Diamonds and Rust

The rain in Dubai  I tell you.You become a sucker for 'mood' music. Driving home of an overcast day last week  - drizzle drops on the windshield under a grey sky umbrella , the wind rushing like some cranky kid on a sugar high way past its bedtime, the world outside my car in mute motion - I stumbled upon Diamonds and Rust on my phone. It was there apparently , no doubt loaded a 'couple of light years ago'. Forgotten.

And Joan Baez. Remember her ? Heard the name recently ? Understandable.

I'm not a huge Joan Baez fan either but I connect on two things. The first is as a Dylanhead. Joan Baez in Bob Dylan's life was so long ago that it was history even 40 years ago. But  it makes for a fantastic story. Not just as a love story , which it is , but also as a story in its own right  that captures Dylan's rise to the top with all the hard nosed manipulation that went into it.

To recap as the story goes  : when Dylan started out as a folk singer (the original manipulation!) Joan Baez was a bigger star on the scene . Their relationship was a stepping stone for him . Once he had climbed  , it was goodbye Joan. (Aside : If I recall right , in "No Direction Home" the fantastic Dylan biography by Robert Shelton , there's something about how one of the rare few things Dylan had ever gifted Baez was a coat that subsequently went missing when they'd broken up. Years later , Joan discovered Dylan's then-wife Sara wearing it ! Cheapskate ! )  

While Dylan went on to legendville , Joan Baez did covers -  many if not most of them  Dylan songs. They ranged from fantastic (Farewell Angelina) through fun (Simple Twist Of Fate) to fucked up (Blowing In The Wind). She has her own fan following of course but the work was remarkably unremarkable :  decent if straightforward songs, decent if a-tad-too-sweet voice , decent if samey music , covers mostly.

Which brings me to the second thing I connect on : an original about that famous love affair which can move the ground clean under your feet on its day. Diamonds and Rust. It's Joan putting a lifetime's effort into this one inspired masterpiece. A short acoustic guitar riff opens over a just-right chord sequence in minor key, a restrained Moog synthesizer drops in like something from  a daydream or a memory and adds atmosphere to the minimal  arrangement ,  it's all bittersweet poignancy as a voice touched by an angel sings about feelings that endured  for years beyond a one-sided relationship :

Now you're telling me / You're not nostalgic / Then give me another word for it / You who were so good with words / And at keeping things vague / Because I need some of the 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.

All diamonds this one.