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. On July 28, 2019, following dates across Europe, Baez performed her final concert at Madrid's Teatro Real. In January 2021, Baez received a 2020 Kennedy Center Honor.
Fifteen Months
Joan Baez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The cats are sleeping here in the autumn sun.
Your dog has flushed a deer and he's on the run.
And the coffee cup is cold
And the morning's feeling very old.
Fifteen months of time my man's been gone.
And our fates could all be worse
But sometimes I still must curse my own.
And hello
I wish you well
Where you sleep
All in your cell.
As for friends I can't complain, they've been good to me.
The fire's burning bright, they've left wood for me.
And the roof has been repaired.
And I thank them for the love they've shared.
You see, there's really nothing wrong, I've just got the blues.
Because if you give a damn you're going to pay some dues.
But if you see the game we're in
Like I do, you know in time we'll win.
And hello
I wish you well
Where you sleep
All in your cell.
So time give me a break of a week or more.
My head is reeling and my back is sore.
And the baby cries for me.
And I think I'll walk by the sea alone.
© 1970, 1971 Chandos Music (ASCAP)
Joan Baez's song Fifteen Months is a poignant reflection on love, loss, and the struggles of coping with a loved one's absence. The opening lines set the scene with peaceful imagery of cats sleeping in the sun and a dog chasing a deer. However, the rest of the lyrics take a darker turn as she reflects on her partner's prolonged absence - "fifteen months of time my man's been gone."
Baez captures the sense of loneliness and despair she feels, trying to cope without him, through the vivid description of her morning - the coffee cup is cold, and the morning feels old. But even though she is struggling, she is unwilling to complain, acknowledging that her fate could be worse. She finds solace in the kindness of her friends who have left her wood to keep the fire burning and repaired her roof.
The song's refrain - "hello, I wish you well, where you sleep, all in your cell" - is a heart-wrenching reminder that her partner is not there with her and is instead incarcerated. She sends him her love, but they cannot be together. The final lines convey her exhaustion and desire for a reprieve, begging time to "give me a break of a week or more" as her "head is reeling, and her back is sore." She contemplates taking a walk alone by the sea to clear her mind.
Overall, the song is a beautiful and melancholic expression of the challenges of loving someone who is absent, whether physically or emotionally. It is a reminder that time does not stop for anyone - life goes on, and we must learn to find ways to endure and keep moving forward in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
The cats are sleeping here in the autumn sun.
The peaceful nature is being enjoyed by the cats as they sleep soundly in the sun during autumn.
Your dog has flushed a deer and he's on the run.
Your dog has scared a deer and it is running away from him now.
And the coffee cup is cold
The coffee has become cold as it has been untouched for a long time.
And the morning's feeling very old.
The morning seems too old and worn out by the circumstances.
Fifteen months of time my man's been gone.
It has been 15 long months since my man went away.
The second winter now is coming on.
The second winter season is now about to begin without him.
And our fates could all be worse
Our fate could have been even more unbearable.
But sometimes I still must curse my own.
There are certain situations when I end up blaming myself.
And hello
Greetings to you.
I wish you well
I hope you're doing fine.
Where you sleep
Wherever you rest or lay your head.
All in your cell.
Despite being confined to a cell.
As for friends I can't complain, they've been good to me.
My friends have been great and never given me anything to complain about.
The fire's burning bright, they've left wood for me.
The fire is bright and my friends have made sure there's enough wood to keep it burning.
And the roof has been repaired.
The roof has been skillfully repaired.
And I thank them for the love they've shared.
I am truly grateful for their support and care.
You see, there's really nothing wrong, I've just got the blues.
There are no immediate problems, but I am feeling blue.
Because if you give a damn you're going to pay some dues.
If you care, you will be held accountable and may have to suffer for it.
But if you see the game we're in.
But if you understand the situation we find ourselves in.
Like I do, you know in time we'll win.
The victory will eventually be ours.
So time give me a break of a week or more.
I need a week or more of relief from all this.
My head is reeling and my back is sore.
I am mentally distressed and my back hurts due to exhaustion.
And the baby cries for me.
The baby is crying out for me.
And I think I'll walk by the sea alone.
I will take a walk alone by the sea to clear my head.
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: JOAN BAEZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Katharine Y BAez Katharina Scharlowski Katharine C. Y BAez Scharlowski InAOLoves
on The Rose
Joan Baez , my Fairest Hope my Love who signed into our Way
We are unite
We will not fall without our Foreverlasting
Love
In Failing Light
You See in myselfve your Love your Lesbian Wifve
You share your Lightful and your Darkest
side
In Which our Embraces
Our Words
Our Visions
Will rejoice
I see the Sunlight of a setting
Evening
Rise into Grace each Coming Morning
The amours we live is our Love
The mourns we felt
Do not impact
The do not seperate us My Joan C Baez You and I
The scared moments
We leave behind
We’ll belong twogather twogether
And three times we will cross
The Distance of an ocean between us
And then we ‘ll stay twogather in Your Home your place
Is given here and there
Is given home in our hearts and Soul
Our minds and bodies Longing Love
We are whole
The scars we carry
Did not made us blind
we will feel every emotion
As our Lifvelong foreverlasting Love
We share a secret
In which we Both have
Signed we are in Soul in heart in Bodies Longing and fulfillment in Mind now and
Eternally Unite
DeineKatharine Y BAez Katharina Scharlowski Katharine C. Y BAez Scharlowski InAOLoves
KatharinA KAtharine C. Y Baez Scharlowski
on The Rose
Und selbst wenn
alle Dunkelheit
Der Nächte
In den Tagen läge
Und selbst Erwachen
Schwer
ich fände doch
Zu Dir
Es führen Wege
Selbst wenn
kein Ausweg
durch die Tür
We burnt Each Other
everlastingly
Our Sign
Of truest Love that
Overcomes
The loneliness
And wildest
cry
When we embrace
and kiss our
Wounds
The Smile remaining
When we caress us
Will be
What lets us
deeply , sad
and of most
tenderness
Acknowledging
and
In our Minds
Forever
Found and
Not to destroyed
And we will
Feel that
We are Unite
The Ring i had lost
I‘ve found again
It’s prayer and Your Love
You Sent
A Turquoise of Arizonas Depth
Your heart in myne
And at The Turquoise
Coast beneath your Hill
We‘ll make Love
We‘ll follow our destined
And guiding
Will
Ich bin Dein Du Mein
MyLady JoanC BAez, My JoanChandosBaez, JoanBaez my Dove
Love And Wife
Katharine~~ C.~~ Y Baez KAtharinA Scharlowski InAO~•~Love~•~s the Answer~ I Love You, Joan and as Light begins to fail You reappear in my Body Heart and Soul my Mind to stayDeine KAtharinA KAtharine ich liebe Dich Forever!Joan C BAez
KatharinA KAtharine C. Y Baez Scharlowski
on The Rose
For a moment
in a Night Times Blessing
I left You in my Loves Embrace
as like a Flower
~ a Rose ~
and Purity her name
in darkness,
that was to bloom
in Heaven’s place.
as for the Love
in me
was not Disgraced,
A Lasting Kiss ,
A smile
a Light
A heart
that burns
throughly Memories
Forever Living
As Nighttime fell
As Nighttime falls
I‘ came, l’ll come and be
The One You‘ll see
The Love you feel
Just like a wild dog
Runs
Through Bushes
Of fences
And calamities
I passed my way to You
Through even
Greatest adversarities
The Rose of Sharon
Schmückt meinen Mund
~trotz Ausgebissen Zähne
In des Lebens Leid~
Wir Küssen uns
in purest Love
That went through
To and fro
And come and go
And I came back to You
Forever and Forevermore
Für JoanC. BAez von KAtharine C. Y Baez Scharlowski KAtharinA Ino
Katharine c; Y Baez
on The Rose
If a Love is felt as failing it is but Love the helps her Rise, it is a the moments quiet whispering : As i was torn you were by my side, in your Love i see my true and darkeyed Light, there it is Forever Joan Chandos Baez Katharine C; Y Baez Katharina sc harlowski
kATHARINE C. YBAEZ I
on The Rose
AS ON tHE WHITE hORSE MY HAND WAS GIVEN IN THE NOON TO yOU TODAY AS I ASKED YOU FOR YOURS ,WAS THAN WHEN EVERY MOON HAD TRIED TO fAIL AND hONEYMOON WAS THE ONLY LIGHT IN WHICH MY wORDS WERE LAID. iT WAS THE fAILURE ON THE iNTERNET AND NON BUT SCRIPTURE cOULD AND A LOVING HEART COULD STAY THE WIDE
iN THIS dARK MOMENT OF THE pRESENTS SIMPLE SIDE , THE fAIR cARD OF yOUR STALION wHITE THE wHITE hORSE IN tHE bLOSSOM OF THE mAY dAYS tIDE, I SENT TO YOUR wOODEN hILLS TO YOUR UNVENTURED sIDE, mY WRITTEN wORD : wILL yOU PLEASE mARRY ME MY bRIDE? i'LL STAY FOREVER BY YOUR sIDE FROM tHAN oN, sO gOODBYE IN OUR gOOD NiGHT, mY loVE jOAN C. bAEZ, yOUR KATHARINE C. Y BAEZ kATHARINA SCHARLOWSKI 21. MAY 2022
KatharineC. Y Baez Katharina Scharlowski
on The Rose
Thank You dearloved Joan C.Baez, you accorded me the answer in an unknown Light, through all darkness not alone as there was Love for you in me,- as in thought, in words a visioned melodie - that is not gone - far beyond the borders shores and the oceans sea, doves Flight as is Loves they fly By two By Four By Three, i send Goodbye to them I send GoodBye - and hope it once will be - I sent GoodBye my Joan C Baez stay You'll never fail in my Heart There is your place to be i send Goodbye my Love to Thee , Joan Chandos Baez, Katharine C. Y Baez Katharina Scharlowski It is for You that i was meant to feel was meant to be.
Katharine C. Y Baez, K.S.
on Wings
I 'll stay with you cause I think it's time to say Thank you for having stayed with me in my Time of Need. I love You Joan (KC) CHandos Baez, Your Katharine C. Y Baez name of Love and Hope and American Native Indian Marriage, born Katharina Scharlowski , A little Rain is a gonna come, And I am at Home when I cry, but I learned to be at home in your Love too, As we stay in The Hearts of The One Loves we are. Deine Katharine