Though born in Seattle, Washington (where she spent the first ten years of her life), she moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1949. As a child Collins studied classical piano with Antonia Brico, making her public debut at age 13 performing Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos. It was the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and the traditional songs of the folk revival of the early 1960s, that piqued Collins' interest and awoke in her a love of lyrics. Three years after her debut as a piano prodigy, she was playing guitar. She eventually made her way to Greenwich Village, New York City, where she busked and played in clubs until she signed with Elektra Records, a record label with which she was associated for 35 years. In 1961, Collins released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, at the age of 22.
At first she sang traditional folk songs, or songs written by others, in particular the social poets of the time, such as Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, and Bob Dylan. She recorded her own versions of seminal songs of the period, such as Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn". Collins was also instrumental in bringing then little known composers to a wider public; for example, she recorded songs by Canadian poet Leonard Cohen, and Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.
With her 1967 album Wildflowers, she began to record her own compositions, the first of which was entitled "Since You've Asked". This album also provided Collins with a major hit, and a Grammy award, with her version of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now", which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1968's Who Knows Where the Time Goes was produced by Stephen Stills (of Crosby, Stills & Nash), with whom Collins was romantically involved at the time (she is the "Judy" of the Stills-written CSN classic "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"). It had a mellow country sound, and included Ian Tyson's "Someday Soon" and the title track, a Sandy Denny song which has been covered by several artists.
By the 1970s, Collins had a solid reputation as an art song singer and folksinger. She had also begun to stand out with her own compositions. She was also known for her broad range of material: her songs from this period include the traditional gospel song "Amazing Grace", the Stephen Sondheim Broadway ballad "Send in the Clowns" (both of which were top 20 hits as singles), and her own compositions such as "My Father" and "Born to the Breed".
In 1979 she posed nude on the album "Hard Times For Lovers".
In more recent years, Collins has taken to writing, producing a memoir, "Trust Your Heart" in 1987, and two novels. Though her record sales are not what they once were, she still records and tours. One of her more recent albums is a collection of songs based on her novel Shameless. She performed at US President Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993, singing "Amazing Grace" and "Chelsea Morning". (The Clintons have stated that their daughter Chelsea was named after Collins' recording of the Joni Mitchell song.)
Activism
Like other folk singers of her generation, Collins was drawn to social activism. She is a representative for UNICEF and campaigns on behalf of the abolition of landmines. Following the 1992 death of her son Clark Taylor at age 33 after a long bout with depression and substance abuse, she has also become a strong advocate of suicide prevention. Her 2003 book, Sanity & Grace, chronicles her recovery from her son's suicide and attempts to provide some comfort and guidance to other families dealing with the loss of a loved one to suicide. She describes the "Seven T's" as a means for going through this process of recovery: Truth, Therapy, Trust, Try, Treat, Treasure, and Thrive. The Truth is that there should be no guilt in suicide; Therapy helps people express their emotions and seek grief counseling; Trust is the effort to believe that one can make it through the loss and keep a belief in life and in the future; Try means to stay away from drugs and alcohol or any excess--including overeating--as a means to deal with the loss and pain; Treat means to take care of the mind, body, and spirit with exercise and meditation; Treasure means to keep the memory of the moments to be treasured, and for this Collins recommends writing and keeping a journal; and Thrive means to be positive, hopeful, open to love and others, and continuing to know that you can rebuild your life on a basis of hope.
Awards and recognition
Grammy Award, Best Folk Performance or Folk Recording, "Both Sides Now", 1968
Grammy Award, Song of the Year, "Send in the Clowns", 1975
Nominated with Jill Godmillow for an Academy Award for the documentary "Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman" (1975), about her classical piano instructor, conductor Antonia Brico.
Discography
Maid of Constant Sorrow (1961)
The Golden Apples of the Sun (1962)
Judy Collins #3 (1964)
The Judy Collins Concert (1964)
Judy Collins' Fifth Album (1965)
In My Life (1966)
Wildflowers (1967)
Who Knows Where The Time Goes? (1968)
Whales and Nightingales (1970)
Both Sides Now (1971)
Living (1971) (Live)
Colors of the Day (1972) (Greatest Hits)
True Stories, and Other Dreams (1973)
Judith (1975)
Bread and Roses (1976)
So Early in the Spring (1977) (15th anniversary collection)
Hard Times for Lovers (1979)
Running for My Life (1980)
Times of Our Lives (1982)
Home Again (1984)
Trust Your Heart (1987)
The Stars Of Christmas (Selected Especially For Avon) (1988)
Sanity and Grace (1989)
Fires of Eden (1990)
Baby's Bedtime (1990)
Baby's Morningtime (1990)
Judy Sings Dylan... Just Like a Woman (1993)
Come Rejoice! A Judy Collins Christmas (1994)
Shameless (1994)
Voices (1995)
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate (1997)
Forever: An Anthology (1997)
Both Sides Now (1998)
Classic Broadway (1999)
All on a Wintry Night (2000)
Judy Collins Live at Wolf Trap (2000)
Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy (2004)
The Essential Judy Collins (2004)
Portrait of an American Girl (2006)
Videography
Baby's Bedtime (1992)
Baby's Morningtime (1992)
Junior playing the operator of a home for unwed mothers opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate (1998)
The Best of Judy Collins (1999)
Intimate Portrait: Judy Collins (2000)
Judy Collins Live at Wolf Trap (2003)
Wildflower Festival (2003) (DVD with guest artists Eric Andersen, Arlo Guthrie, and Tom Rush)
Bibliography
Trust Your Heart (1987)
Amazing Grace (1991)
Sanity and Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival and Strength (2003)
La colombe
Judy Collins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To kill and to be killed and waiting by this train?
Why the orders loud and hoarse, why the engine's groaning cough
As it strains to drag us off into the holocaust?
Why crowds who sing and cry, and shout and fling us flowers
And trade their right for ours to murder and to die?
The dove has torn her wings so no more songs of love
Why has this moment come when childhood has to die
When hope shrinks to a sigh and speech into a drum?
Why are they pale and still, young boys trained overnight
Conscripts forced to fight and dressed in gray to kill?
These rain clouds massing tight, this train load battle bound
This moving burial ground sent thundering toward the night
Why statues towering brave above the last defeat
Old word and lies repeat across the new made grave?
Why the same still birth that victory always brought
These hoards of glory bought by men with mouths of earth?
Dead ash without a spark where cities glittered bright
For guns probe every light and crush it in the dark
And why your face undone with jagged lines of tears
That gave in those first years all peace I ever won?
Your body in the gloom, the platform fading back
Your shadow on the track, a flower on a tomb
And why these days ahead when I must let you cry
And live prepared to die as if our love were dead?
Judy Collins's "La Colombe" speaks to the senselessness of war and reflects the despair and anguish of a young soldier who questions why he and his comrades had to be sent to their deaths. The lyrics convey a deep confusion and hopelessness during the time of war. The song begins by questioning the need for war and the loss of life that comes with it. With imagery of bugles crying and trains taking soldiers to their deaths, the chorus of the song states that the dove, the symbol of peace, has been silenced – the soldier's only job is to kill it. The lyrics go on to question the need for war, the pale and still young boys trained overnight, and why men would buy the hoards of glory that war brings. The song speaks to the futility of war and the senselessness of fighting for "victory," only to be met with death and destruction.
Throughout the song, there is a sense of powerlessness and despair that runs through the lyrics. The use of rain clouds massing tight and the train load battle bound creates a sense of foreboding and impending doom. References to statues towering above the last defeat and the dead ash without a spark where cities once glittered bright highlights the devastating effects of warfare. The lyrics further speak to the personal cost of war – the soldier's sense of loss and the jagged lines of tears on his loved one's face.
Overall, the song is a powerful anti-war anthem that speaks to the human cost of war and the senselessness of conflict.
Line by Line Meaning
Why all these bugles crying for squads of young men drilled
Why are military instruments sounding and calling upon young men trained for battle?
To kill and to be killed and waiting by this train?
In order to wage war, these young men are being sent out to both take lives and put their own lives in danger, and they are currently assembled by this mode of transportation.
Why the orders loud and hoarse, why the engine's groaning cough
There are people loudly barking commands, and the train that will carry these soldiers to their deaths is making strained, unwell sounds.
As it strains to drag us off into the holocaust?
This train is moving with a great deal of difficulty, pushing us towards what will surely be a catastrophic event.
Why crowds who sing and cry, and shout and fling us flowers
Why are large groups of strangers making noise and showing joy via their vocalizations and the tossing of flowers in our direction?
And trade their right for ours to murder and to die?
Why are they willingly forfeiting their own right to life and advocating for us to carry out acts of violence in their place?
The dove has torn her wings so no more songs of love
The symbol of peace has been rendered unable to fly and sing sweetly due to the violence that currently reigns supreme.
We are not here to sing, we're here to kill the dove
Our purpose is not to celebrate or create beauty but to destroy a powerful and enduring emblem of hope and peace.
Why has this moment come when childhood has to die
Why must the end of innocence—of childhood and all of its associated naivety—occur at this particularly difficult moment?
When hope shrinks to a sigh and speech into a drum?
This is a time when optimism is vanishing slowly and disaster is becoming more and more inevitable. It is also a time when words themselves seem to lose their meaning and significance.
Why are they pale and still, young boys trained overnight
Why are these soldiers so inexperienced and frightened-looking, having just been made ready for battle in a hasty, rushed manner?
Conscripts forced to fight and dressed in gray to kill?
These young men have been commanded, with no choice in the matter or clear incentive, to engage in acts of communal violence and death.
These rain clouds massing tight, this train load battle bound
As clouds gather in the sky, we are all trying to remain calm while knowing that our group is being transported to a catastrophic battle.
This moving burial ground sent thundering toward the night
This train, carrying our soon-to-be corpses, is hurtling through the darkness with an eerie intensity.
Why statues towering brave above the last defeat
What is the purpose of these monuments that rise so imperiously over the spaces where previous violent conflicts have taken place?
Old word and lies repeat across the new made grave?
Despite the horrifying newness of the carnage that has just occurred, the same old rhetoric and falsehoods are being repurposed to make violence seem somewhat noble and meaningful.
Why the same still birth that victory always brought
Why is it that success in war always seems to lead to such a deathly and oppressive aftermath?
These hoards of glory bought by men with mouths of earth?
All of the supposed greatness and valor of war is the result of cynical men who make violent choices for a world that will never truly benefit.
Dead ash without a spark where cities glittered bright
Cities that once seemed alive and vivid have been destroyed and are now only silent and barren.
For guns probe every light and crush it in the dark
When weapons are present and in use, everything good and beautiful is in danger of being destroyed, even when it is shrouded in darkness.
And why your face undone with jagged lines of tears
What is the cause of the visible pain and grief that has caused your face and eyes to be so raw and red?
That gave in those first years all peace I ever won?
What events, in the early years of our relationship, led to all of the calm and gentle moments that I can remember?
Your body in the gloom, the platform fading back
As you stand on that receding platform in the darkness, your figure becomes more and more indistinct.
Your shadow on the track, a flower on a tomb
You leave a faint, ghostly imprint on the path you have left behind, like a spectral flower placed upon a still, grave marker.
And why these days ahead when I must let you cry
Why am I going to be unable to offer you any consolation or comfort in the days ahead and will have to allow you to shed tears alone?
And live prepared to die as if our love were dead?
Why will I have to be ready to accept a solitary and lonely passing, as if the connection that we once shared is permanently severed?
Lyrics © LES EDITIONS JACQUES BREL, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC FRANCE
Written by: Jacques Romain Brel
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind