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
Mercy Bound
Joan Baez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To the sound of a voice that was almost a scream
Oh oh oh
From out of the city and out of the street
Out where the wind hits the cold concrete
Oh oh oh
It's cold outside
No place to hide
The voice said this to me
In your doorways I have shivered
In your alleys I have gone to ground
But I will be delivered
Someday I will be mercy bound
I dreamed again it was west L.A.
On a crowded street on a hot summer day
She was alone
Three months late and beginning to show
In a midriff blouse she would soon outgrow
She had no one to call
And no way home
And in my mind
I knew I'd seen myself
But in our blindness
It always seems like someone else
There I was a rag a bone
A remnant in your lost and found
I was for once truly alone
Longing to be mercy bound
And I knew that I would wander as child in the forest
Till they found me
And I called out to them but I could not penetrate the silence
All around me
And when I wake I know you'll comfort me
And I won't sleep again for an eternity
But others lie awake at night
In desperation more profound
And the coming of the morning light
Will not see them mercy bound
And some will never dream again
From sleeping on the ground
Just longing to belong
And dying to be mercy bound
Oh please don't stop your dreaming
Someday we'll all be mercy bound
"Mercy Bound" is a powerful and thought-provoking song by Joan Baez that portrays the plight of the homeless and the poor in society. The lyrics describe two dreams that Baez has had. In the first, she hears a voice that tells her how difficult it is for people who live on the streets with no place to hide from the cold and the darkness. They have to take shelter in doorways and alleys, struggling to survive. However, the voice gives an assurance that someday they will be delivered, that they will be shown mercy.
In the second dream, Baez portrays herself as a pregnant woman who is alone on a hot crowded street in West L.A. She has no one to call and no way to get home. Baez seems to be empathizing with the woman's pain and suffering, and she imagines her own self in her. She then reflects on how she and others like her can be rescued if they are shown mercy.
Throughout the song, Baez seems to be calling out to people to not forget those who are struggling to survive in the world. She wants people to dream that someday everyone will be shown mercy, that no one will have to live on the streets or go hungry. The song is a plea for compassion and humanity towards those who may have fallen on hard times.
Line by Line Meaning
Late last night I awoke in a dream
I woke up from a dream late last night
To the sound of a voice that was almost a scream
The voice I heard was almost a scream
From out of the city and out of the street
The voice's origin was from the city and the street
Out where the wind hits the cold concrete
The voice was coming from a place where the wind hits the cold concrete
It's cold outside
The outside environment is cold
Darkness your enemy
The darkness is your enemy
No place to hide
There's no place to hide
The voice said this to me
The voice spoke these words to me
In your doorways I have shivered
I have shivered in your doorways
In your alleys I have gone to ground
I have sought refuge in your alleys
But I will be delivered
I will be rescued
Someday I will be mercy bound
I will be redeemed someday
I dreamed again it was west L.A.
I had another dream that was set in West L.A.
On a crowded street on a hot summer day
It was a hot summer day with a lot of people on the street
She was alone
She was by herself
Three months late and beginning to show
She was three months late in pregnancy and starting to show
In a midriff blouse she would soon outgrow
She was wearing a midriff blouse that she would eventually outgrow
She had no one to call
She had nobody to call for help
And no way home
She had no means to go back home
And in my mind
In my thoughts
I knew I'd seen myself
I recognized myself in her situation
But in our blindness
Due to our ignorance
It always seems like someone else
It appears like it's happening to someone else
There I was a rag a bone
I was a poor and broken person
A remnant in your lost and found
A leftover item in your lost and found
I was for once truly alone
I was completely alone for once
Longing to be mercy bound
I yearned to be rescued and redeemed
And I knew that I would wander as child in the forest
I had a premonition that I would be lost like a child in the forest
Till they found me
Until someone rescued me
And I called out to them but I could not penetrate the silence
I cried out for help but nobody heard me
All around me
Everything around me was silent
And when I wake I know you'll comfort me
I believe you'll comfort me when I wake up
And I won't sleep again for an eternity
I won't sleep again for a long time
But others lie awake at night
But other people stay awake at night
In desperation more profound
In a more intense state of hopelessness
And the coming of the morning light
When the morning comes
Will not see them mercy bound
They won't be rescued and redeemed
And some will never dream again
Some people will stop having dreams
From sleeping on the ground
Due to sleeping on the floor
Just longing to belong
They only wish to belong somewhere
And dying to be mercy bound
They're desperately hoping to be rescued and redeemed
Oh please don't stop your dreaming
Please never stop dreaming
Someday we'll all be mercy bound
Someday we will all be saved and redeemed
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MARK D. ADDISON
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