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
Sweet Sir Galahad
Joan Baez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Came in through the window
In the night when
The moon was in the yard.
He took her hand in his
And shook the long hair
From his neck and he told her
She'd been working much too hard.
Her crazy man had passed away
To the land of poet's pride,
She laughed and talked a lot
With new people on the block
But always at evening time she cried.
And here's to the dawn of their days.
She moved her head
A little down on the bed
Until it rested softly on his knee.
And there she dropped her smile
And there she sighed awhile,
And told him all the sadness
Of those years that numbered three.
Well you know I think my fate's belated
Because of all the hours I waited
For the day when I'd no longer cry.
I get myself to work by eight
But oh, was I born too late,
And do you think I'll fail
At every single thing I try?
And here's to the dawn of their days.
He just put his arm around her
And that's the way I found her
Eight months later to the day.
The lines of a smile erased
The tear tracks upon her face,
A smile could linger, even stay.
Sweet Sir Galahad went down
With his gay bride of flowers,
The prince of the hours
Of her lifetime.
And here's to the dawn
Of their days,
Of their days.
The song Sweet Sir Galahad by Joan Baez is a beautiful tale about a woman who meets a man named Sir Galahad, who takes care of her and helps her through her sadness. The woman had previously lost her lover and since then, she would laugh in the day, but cry every evening. One night, Sir Galahad entered her life through the window, and took her hand in his. He shook the long hair from his neck and told her she had been working too hard. After this, they both talk together and he listens to her sadness and grief for hours.
The first paragraph focuses primarily on Sweet Sir Galahad's entry into the woman's life and how he helps her through her daily struggles. He takes care of her, listens to her woes, and provides her with the companionship that she had been missing. In the second paragraph, the woman opens up about her sadness and how she has been waiting for a day when she won't have to cry. Sweet Sir Galahad comforted her and eventually becomes her partner. The last paragraph describes the end of the tale, with Sweet Sir Galahad and the woman getting married and starting a new life together. The story of Sweet Sir Galahad is a beautiful reminder to the listeners that there is always hope and that love can come in unexpected forms.
Line by Line Meaning
Sweet Sir Galahad
The man named Sweet Sir Galahad is the subject of this song.
Came in through the window
Sweet Sir Galahad entered the room through an open window.
In the night when The moon was in the yard.
This event happened late at night when the moon was visible outside.
He took her hand in his
Sweet Sir Galahad held the woman's hand tightly in his own.
And shook the long hair From his neck and he told her She'd been working much too hard.
He noticed how hard she had been working and felt she needed a break.
It was true that ever since the day Her crazy man had passed away To the land of poet's pride, She laughed and talked a lot With new people on the block But always at evening time she cried.
The woman had been struggling since her partner's death, often crying in private despite putting on a happy face in public.
And here's to the dawn of their days.
This statement cheers on the start of their relationship and their future together.
She moved her head A little down on the bed Until it rested softly on his knee.
The woman rested her head on Sweet Sir Galahad's knee.
And there she dropped her smile And there she sighed awhile, And told him all the sadness Of those years that numbered three.
She opened up to him about her past three years of struggling and sadness that she had kept bottled up until now.
Well you know I think my fate's belated Because of all the hours I waited For the day when I'd no longer cry. I get myself to work by eight But oh, was I born too late, And do you think I'll fail At every single thing I try?
The woman admits to feeling as though she has wasted time waiting to feel better and now doubts her abilities.
And here's to the dawn of their days.
This line repeats as encouragement for their future together.
He just put his arm around her And that's the way I found her Eight months later to the day.
Sweet Sir Galahad comforted her and they were found in the same position eight months later.
The lines of a smile erased The tear tracks upon her face, A smile could linger, even stay.
Sweet Sir Galahad managed to make the woman happy enough to stop crying and even smile.
Sweet Sir Galahad went down With his gay bride of flowers, The prince of the hours Of her lifetime.
Sweet Sir Galahad remained by her side and became a cherished figure in the woman's life.
And here's to the dawn Of their days, Of their days.
This phrase repeats again, celebrating the beginning of their future together.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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