While it can be difficult to pin down concrete life events amidst a songwriter’s use of extended metaphor and the occasional mixing of two or more life events, some tributes are easier to spot than others. Here are three songs that Baez likely wrote for her ex-colleague, friend, and lover.
“To Bobby”
In the earliest stages of their career, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were professional equals. The pair participated in protests, traveled the country, and performed in tandem. But after Dylan’s career skyrocketed forward following the release of his self-titled debut and sophomore album ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,’ the musicians’ priorities shifted. From Baez’s perspective, Dylan was no longer interested in supporting social change. She addressed her feelings in a scathing 1972 track titled “To Bobby.”
You left us marching on the road and said how heavy was the load, Baez sings in the first verse. The years were young. The struggle barely had its start. Do you hear the voices in the night, Bobby? They’re crying for you. See the children in the morning light, Bobby. They’re dying. The following verses implore Dylan to return to his roots. We’re still marching in the streets with little victories and big defeats. But there is joy, and there is hope, and there’s a place for you.
Dylan received Baez’s message loud and clear. “Joan Baez recorded a protest song about me that was getting big play,” Dylan later wrote in his memoir Chronicles (via Rolling Stone). “Challenging me to get with it, come out and take charge, lead the masses, be an advocate, lead the crusade. The song called out to me from the radio like a public service announcement.”
