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
Still Waters At Night
Joan Baez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Still waters at night
In the darkest of dark
But you rise as white
As the birch tree's bark
Or a pale wolf in winter
You look down and shiver
Your eyes are as black
As the blackness you're fearing
And yonder a bridge
And a voice within hearing
Come walk on me softly
Look down and you'll see
Still waters at night
You've reason to fear
There is no protection
But a garland of emeralds
And a moonlit reflection
Of a boat in the distance
Will the devil take his chance
At still waters at night
So dance me a small dance
And the night cannot hurt you
Nor the waters be silent
Nor the emeralds desert you
For the boat's full of bright scarves
And wild hats among them
Songs of the vagabond
It's to you he has sung them
And shattered the silence
Of still waters at night
© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)
Joan Baez's song Still Waters at Night is a hauntingly beautiful ode to the mystery and fear of the dark. The first verse sets the scene with a serene image of still waters at night, but the second line hints at danger with the phrase "darkest of dark." The imagery of the singer rising as white as the birch tree's bark or a pale wolf in winter is both eerie and enchanting. The third line, "Or a pale wolf in winter," also carries a dual meaning, as wolves can be both beautiful and dangerous, just like the night.
The second verse introduces the idea of fear as the singer's eyes are as black as the blackness they are fearing. The mention of a bridge and a voice within hearing creates a sense of uncertainty and vulnerability. The third and final verse provides some relief from the fear, as the singer is instructed to dance a small dance, which will make the night unable to hurt them. The boat in the distance is full of bright scarfs and wild hats, and the songs of the vagabond shatter the silence of the still waters at night.
The song's lyrics create a beautiful and evocative picture of the dark, with its mix of beauty and danger. The use of imagery and metaphor throughout the song gives it a dreamlike quality, which heightens the sense of mystery and otherness that is so central to the theme of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Still waters at night
Calm water during the night time
In the darkest of dark
During the time of the darkest of dark nights
But you rise as white
You rise, or appear, white
As the birch tree's bark
White as the bark of a birch tree
Or a pale wolf in winter
Also white like a pale wolf in winter
You look down and shiver
You feel nervous as you look down
At still waters at night
At the calm water in the night
Your eyes are as black
Your eyes are as dark as the darkness around you
As the blackness you're fearing
They reflect or represent your fear of the darkness
And yonder a bridge
There is a bridge in the distance
And a voice within hearing
You can hear a voice nearby
Come walk on me softly
Walk quietly on the bridge
Look down and you'll see
If you look down, you'll see
Still waters at night
Calm water during the night time
You've reason to fear
You have a good reason to be afraid
There is no protection
There is nothing that can keep you completely safe
But a garland of emeralds
Except for a garland made of emeralds
And a moonlit reflection
And the reflection from the moonlight
Of a boat in the distance
On a boat that's far away
Will the devil take his chance
The devil may attempt to take advantage
At still waters at night
Calm water during the night time
So dance me a small dance
Let's dance a small dance
And the night cannot hurt you
The night won't be able to harm you
Nor the waters be silent
The water won't be completely still
Nor the emeralds desert you
The emeralds won't leave you
For the boat's full of bright scarves
The boat is carrying many brightly colored scarves
And wild hats among them
And there are wild hats mixed in with the scarves
Songs of the vagabond
The songs of a wandering person
It's to you he has sung them
Those songs were sung to you
And shattered the silence
And broke the quietness
Of still waters at night
Calm water during the night time
Lyrics © GABRIEL EARL MUSIC
Written by: JOAN C. 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