In the late '60s and early '70s, Baez came into her songwriting own, penning many songs (most notably "Diamonds & Rust," a nostalgic piece about her ill-fated romance with Bob Dylan, and "Sweet Sir Galahad," a song about sister Mimi Fariña's ( of Richard & Mimi Fariña fame) second marriage, and continued to meld her songcraft with topical issues. She was outspoken in her disapproval of the Vietnam war and later the CIA-backed coups in many Latin American countries.
She was also instrumental in the Civil Rights movement, marching with Dr. Martin Luther King on many occassions and being jailed for her beliefs. In 1963, her performance of "We Shall Overcome" at the Lincoln Memorial just prior to Dr. King's famous "I Have A Dream..." speech helped confirm the song as the Civil Rights anthem.
In December 1972, she traveled to Hanoi, North Vietnam, and was caught in that country's "Christmas Campaign," in which the U.S. bombed the city more times than any other during the entire war. While pregnant with her only son, Gabriel, she performed a handful of songs in the middle of the night on day one of the 1969 Woodstock festival. She is considered the "Queen of Folk" for being at the forefront of the 1960s folk revival and inspiring generations of female folksingers that followed. Over fifty years after she first began singing publicly in 1958, Joan Baez continues to tour, demonstrate in favor of human rights and nonviolence, and release albums for a world of devoted fans.
1959
Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around
Joan Baez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain't gonna let nobody, turn me around
Keep on a walking, keep on a talking
Gonna build a brand new world
Ain't gonna let the administration turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Keep on a walking, keep on a talking
Gonna build a brand new world
Ain't gonna let no first-strike policy turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain't gonna let no first-strike policy turn me around
Keep on a walking, keep on a talkin
Gonna build a brand new world
Ain't gonna let Indira Gandhi turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain't gonna let Indira Gandhi (how'd she get that name?) 'round
Keep on a walking, keep on a talking
Gonna build a brand new world.
Ain't gonna let that Henry Kissenger turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain't gonna let that killer Kissenger turn me around
Keep on a walking, keep on a-talking
Gonna build a brand new world.
Ain't gonna let nobody, turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain't gonna let nobody, turn me around
Keep on a singing, keep on a swinging
Gonna build a brand new world
Joan Baez’s “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around” is a protest song that embodies the spirit of the civil rights movement. The song was originally a gospel hymn but was adapted with new lyrics and a more upbeat tempo to align with the protests movement of 1960s America. The song is about resistance to oppression and the struggle for freedom.
The repetitive lyrics, “Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around, turn me around, turn me around” represent the determination and refusal to surrender to injustice which is essential to the success of any social justice movement. The song specifically mentions the Nixon administration, first strike policy, Indira Gandhi, and Henry Kissinger. All of these references highlight the injustice and oppression experienced by marginalized groups in America at the time.
In addition, the lyrics, “Keep on a walking, keep on a talking, gonna build a brand new world” highlight the positive and constructive actions required for creating a better future. The song is about the importance of taking a stand against injustice and creating a society that does not tolerate oppression. Ultimately, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around” is a powerful statement of resistance that encourages people to stand firm in the face of injustice and to work towards building a better world.
Line by Line Meaning
Ain't gonna let nobody, turn me around
I will not let anyone hinder my progress or stop me from achieving my goals
Turn me around, turn me around
Repeated for emphasis, emphasizing determination and steadfastness
Ain't gonna let the administration turn me around
Referring to political leaders who may use their power to suppress my voice and freedom
Keep on a walking, keep on a talking
Continue to make progress and communicate without faltering
Gonna build a brand new world
Referring to an inclusive, equitable world that overcomes injustices and oppression
Ain't gonna let no first-strike policy turn me around
Will not be deterred by military or nuclear policies that threaten my existence or safety
Ain't gonna let Indira Gandhi (how'd she get that name?) 'round
Referring to the Indian politician and expressing defiance against her anti-protest stance
Ain't gonna let that killer Kissenger turn me around
Referring to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and branding him as a warmonger and oppressive figure
Keep on a singing, keep on a swinging
Continue to express oneself and fight through adversity with resilience
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Joan Baez
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kenmurphy6792
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Joan Baez raises her voice ...
~~
Shortly after Saigon fell on 30 August 1975 and the last American helicopter
had lifted unceremoniously off the roof of the US Embassy, 100,000 people
filled the Sheep Meadow in New York’s Central Park for a ‘War is Over’ rally.
Pete Seeger, Odetta and Joan Baez were among the performers. The event
was organized by Phil Ochs, writer of ‘Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around' * Joan Baez raises her voice. ~
Shortly after Saigon fell on 30 August 1975 and the last American helicopter
had lifted unceremoniously off the roof of the US Embassy, 100,000 people
filled the Sheep Meadow in New York’s Central Park for a ‘War is Over’ rally.
Pete Seeger, Odetta and Joan Baez were among the performers. The event
was organised by Phil Ochs, writer of ‘There but for fortune, * perhaps the most
compassionate protest song ever written. It was intended as a celebration of
the end of America’s controversial involvement in South-East Asia. Vietnam
had galvanised American youth, had been both fuel for the protest movement
and the glue that held it together. When the war ‘ended’, most of those who’d
sung and spoken so eloquently against its injustices moved on.
One who didn’t was Joan Baez. The singer had served two jail terms for
‘aiding and abetting’ draft resisters and had spent 12 days in Hanoi during
Nixon’s bombardment of the city in December 1972. Baez had accepted an
invitation from the Committee for Solidarity with the American People and
joined a small party that included an Episcopalian minister, a Maoist anti-war
veteran and Columbia law professor, Telford Taylor, an ex-brigadier general
and Nuremburg prosecutor. The Committee’s aim was to maintain friendly
relations with the Vietnamese people even as the United States continued to
burn their villages. In addition to cameras and tape recorders and, in Baez’s
case, a guitar, the group of visitors also carried Christmas mail and gifts for
US PoWs in Hanoi. On their third night in the city, 48 hours after the
breakdown of the Paris peace talks, the first of Nixon’s B52s dropped its
payload. In the days that followed, an estimated 100,000 tons of bombs fell on
Hanoi, according to a military official, ‘the biggest aerial operation in the
history of warfare'. 1
When Baez returned to the United States – her pacifist philosophy unshaken -
she spoke and wrote and sang about her experiences in North Vietnam.
Unlike actress Jane Fonda, who famously posed beside North Vietnamese
guns, Baez did not become a hate figure – in part because Americans were
finally beginning to understand the futility of a far-away war that yielded only
body bags. Perhaps surprisingly, she also undertook a good deal of work with
the veterans whose lives had been torn apart by their experience in the paddy
fields – ‘after all, we paid for their trip over,’ she pointed out, ‘and they’ve paid
for all the years in between’,’ perhaps the most
compassionate protest song ever written. It was intended as a celebration of
the end of America’s controversial involvement in South-East Asia. Vietnam
had galvanised American youth, had been both fuel for the protest movement
and the glue that held it together. When the war ‘ended’, most of those who’d
sung and spoken so eloquently against its injustices moved on.
One who didn’t was Joan Baez. The singer had served two jail terms for
‘aiding and abetting’ draft resisters and had spent 12 days in Hanoi during
Nixon’s bombardment of the city in December 1972. Baez had accepted an
invitation from the Committee for Solidarity with the American People and
joined a small party that included an Episcopalian minister, a Maoist anti-war
veteran and Columbia law professor, Telford Taylor, an ex-brigadier general
and Nuremburg prosecutor. The Committee’s aim was to maintain friendly
relations with the Vietnamese people even as the United States continued to
burn their villages. In addition to cameras and tape recorders and, in Baez’s
case, a guitar, the group of visitors also carried Christmas mail and gifts for
US PoWs in Hanoi. On their third night in the city, 48 hours after the
breakdown of the Paris peace talks, the first of Nixon’s B52s dropped its
payload. In the days that followed, an estimated 100,000 tons of bombs fell on
Hanoi, according to a military official, ‘the biggest aerial operation in the
history of warfare'. ~
When Baez returned to the United States – her pacifist philosophy unshaken -
she spoke and wrote and sang about her experiences in North Vietnam.
Unlike actress Jane Fonda, who famously posed beside North Vietnamese
guns, Baez did not become a hate figure – in part because Americans were
finally beginning to understand the futility of a far-away war that yielded only
body bags. Perhaps surprisingly, she also undertook a good deal of work with
the veterans whose lives had been torn apart by their experience in the paddy
fields – ‘after all, we paid for their trip over,’ she pointed out, ‘and they’ve paid
for all the years in between’ - But, by 1979, she, too, was trying not to think about Vietnam:
Though the massacres in Cambodia were reported by the
conscientious press, little protest was raised against them. The left
wing was reluctant to make an issue of yet another disgrace being
conducted by a ‘revolutionary government’. The right wing didn’t have
much to say except for its usual ‘I told you so’… I had not become
involved… The exodus of boat people into the South China Sea had
begun but was by no means at its peak. ~
Then two Vietnamese who had joined the exodus turned up at a study group
at Baez’s California home to give her a long description of human rights
violations. ‘Where, they asked, were all the Americans who cared so much
about the Vietnamese people in the sixties?’ - So she gathered researchers
from all sides and none. Gradually, the horror stories were verified, and Baez
wrote ‘An Open Letter to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’. - The 81
signatories included few of the left, who turned her down, and the letter ran as
a full-page ad in five major American newspapers. Fonda responded with a
letter acknowledging ‘some degree of repression in Vietnam’ and unwittingly - gave credence to Baez’s findings when she pondered, ‘I don’t know if we can expect the Vietnamese to turn free those
millions of people overnight’ ---
Continued in PDF .. 'Printed Document Form' ~~https://www.folktracks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Joan-Baez-Aint-gonna-let-nobody-turn-me-around.pdf
Phil Ochs - There But For Fortune -------------------------------------->>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lFPIIdud9o
@saijapalmutie9893
Here we have a real WOMEN POWER -excemple let's go for a brand new an caring world❤Thank you Joan for what you are🎉
@khosrow999
Memories
@lindlr
Powerful and timely.
@taddyd1
Powerful pipes, Baby
@kenmurphy6792
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Joan Baez raises her voice ...
~~
Shortly after Saigon fell on 30 August 1975 and the last American helicopter
had lifted unceremoniously off the roof of the US Embassy, 100,000 people
filled the Sheep Meadow in New York’s Central Park for a ‘War is Over’ rally.
Pete Seeger, Odetta and Joan Baez were among the performers. The event
was organized by Phil Ochs, writer of ‘Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around' * Joan Baez raises her voice. ~
Shortly after Saigon fell on 30 August 1975 and the last American helicopter
had lifted unceremoniously off the roof of the US Embassy, 100,000 people
filled the Sheep Meadow in New York’s Central Park for a ‘War is Over’ rally.
Pete Seeger, Odetta and Joan Baez were among the performers. The event
was organised by Phil Ochs, writer of ‘There but for fortune, * perhaps the most
compassionate protest song ever written. It was intended as a celebration of
the end of America’s controversial involvement in South-East Asia. Vietnam
had galvanised American youth, had been both fuel for the protest movement
and the glue that held it together. When the war ‘ended’, most of those who’d
sung and spoken so eloquently against its injustices moved on.
One who didn’t was Joan Baez. The singer had served two jail terms for
‘aiding and abetting’ draft resisters and had spent 12 days in Hanoi during
Nixon’s bombardment of the city in December 1972. Baez had accepted an
invitation from the Committee for Solidarity with the American People and
joined a small party that included an Episcopalian minister, a Maoist anti-war
veteran and Columbia law professor, Telford Taylor, an ex-brigadier general
and Nuremburg prosecutor. The Committee’s aim was to maintain friendly
relations with the Vietnamese people even as the United States continued to
burn their villages. In addition to cameras and tape recorders and, in Baez’s
case, a guitar, the group of visitors also carried Christmas mail and gifts for
US PoWs in Hanoi. On their third night in the city, 48 hours after the
breakdown of the Paris peace talks, the first of Nixon’s B52s dropped its
payload. In the days that followed, an estimated 100,000 tons of bombs fell on
Hanoi, according to a military official, ‘the biggest aerial operation in the
history of warfare'. 1
When Baez returned to the United States – her pacifist philosophy unshaken -
she spoke and wrote and sang about her experiences in North Vietnam.
Unlike actress Jane Fonda, who famously posed beside North Vietnamese
guns, Baez did not become a hate figure – in part because Americans were
finally beginning to understand the futility of a far-away war that yielded only
body bags. Perhaps surprisingly, she also undertook a good deal of work with
the veterans whose lives had been torn apart by their experience in the paddy
fields – ‘after all, we paid for their trip over,’ she pointed out, ‘and they’ve paid
for all the years in between’,’ perhaps the most
compassionate protest song ever written. It was intended as a celebration of
the end of America’s controversial involvement in South-East Asia. Vietnam
had galvanised American youth, had been both fuel for the protest movement
and the glue that held it together. When the war ‘ended’, most of those who’d
sung and spoken so eloquently against its injustices moved on.
One who didn’t was Joan Baez. The singer had served two jail terms for
‘aiding and abetting’ draft resisters and had spent 12 days in Hanoi during
Nixon’s bombardment of the city in December 1972. Baez had accepted an
invitation from the Committee for Solidarity with the American People and
joined a small party that included an Episcopalian minister, a Maoist anti-war
veteran and Columbia law professor, Telford Taylor, an ex-brigadier general
and Nuremburg prosecutor. The Committee’s aim was to maintain friendly
relations with the Vietnamese people even as the United States continued to
burn their villages. In addition to cameras and tape recorders and, in Baez’s
case, a guitar, the group of visitors also carried Christmas mail and gifts for
US PoWs in Hanoi. On their third night in the city, 48 hours after the
breakdown of the Paris peace talks, the first of Nixon’s B52s dropped its
payload. In the days that followed, an estimated 100,000 tons of bombs fell on
Hanoi, according to a military official, ‘the biggest aerial operation in the
history of warfare'. ~
When Baez returned to the United States – her pacifist philosophy unshaken -
she spoke and wrote and sang about her experiences in North Vietnam.
Unlike actress Jane Fonda, who famously posed beside North Vietnamese
guns, Baez did not become a hate figure – in part because Americans were
finally beginning to understand the futility of a far-away war that yielded only
body bags. Perhaps surprisingly, she also undertook a good deal of work with
the veterans whose lives had been torn apart by their experience in the paddy
fields – ‘after all, we paid for their trip over,’ she pointed out, ‘and they’ve paid
for all the years in between’ - But, by 1979, she, too, was trying not to think about Vietnam:
Though the massacres in Cambodia were reported by the
conscientious press, little protest was raised against them. The left
wing was reluctant to make an issue of yet another disgrace being
conducted by a ‘revolutionary government’. The right wing didn’t have
much to say except for its usual ‘I told you so’… I had not become
involved… The exodus of boat people into the South China Sea had
begun but was by no means at its peak. ~
Then two Vietnamese who had joined the exodus turned up at a study group
at Baez’s California home to give her a long description of human rights
violations. ‘Where, they asked, were all the Americans who cared so much
about the Vietnamese people in the sixties?’ - So she gathered researchers
from all sides and none. Gradually, the horror stories were verified, and Baez
wrote ‘An Open Letter to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’. - The 81
signatories included few of the left, who turned her down, and the letter ran as
a full-page ad in five major American newspapers. Fonda responded with a
letter acknowledging ‘some degree of repression in Vietnam’ and unwittingly - gave credence to Baez’s findings when she pondered, ‘I don’t know if we can expect the Vietnamese to turn free those
millions of people overnight’ ---
Continued in PDF .. 'Printed Document Form' ~~https://www.folktracks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Joan-Baez-Aint-gonna-let-nobody-turn-me-around.pdf
Phil Ochs - There But For Fortune -------------------------------------->>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lFPIIdud9o
@gabdilworth2481
What a truly amazing woman
@oliviabaez1661
Gab Dilworth she speaks all Spanish
@glenperry5689
"Going to build a brand new world" Happy International Working Womens Day!
@jbcrimmins
Talkin' to you #IMPOTUS
@mikegruber172
Love it