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.
The Walls of Redwing
Joan Baez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm sailin' away in the mornin'
Is there something I can send you from across the sea,
From the place where I'll be landin'?
No, there's nothing you can bring me my own true love.
There's nothing I wish to be ownin'.
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled
Well I just though you might want something fine
made of silver or of golden
either from the mountains of Madrid
or the coast of Barcelona.
If I had the stars from the darkest night
and the diamonds from the deepest ocean,
I'd foresake them all for your sweet kiss,
for that's all I'm wishin' to be ownin'
That I might be gone a long old time,
and it's only that I'm askin'.
Is there something I can give you to remember me by,
To make your time more easy passin'?
Oh how can, how can you ask me again?
It only brings me sorrow.
For the same thing that I want from you today
I would want again tomorrow.
Well I got a letter on a lonesome day.
It was from her ship a'sailin'.
Sayin' "I don't know when I'll be comin' back again.
It depends on how I'm feelin'."
Well if you my love must think that a'way
I'm sure your mind is a'roamin'.
I'm sure your heart is not with me
but with the country where you're goin'.
So take heed, take heed of the Western wind.
Take heed of the stormy weather.
And yes, there's something you can send back to me;
SPANISH BOOTS OF SPANISH LEATHER.
The lyrics to Joan Baez's song "Boots of Spanish Leather" can be interpreted in a number of ways, but at its core, the song is a dialogue between two lovers who are separated by distance. The singer in the song is sailing away in the morning and the other person asks if there's something they can send to her. However, she says that there's nothing she wants to own but for her lover to come back unspoiled from across the ocean. The lover tries to convince her that there must be something that she could want, perhaps something fine made of silver or golden from the mountains of Madrid or the coast of Barcelona. He even offers to forsake the stars and the diamonds for her sweet kiss, but the lover insists that all she wants is him.
The lover then becomes emotional realizing that she might be gone for a long time and asks if there's something he can give her to remember him by. But the lover doesn't want anything materialistic and asks how can he ask her for something to make it easier for him to watch her leave. She points out that she would want the same thing he desires today again tomorrow. The song ends with the lover receiving a letter from his love, who is still uncertain about when she'll come back, and he suggests that she take heed of the western wind and stormy weather. She can send something back to him though - Spanish boots of Spanish leather.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I'm sailin away my own true love.
I'm leaving my beloved behind and sailing away.
I'm sailin' away in the mornin'
I'll be making my journey in the morning.
Is there something I can send you from across the sea,
Can I bring you a gift or souvenir from my travels?
From the place where I'll be landin'?
From the destination where I will arrive.
No, there's nothing you can bring me my own true love.
There is nothing material that I desire from you.
There's nothing I wish to be ownin'.
I don't require any possessions from you to feel loved.
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled
Come back to me pure and untainted.
from across that lonesome ocean.
From the far-off and lonely sea that separates us.
Well I just though you might want something fine
I thought you might desire a fancy or exquisite item.
made of silver or of golden
Something crafted out of silver or gold.
either from the mountains of Madrid
From the mountainous regions of Madrid.
or the coast of Barcelona.
Or the coast of the city of Barcelona.
If I had the stars from the darkest night
Even if I possessed the stars from the blackest night sky,
and the diamonds from the deepest ocean,
And the rarest diamonds from the bottom of the ocean,
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss,
I would leave all these treasures for just one kiss from you,
for that's all I'm wishin' to be ownin'
Because what I really want is just you and your love.
That I might be gone a long old time,
I may be absent for a very long time,
and it's only that I'm askin'.
I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do for you before I leave.
Is there something I can give you to remember me by,
Can I offer you a keepsake to hold onto while I'm gone?
To make your time more easy passin'?
To make the time of my absence pass easily for you.
Oh how can, how can you ask me again?
How could you ask me that question again?
It only brings me sorrow.
It only makes me sad to think about it.
For the same thing that I want from you today
Because I want the same thing from you today
I would want again tomorrow.
That I will want again from you tomorrow.
Well I got a letter on a lonesome day.
I received a letter on a day when I was feeling lonely.
It was from her ship a'sailin'.
The message was from the ship on which she was sailing.
Sayin' "I don't know when I'll be comin' back again.
The letter stated that she didn't know when she would return.
It depends on how I'm feelin'."
Her return was contingent on her emotional state.
Well if you my love must think that a'way
Well, if you really think in that manner, my love
I'm sure your mind is a'roamin'.
I'm certain that your mind is wandering elsewhere.
I'm sure your heart is not with me
I believe that your heart is not with me
but with the country where you're goin'.
But rather with the place where you are heading.
So take heed, take heed of the Western wind.
Be mindful of the wind coming from the West.
Take heed of the stormy weather.
Be aware of the turbulent weather.
And yes, there's something you can send back to me;
And indeed, there is something you can send to me;
Spanish boots of Spanish leather.
Leather boots made in Spain that you can send to me.
Contributed by Mackenzie A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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