Joan Baez played the final American concert of her five decade career at Port Chester, New Yorks Capitol Theater on May 5th. She heads over to Europe next month for her final shows anywhere, wrapping up July 28th at Madrids Universal Music Festival. I love Europe and my public over there, she told Rolling Stone last month. Itll bring a nice closure.
As always, her current show is packed with protest songs. When we spoke to her recently, she shared her five favorites and explained why they are so meaningful to her after all these years.
Traditional, We Shall Overcome
This is probably the greatest protest song ever written. It is an anthem that came out of some kind of depth. I think that is where really good songs come out of. Its a meeting of politics and social change and music. The key question Im not going to be able to answer is, Where does a song like this come from? How does it emerge out of hundreds and hundreds of songs? I dont sing it much anymore. I just sing it in the context where it makes a lot of sense, but its like Woodstock. You cant repeat those times. I sing it in countries that are under deep distress or totalitarian states. You sing it in a risky place and sometimes I think, Sometime I should sing it here, too.
Bob Dylan, Blowin in the Wind
The message in this is universal. Ive heard German Boy Scouts singing it at a fire. Its an anthem. If it wasnt, people wouldnt latch onto it. It has to do with the main line, The answer my friend is blowin in the wind. If they dont know the song really well, they might know the line. It works because theres a universality to it. As soon as you throw in something that gives it a time and a place it loses its breadth.
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John Lennon, Imagine
I sing this on my current tour and people love it and they sing along. I love the song because its beautiful; It has a beautiful lilt and its easy to sing. Right now, I sing it with Grace [Stumberg], my co-singer. Shes become indispensable in my concerts. She carries the part of a melody I can no longer carry with a magnificent voice. People love it and clap in the middle of it every night.
Simon and Garfunkel, The Boxer
You could consider this a protest song even though Paul Simon wasnt a political person. He did, however, make some meaningful changes in the world with South Africa and Graceland. This song just so singable. Ill sing it at my concert right after Imagine and it becomes a protest song too. It takes on a whole new meaning.
Violeta Parra, Gracias a la Vida
This is an anthem and a change-maker thats kind of become my own theme song. Its a huge protest song and sung everywhere where people are living under a Latin-speaking dictator. It came out of a dictatorship and a woman living with disappearances and killings and torture. Instead of some song of outrage, she sang this beautiful song of thank you. Shes thanking everything. Its crazy. Shes singing for the alphabet, for smiles and tears and small birds and big engines. Something in that has become magical. The chorus isnt any words. Its just, La la la. Anyone can sing it and they do.