Joan Baez Album

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Red telephone sitting by my bed
Practically bore your name
Lying alone in the twilight zone
Waiting for your call to come in
Hadn't been for the kid
Who was sleeping upstairs
You'd have found me well on my way
On that midnight plane to L.A.

You suffered sweeter for me
Than anyone I've ever known

I dared to look into the years
Would you still have your wife?
I dared to peer through my tears
Could we ever have a life?
Even thought I was pregnant by you
But I didn't care
I just talked to my son
Would he mind another one?

You suffered sweeter for me
Than anyone I've ever known

Once more the mist rolls to the sea
Like a hundred times we've known
Trees are faded and the clouds have stopped
Where the wind had blown
How I dread when the evening comes
And I cannot be
What you want me to be
When you are next to me

How silent you are as the veils come down
Before my eyes
Soft and reserved as you move away
Donning your disguise
While every folk song that I ever knew
Once more comes true
And loves grows old
And waxes cold

You suffered sweeter for me
Than anyone I've ever known

Just one favor of you, my love
If I should die today
Take me down to where the hills
Meet the sea on a stormy day
Ride a ridge on a snow white horse
And throw my ashes away
To the wind and the sand
Where my song began

You suffered sweeter for me
Than anyone I've ever known

© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Don't worry about my politics
They are what they are
I work best when I get some rest
Right now I'm in a bar
Overlooking the whole wide world
It's over the Pacific
I've never written when I was drunk
This could be terrific!

And the seabird struggles in the wind
She topples, balances again

The lady sitting next to me
Is gazing in the eyes
Of the stranger sitting next to her
Who is mouthing truths and lies
He's actually quite nice I guess
He has an honest look
He doesn't know I've lost my mind
Scribbling in this book

And the seabird struggles in the wind
She topples, balances again

Consumed by the evening's masterpiece
Completely introverted
From here I could stare down eternity
leave alone and not feel deserted
I'm tired of interesting faces
And the dull ones make my weep
Don't ask me what my sign is
Instant intimacy runs cheap

The ocean is so bountiful
It spreads from coast to coast
The winds scale off the whitecaps
And the things I love the most
Come wafting up into my lap
In the colors of the great sunrise
Children holding cupcakes
With paradise in their eyes

And the seabird struggles in the wind
She topples, balances again

Four big pelicans just flew by
The room got very still
One of them carried the breath of God
Tucked way back in his bill
I know it was the breath of God
It's the same as the secret of life
He's carrying it off to the Shah of Iran
To trade it for the end of strife

And the seabird struggles in the wind
She topples, balances again

© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Infinity gives me chills
So could the waters of Iceland
But there's a difference in finding diamonds in rust
And rhinestones in a dishpan
Miracles bowl me over
And often will they do so
Now I think I was asleep till I heard
The voice of the great Caruso

Bring infinity home
Let me embrace it one more time
Make it the lilies of the field
Or Caruso in his prime

A friend of mine gave me a tape
She'd copied from a record disc
It was made at the turn of the century
And found in a jacket labeled "misc."
And midst cellos, harps, and flugelhorns
With the precision of a hummingbird's heart
Was the lord of the monarch butterflies
One-time ruler of the world of art

Bring infinity home
Let me embrace it one more time
Make it the lilies of the field
or Caruso in his prime

Yes, the king of them all was Enrico
Whose singular chest could rival
A hundred fervent Baptists
Giving forth in a tent revival
True he was a vocal miracle
But that's only secondary
It's the sould of the monarch butterfly
That I find a little bit scary

Bring infinity home
Let me embrace it one more time
Make it the lilies of the field
Or Caruso in his prime

Perhaps he's just a vehicle
To bear us to the hills of Truth
That's Truth spelled with a great big T
And peddled in the mystic's booth
There are oh so many miracles
That the western sky exposes
Why go looking for lilacs
When you're lying in a bed of roses?

Bring infinity home
Let me embrace it one more time
Make it the lilies of the field
Or Caruso in his prime

© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Still waters at night
In the darkest of dark
But you rise as white
As the birch tree's bark
Or a pale wolf in winter
You look down and shiver
At still waters at night

Your eyes are as black
As the blackness you're fearing
And yonder a bridge
And a voice within hearing
Come walk on me softly
Look down and you'll see
Still waters at night

You've reason to fear
There is no protection
But a garland of emeralds
And a moonlit reflection
Of a boat in the distance
Will the devil take his chance
At still waters at night

So dance me a small dance
And the night cannot hurt you
Nor the waters be silent
Nor the emeralds desert you
For the boat's full of bright scarves
And wild hats among them
Songs of the vagabond
It's to you he has sung them
And shattered the silence
Of still waters at night

© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

The ship that sails the seven seas
Has finally brought me to my knees
It's not much to my liking
The people standing on the rock
Are innocent and they know not
That the tide comes in
Death rides it like a Viking

The mountains rise above the mist
And the golden prince I've never kissed
He may die tonight
And why do I want to ride with
The prince whose alleged horse is white?
Because when we ride together
Our lives are cloaked forever

Happiness is temporary
Believe me, I know
It can arrive as a shining crystal
And leave as the melting snow
Come all you lads and lasses
The Kingdom of Childhood passes

Oh, but I am hardy in these years
Or I'd have sunk down with my tears
To the earth beneath my feet
I want to endure the slings and arrows
That Hamlet spoke about
But harrowed,
He was forced to a ragged defeat

There was a method to his madness
But overcome by pride and sadness
He did not endure
Surely his death was a grave mistake
How many deaths do we really calculate?
Isn't it true, Lord
Tragedies happen when you're bored?

Happiness is temporary
Believe me, I know
It can arrive as a shining crystal
And leave as the melting snow
Come all you lads and lasses
The Kingdom of Childhood passes

You archangels, you have some nerve
To watch all of this you are absurd
You even have a choice
Do you know all? I think you may
And what is there for you to say
But understand
Why God took back your voice

SIlence is golden, I believe
And you are worth your weight
In wreaths of purest gold
While we are here with debts and bets
And aircraft carriers and jets
I call out fruitlessly
Give me an archangel for company

Happiness is temporary
Believe me, I know
It can arrive as a shining crystal
And leave as the melting snow
Come all you lads and lasses
The Kingdom of Childhood passes

Me in the woods at the break of dawn
The candles of the night still on
The chimes ring from the hollow
I too am worth my weight in gold
But the fishmonger and I are old
When the mint runs out
Our real lives will follow

It was misfortune who woke you up
To pour you the dregs from her broken cup
Cast her aside
The sunrise will appear with the mockingbird
Who stays deep in the canyon and is heard
Glorious in his song
He cannot be wrong

Happiness is temporary
Believe me, I know
It can arrive as a shining crystal
And leave as the melting snow
Come all you lads and lasses
The Kingdom of Childhood passes
There's another one just beyond
Act quickly before it's gone

© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)

You've got eyes like Jesus
But you speak with a viper's tongue
We were just sitting around on earth
Where the hell did you come from?
With your lady dressed in deerskin
And an amazing way about her
When are you going to realize
That you just can't live without her?

Take it easy
Take it light
But take it

Your lady gets her power
From the goddess and the stars
You get yours from the trees and the brooks
And a little from life on Mars
And I've known you for a good long while
And would you kindly tell me, mister
How in the name of the Father and the Son
Did I come to be your sister?

Take it easy
Take it light
But take it

You've done dirt to lifelong friends
With little or no excuses
Who endowed you with the crown
To hand out these abuses?
Your lady knows about these things
But they don't put her under
Me, I know about them, too
And I react like thunder

Take it easy
Take it light
But take it

I know you are surrounded
By parasites and sychophants
When I come to see you
I dose up on coagulants
Because when you hurl that bowie knife
It's going to be when my back is turned
Doing some little deed for you
And baby, will I get burned

Take it easy
Take it light
But take it

So little brother when you come
To knock on my door
I don't want to bring you down
But I just went through the floor
My love for you extends through life
And I don't want to waste it
But honey, what you've been dishing out
You'd never want to taste it
And if I had the nerve
To either risk it or to break it
I'd put our friendship on the line
And show you how to take it

Take it easy
Take it light
But take it

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

The moon is low on the southland
The frogs are asleep on the lake
Did you know that tears run in rivulets
And hearts can repeatedly break?
And this may well be the last time
If my spirits don't pick up and fly
For though it's sad
It may well be true
That our time is passing us by

Occasionally you have called for me
I've always tried to be there
But it seemed whenever my train pulled in
You never did really care
And the only thing I could decipher
From the corner of your roving eye
Was that you and I
Were the first ones to know
That our time was passing us by

Well, it was fun for the first few years
playing Legend In Our Time
And there were those who discussed the fact
That we drifted apart in our prime
And we haven't got too much in common
Except that we're so much alike
And I hate it for though
You're a big part of me
But our time is passing us by

So I can sit here in my silver chair
You can stay there on your gold
You can say you've got commitments
And I can say I'm growing old
And I can get up and make comments
On the color of the evening sky
But our ships have come home
And the night's rolling in
And our time is passing us by

But cast us adrift
And cross a few stars
And I'm good for one more try

© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)


"You've loved me exquisitely."
"I tried to."
"Can we be best of friends now?"
"I never lied to you."
"And can I love you forever?"
"Sure," she said and smiled
"But will you?"

I wish there was some new way
To sing about a full moon
Poured down on us like a thousand rivers
In Stephanie's room
And you said you'd remember always
The shadows on the hills below us
But will you?

You never once tried to sell me
A bill of goods I wouldn't buy
But I'm seasoned and I know a pirate
By the devil in his eye
And the only thing you ever stole from me
Was laughter and some love I made
To fill you

White snow in the morning
Kind of frightened me
But you'd go sailing anyway
Things are different at sea
You know I'll never try and change your habit
As sure as you know if your ship sinks
It'll kill you

And all the lovely ladies who came before me
Are very much the same
As the others soon to follow
In your merry little game
I guess I just want to be remembered
Especially and frequently
Like Stephanie

Five red tail hawks are circling
Above us in the sky
You said they'd bring good luck
And then you said goodbye
You smiled and said, "I'll see you
Sooner than you think."
But will you?

© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)

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