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
Lady Mary
Joan Baez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He came to my cottage door
His words were few but his looks
Will linger for evermore
The look in his sad dark eyes
More tender than words could be
But I was nothing to him
And he was the world to me.
There in her garden she stands
All dressed in fine satin and lace
Lady Mary so cold and so strange
In her heart she could find no place.
He knew I would be his bride
With a kiss for a lifetime fee
But I was nothing to him
And he was the world to me.
Now in his palace grand
On a flower strewn bed he lies
His beautiful lids are closed
On his sad dark beautiful eyes
And among the mourners who mourn
Why should I a mourner be
For I was nothing to him
And he was the world to me.
For I was nothing to him
And he was the world to me.
The song Lady Mary by Joan Baez is a tragic tale of unrequited love. It tells the story of Lady Mary, who is visited by a man from a palace, who she falls deeply in love with. Although his words were few, his sad dark eyes showed a tenderness beyond words. Lady Mary longs for him, but he considers her nothing more than a passing fancy. Despite this, Lady Mary remains enchanted by him, even as he leaves her and returns to his palace.
The second verse of the song shows Lady Mary continuing to long for the man who broke her heart. She dresses in fine satin and lace but feels cold and strange in her heart. The man, however, knew that Lady Mary would be his bride and offered her a kiss for a lifetime fee, but he never truly reciprocated her love.
The final verse of the song shows the man lying on a flower strewn bed with mourners all around him. Lady Mary mourns his death, but she continues to feel the sting of unrequited love. The song ends with the haunting refrain “For I was nothing to him and he was the world to me,” showing the depth of Lady Mary’s heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
He came from his palace grand
A man of noble birth visited me in my humble home.
He came to my cottage door
He sought me out and arrived at my doorstep.
His words were few but his looks
Will linger for evermore
Although he spoke little, the impression he left upon me will last a lifetime.
The look in his sad dark eyes
More tender than words could be
The expression in his mournful eyes conveyed more emotion than any language could express.
But I was nothing to him
And he was the world to me.
Even though I longed for him deeply, he did not reciprocate my affections and I was unimportant to him.
There in her garden she stands
All dressed in fine satin and lace
Lady Mary stands in her luxurious garden wearing exquisite clothing.
Lady Mary so cold and so strange
In her heart she could find no place.
Lady Mary was distant and aloof, incapable of finding love in her heart.
He knew I would be his bride
With a kiss for a lifetime fee
Despite his lack of true love for me, he knew I would marry him and he would have possession of me forever with a single kiss.
Now in his palace grand
On a flower strewn bed he lies
The once great man now lies in state, surrounded by flowers and in his grand palace.
His beautiful lids are closed
On his sad dark beautiful eyes
His beautiful, mournful eyes are now closed forever.
And among the mourners who mourn
Why should I a mourner be
Although many are mourning his passing, I do not feel the need to do so.
For I was nothing to him
And he was the world to me.
Once again, I acknowledge that although he did not return my feelings, he was the world to me and always will be.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@willliamking8212
Who is the cold,strange Lady Mary? Is it the singer herself?
@sandymorrison5519
Sorry to disappoint you, but Lady Mary is a figment of someone's imagination. There has been extensive discussion of the song on the Mudcat Cafe forum, over some years. Eventually someone found the original, a poem published in 1871 which doesn't actually mention Lady Mary; though so much of the text is similar/identical it's clearly the source.
More interesting to me is that Joan Baez omits the very powerful final verse:
And how will it be with our souls When we meet in that spirit land
What the human heart never knows Will the spirit then understand
Or in some celestial form Must our sorrows repeated be
Will I still be nothing to him, While he dims heaven for me?