
I don't try to understand
Let the devil take tomorrow
Lord tonight I need a friend

Yersterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight
It's so sad to be alone
Help me make it trough the night

 

[fox69]

"Henry Martin"

"Henry Martin"


There were three brothers in merry Scotland,
In merry Scotland there were three,
And they did cast lots which of them should go,
Should go, should go,
And turn robber all on the salt sea.

The lot it fell first upon Henry Martin,
The youngest of all the three;
That he should turn robber all on the salt sea,
Salt sea, the salt sea.
For to maintain his two brothers and he.

He had not been sailing but a long winter's night
And a part of a short winter's day,
Before he espied a stout lofty ship,
Lofty ship, lofty ship,
Come abibbing down on him straight way.

Hullo! Hullo! cried Henry Martin,
What makes you sail so nigh?
I'm a rich merchant ship bound for fair London Town,
London Town, London Town
Would you please for to let me pass by?

Oh no! Oh no! cried Henry Martin,
This thing it never could be,
For I have turned robber all on the salt sea
Salt sea, salt sea.
For to maintain my two brothers and me.

Come lower your tops'l and brail up your mizz'n
And bring your ship under my lee,
Or I will give you a full cannon ball,
Cannon ball, cannon ball,
And your dear bodies drown in the salt sea.

Oh no! we won't lower our lofty topsail,
Nor bring our ship under your lee,
And you shan't take from us our rich merchant goods,
Merchant goods, merchant goods
Nor point our bold guns to the sea.

Then broadside and broadside and at it they went
For fully two hours or three,
Till Henry Martin gave to her the deathshot,
The deathshot, the deathshot,
And straight to the bottom went she.

Bad news, bad news, to old England came,
Bad news to fair London Town,
There's been a rich vessel and she's cast away,
Cast away, cast away,
And all of her merry men drown'd.

 

[fox69]

"Henry Russell's Last Words"

"Henry Russell's Last Words"


Still alive but the air is getting bad
Oh how I love you Mary
I have made my peace with God
Oh how I love you Mary

You did not ask why I go down in the mine
Oh how I love you Mary
It was for the children and it was for better times
Oh how I love you Mary

Stay in America and give the give the kids a home
Oh how I love you Mary
Marry another you should not be alone
Oh how I love you Mary

We are weakening our hearts are beating fast
Oh how I love you Mary
We think about our families and we do not feel bad
Oh how I love you Mary

They will lay me in a pauper's grave
Oh how I love you Mary
Tell my father my soul is saved
Oh how I love you Mary

Meet me in heaven I'll wait for you there
Oh how I love you Mary
Oh how I love you Mary