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Joan Baez - Diamonds & Rust (1995) [HD]

1,764 views · Published 2 February 2018 · 4:51 · Indexed 20 October 2026

Channel: Gary Larson · 2018 · People & Blogs

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Joan Baez (with Mary Chapin Carpenter) sings 'Diamonds &  Rust' from her 1995 Proper album 'Ring Them Bells'. This album contains live recordings at The Bottom Line in NYC in April 1995.  Baez wrote this song and it was first on her 1975 A&M album as the title song. The song has her thinking of her earlier relationship with Dylan and is considered one of her best. The song lyrics are in the video and listed below along with some notes from Wikipedia.

Note:  This video uses the images from the earlier video for the 1975 song. The lyric images are all changed but the lyrics used in the video and below are those of the 1975 studio recording.

[CD/Lyrics/30-Images/WAV]

Diamonds & Rust

Singers - Joan Baez, Mary Chapin Carpenter

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 cuff links 
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 
Could keep you unharmed

Now I see you standing 
With brown leaves falling all 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 gimme another word for it 
You who are so good with words 
And at keeping things vague 

'Cause 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

Songwriter: Joan Baez

© Downtown Music Publishing

[Lyrics from LyricFind]

Wikipedia states:

"Diamonds & Rust" is a song written, composed, and performed by Joan Baez. It was written in November 1974 and released in 1975. In the song, Baez recounts an out-of-the-blue phone cal from an old lover, which sends her a decade back in time, to a "crummy" hotel in Greenwich Village circa 1964 or 1965; she recalls giving him a pair of cuff-links, and summarizes that memories bring "diamonds and rust." Baez has stated that the lyrics refer to her relationship with Bob Dylan. The song, which was a top-40 hit for Baez on the U.S. pop singles chart, is regarded by a number of critics, as well as by Baez fans, as one of her best compositions. It served as the title song on Baez's gold-selling album Diamonds & Rust, which was released in 1975.

Ring Them Bells is a live album taken from Joan Baez' April 1995 shows at New York's The Bottom Line. In addition to her own solo set, the album featured collaborations with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mimi Farina, Dar Williams, the Indigo Girls and Mary Black. Though Baez and many of the collaborating artists were admirers of one another, this album marked the first time many of them had worked together. Baez' manager, Mark Spector, served as producer.

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