Thursday, June 29, 2017
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son, don't you understand"
Hiring man said "son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son, don't you understand"
I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
I got a picture of him in her arms now
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.
Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen
Song Facts
Springsteen wrote this about the problems Vietnam veterans encountered when they returned to America. Vietnam was the first war the US didn't win, and while veterans of other wars received a hero's welcome, those who fought in Vietnam were mostly ignored when they returned to the states.
The original title was "Vietnam." The director Paul Schrader sent Springsteen a script for a movie called Born In The U.S.A., about a rock band struggling with life and religion. This gave Bruce the idea for the new title. Unfortunately for Schrader, when he was finally ready to make the movie in 1985, the title "Born In The U.S.A." was too associated with the song. Springsteen helped him out however, providing the song "Light Of Day," which became the new title for Schrader's movie and the feature song in the film.
This is one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. Most people thought it was a patriotic song about American pride, when it actually cast a shameful eye on how America treated its Vietnam veterans. Springsteen considers it one of his best songs, but it bothers him that it is so widely misinterpreted. With the rollicking rhythm, enthusiastic chorus, and patriotic album cover, it is easy to think this has more to do with American pride than Vietnam shame.
This is the first song and title track to one of the most popular albums ever - Born In The U.S.A. sold over 18 million copies. The single was released in England as a double A-side with "I'm On Fire."
It was the first song Springsteen wrote for the album. He first recorded it on January 3, 1982 on the tape that became his album Nebraska later that year.
While campaigning in New Jersey in 1984, Ronald Reagan said in his speech: "America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in songs so many young Americans admire: New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about."
Springsteen talked about this in a 2005 interview with National Public Radio. Said Bruce: "This was when the Republicans first mastered the art of co-opting anything and everything that seemed fundamentally American, and if you were on the other side, you were somehow unpatriotic. I make American music, and I write about the place I live and who I am in my lifetime. Those are the things I'm going to struggle for and fight for."
Speaking of how the song was misinterpreted, he added: "In my songs, the spiritual part, the hope part is in the choruses. The blues, and your daily realities are in the details of the verses. The spiritual comes out in the choruses, which I got from Gospel music and the church."
Chrysler offered Springsteen $12 million to use this in an ad campaign with Bruce. Springsteen turned them down so they used "The Pride Is Back" by Kenny Rogers instead. Springsteen has never let his music be used to sell products.
This song inspired the famous Annie Leibowitz photo of Springsteen's butt against the backdrop of an American flag. Bruce had to be convinced to use it as the album's cover. Some people thought it depicted Springsteen urinating on the flag.
Looking back on the cover in a 1996 interview with NME, Springsteen said: "I was probably working out my own insecurities, y'know? That particular image is probably the only time I look back over pictures of the band and it feels like a caricature to me."
According to Max Weinberg, Bruce attempted to do the song in a rockabilly trio style, with a country beat.
The drum solo towards the end of the song was completely improvised. Drummer Max Weinberg said that the band was recording in an oval-shaped studio, with the musicians separated into different parts. Springsteen, at the front, suddenly turned towards Weinberg (at the back) after singing and waved his hands in the air frantically to signal drumming. Weinberg then nailed it.
Eight minutes were cut from the song, which Max Weinberg said went on into a psychedelic jam. >>
Bruce performed solo, acoustic versions on his tours in 1996 and 1999. He wanted to make sure the audience understood the song.
Springsteen allowed notorious rap group The 2 Live Crew to sample this for their song "Banned In The U.S.A." in 1990, after the group was arrested for performing songs with obscene lyrics. Bruce felt they had a constitutional right to say whatever they wanted in their songs.
This was recorded live in the studio in three takes.
Richard "Cheech" Marin parodied this in the song "Born In East L.A.," which came from his 1987 movie of the same name. Sample lyrics:
Next thing I know, I'm in a foreign land
People talkin' so fast, I couldn't understand
>>
Born In The U.S.A. was the first CD manufactured in the United States for commercial release. It was pressed when CBS Records opened its CD manufacturing plant in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1984. Discs previously had been imported from Japan.
The children's TV show Sesame Street reworked this as "Barn In The U.S.A.," credited to Bruce Stringbean and the S. Street Band. >>
Springsteen's fist-pumping recitations of this lament for the plight of the Vietnam War veterans during his 1984-85 Born In The USA tour contributed to its mis-reading as a patriotic song by US right-wingers. Critic Greil Marcus wrote: "Clearly the key to the enormous explosion of Bruce's popularity is the misunderstanding… He is a tribute to the fact that people hear what they want to hear."
The video was directed by John Sayles, who wrote the screenplay for the 1978 movie Piranha and later directed the films Lone Star, Honeydripper and Eight Men Out . Most of the video is footage of Springsteen performing the song in concert - he wore the same outfit for a few consecutive shows so Sayles could get the shots (Springsteen didn't want to lip-synch). Other footage came from a Vietnamese neighborhood in Los Angeles and Springsteen's old stomping ground, Asbury Park, New Jersey. The video stuck to the true meaning of the song, with shots of factory workers, regular folks walking the streets, soldiers training for combat, and a line of guys waiting for payday loans. Sayles said in the book I Want My MTV: "It was right around the time that Ronald Reagan had co-opted 'Born In The U.S.A.' and Reagan, his policies were everything that the song was complaining about. I think some of the energy of the performance came from Bruce deciding, 'I'm going to claim this song back from Reagan.'"
This was not the first hit song to tell a story about a Vietnam veteran's return to America. In 1982, The Charlie Daniels Band took "Still in Saigon" to #22 in America. That song was written by Dan Daley, who felt that only two artists were right for it. "Since it was such a political song, the strategy was there were only two artists that it would make sense to give it to," Daley told us. "One was Bruce Springsteen and the other was Charlie Daniels. Because both had made public statements in support of Vietnam veterans."
Tougher Than The Rest - Bruce Springsteen
Well It's Saturday night
you're all dressed up in blue
I been watching you awhile
maybe you been watching me too
So somebody ran out
left somebody's heart in a mess
Well if you're looking for love
honey I'm tougher than the rest
Some girls they want a handsome Dan
or some good-lookin' Joe on their arm
Some girls like a sweet-talkin' Romeo
Well 'round here baby
I learned you get what you can get
So if you're rough enough for love
honey I'm tougher than the rest
The road is dark
and it's a thin thin line
But I want you to know I'll walk it for you any time
Maybe your other boyfriends
couldn't pass the test
Well if you're rough and ready for love
honey I'm tougher than the rest
Well it ain't no secret
I've been around a time or two
Well I don't know baby maybe you've been around too
Well there's another dance
all you gotta do is say yes
And if you're rough and ready for love
honey I'm tougher than the rest
If you're rough enough for love
baby I'm tougher than the rest
| "Tougher Than the Rest" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
| from the album Tunnel of Love | ||||
| B-side | "Roulette" | |||
| Released | June 23, 1988 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | Between January 1 and May 15, 1987 at Thrill Hill East (Springsteen's home studio) | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:35 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
| Producer(s) | Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Plotkin | |||
| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Tougher Than the Rest" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 Tunnel of Love album. It was released as a single in some countries, following "Brilliant Disguise" and the title track, but was not released as a single in the United States. It reached as high as #3 on the Swiss charts, and also reached the Top 20 in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Austria
History
Like much of the Tunnel of Love album, "Tougher Than the Rest" was recorded in Springsteen's home studio, called Thrill Hill East, between January and May 1987 with several members of the E Street Band. On this song, Springsteen played several instruments and is backed by Danny Federici on organ and Max Weinberg on percussion. Although it was originally written as a rockabilly song, the final version has a slower and more methodical rhythm.
On the Tunnel of Love album, "Tougher Than the Rest" is the second song, following the acoustic "Ain't Got You", and introduces the sound that will permeate the remainder of the album. The synthesizer sound is layered and melodic and the drum sound is moody, heavy and menacing. Springsteen's vocal is also menacing and boastful as he sings the simple but elegant lyrics detailing his infatuation.
At least one of the singer and the woman he is singing to appear to be on the rebound from prior relationships. The singer recognizes that he is not a "handsome Dan" or a "sweet talking Romeo" and admits that he has "been around a time or two". He is not bothered with the possibility that the woman may have "been around too." Although the singer knows how messy and rough love can be, he claims that he is ready for it, but insists that the woman must also be equally tough and willing to take chancesThe song is in some ways reminiscent of Springsteen's earlier song "Thunder Road", in which the singer wants to take the woman away, even though he tells her that "you ain't a beauty but hey you're alright". But unlike the earlier song, in this song the singer's goals are more realistic — rather than looking to run away with the woman, here he just wants to ask the woman to dance.[8] In the context of this song the phrase, 'There's another dance, all you have to do is say yes,' is an allusion to taking a chance and falling in love. This is echoed in the song 'Girls in their Summer Clothes' which includes the line 'Love's a fools' dance, I ain't got no sense, but I've still got my feet.'
The music video features live concert footage interspersed with vignettes of couples made at venues on his "Tunnel of Love Express" tour. The video includes both gay and lesbian pairs interspersed with heterosexual couples as representatives of the artist's fans. Springsteen included this explicitly homosexual imagery with neither fanfare nor exploitation. Like several other music videos from the Tunnel of Love album, including "Brilliant Disguise", "Tunnel of Love" and "One Step Up", the video for "Tougher Than The Rest" was directed by Meiert Avis. The video was later released on the VHS and DVD Video Anthology / 1978-88.
Live performance history
"Tougher Than the Rest" has been reasonably popular in live performances. Next to Brilliant Disguise and the title track, this song is third and only other song from the album to receive several appearances live. From the Tunnel of Love Express Tour (where it typically opened the second set) that supported the initial release of the album through July 2005, the song received 98 live performances in concert. A live version of the song, recorded on April 27, 1988 at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was released on the EPChimes of Freedom. That version runs 6:39.
Cover versions
Emmylou Harris recorded the most successful cover version of this song.[ A cover by Chris LeDoux peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1995. Other cover versions have been recorded by Title Tracks, Everything But the Girl, Greg Hawks, The Mendoza Line, Darren Hayes, Travis Tritt, Shawn Colvin, and Camera Obscura. Cher performed the song during her 1990 Heart of Stone Tour and it is included in her Live at the Mirage DVD of that tour. We Are Augustines also covered the song, on their iTunes Session album.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - Romeo And Juliet (Real Live Roadrunning...
A lovestruck Romeo sings the streets of serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a convenient streetlight steps out of the shade
Says something like you and me babe how about it?
Juliet says hey it's Romeo you nearly gimme me a heart attack
He's underneath the window she's singing hey la my boyfriend's back
You shouldn't come around here singing up at people like that
Anyway what you gonna do about it?
Juliet the dice were loaded from the start
And I bet and you exploded in my heart
And I forget I forget the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
Come up on different streets they booth were streets of shame
Both dirty both mean yes and the dream was just the same
And I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?
When you can fall for chains of silver you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything you promised me thick and thin
Now you just say oh Romeo yeah you know I used to have a scene with him
Juliet when we made love you used to cry
You said I love you like the stars above I'll love you till I die
There's a place for us you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong Juliet?
I can't do the talk like they talk on TV
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything but I'd do anything for you
I can't do anything except be in love with you
And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat and bad company
All I do is kiss you through the bars of Orion
Julie I'd do the stars with you any time
Juliet when we made love you used to cry
You said I love you like the stars above I'll love you till I die
There's a place for us you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong Juliet?
A lovestruck Romeo sings the streets of serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a convenient streetlight steps out of the shade
Says something like you and me babe how about it?
You and me babe how about it
"Romeo and Juliet" is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits, written by frontman Mark Knopfler. It first appeared on the 1980 album Making Movies and was released as a single in 1981.Reviewer Dan Bolles has called the song a "classic". The song subsequently appeared on the Dire Straits live albums Alchemy and On the Night, and later on Knopfler's live duet album with Emmylou Harris, Real Live Roadrunning (though Harris does not perform on the track). The track was also featured on the greatest hits albums Money for Nothing, Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits, and The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
The lyrics of the song describe the experience of the two lovers of the title, hinting at a situation that saw the "Juliet" figure abandon her "Romeo" after finding fame and moving on from the rough neighborhood, where they first encountered each other. In addition to the reference to William Shakespeare's play of the same title, the song makes playful allusion to other works involving young love, including the songs "Somewhere" – from West Side Story, which is itself based on the Shakespeare play – and "My Boyfriend's Back". The original recording of the song has been featured in several motion pictures, including Hot Fuzz, Empire Records, and Can't Hardly Wait.
The song opens on an arpeggiated resonator guitar part played by Knopfler, who also sings the lead vocal. The introductory arpeggios and melody are played on a National Style "O" guitar, the same guitar featured on the album artwork for Brothers in Arms and Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits.In the Sky Arts documentary Guitar Stories: Mark Knopfler, "Knopfler picks up the National and demonstrates how he hit on the famous arpeggio lines in "Romeo and Juliet", from the Making Movies album, while experimenting with an open G tuning." The instrumentation remains simple during the verses and moves to a full-on rock arrangement in the chorus sections.
The song itself, written by Knopfler, was inspired by his failed romance with Holly Vincent, lead singer of the short-lived band Holly and The Italians. The song speaks of a Romeo who is still very much in love with his Juliet, but she now treats him like "just another one of [her] deals". Knopfler has both stated and implied that he believes Vincent was using him to boost her career. The song's line "Now you just say, oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him," refers to an interview with Vincent, where she says "What happened was that I had a scene with Mark Knopfler and it got to the point where he couldn't handle it and we split up."
Covers
The song has become a classic love song with a wide range of artists covering the track. Indigo Girls covered the track in a solo rendition by Amy Ray on the duo's album Rites of Passage.
The song was also covered by Australian musician Lisa Mitchell for Australian radio station Triple J for the Like a Version segment on their breakfast show in 2009. It was also included on the 2009 Like a Version Volume 5 compilation CD and DVD.
It was covered by The Killers in 2007. It was recorded live at Abbey Road Studios for the Channel 4 show Live from Abbey Road and featured as a B-side on "For Reasons Unknown" and on their compilation album Sawdust.
Matt Nathanson covered the song on his Live at the Point album
Personnel[
Mark Knopfler – National Style O resonator guitar, lead guitar, lead vocals, rhythm guitar
John Illsley – bass guitar
Pick Withers – drums, percussion
Additional personnel
Roy Bittan – piano, hammond organ
ARTISTFACTS FOR DIRE STRAITS
- Took the name Dire Straits because it represented their financial condition in the early days.
- In 2001, British scientists named a dinosaur they discovered after Mark Knopfler. They named the dinosaur, which was discovered in Madagascar, "Masiakasaurus Knopfleri" as a tribute to Knopfler.
- Mark Knopfler was a journalist and teacher before joining the band.
- Mark Knopfler's second wife is named Lourdes. They had twin boys in 1987.
- The band's demo cost only $175 dollars to make. The record company was so impressed that they got Spencer Davis Group bassist Muff Winwood (brother of Steve) to produce their debut album.
- They were Princess Diana's favorite rock group.
- Illsley once donated $750,000 to a charity to raise children's awareness of the dangers of drugs.
- At a concert in New Zealand, the Minister of Transport called off a National Stewards' strike so they could make it to their show.
- Before Dire Straits, David Knopfler was a social worker, and Illsley was studying sociology.
- Mark Knopfler has worked on the soundtracks for Local Hero, Comfort and Joy, and Cal.
- Mark Knopfler is left-handed but he plays right-handed; he says that makes him strong at vibratos. (thanks, Gary - Kumla, Sweden)
Brothers In Arms - Joan Baez
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms Lyrics
These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Someday you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms
Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed your suffering
As the battle raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms
There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the sun's gone to hell and
The moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We are fools to make war
On our brothers in arms
Songwriters: KNOPFLER, MARK
Brothers In Arms lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Brothers in Arms" is a 1985 song by Dire Straits, appearing as the closing track on the album of the same name. It was originally written in 1982, the year of the Falklands War. It was re-released in 2007 as a special edition to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the conflict and raise funds for veterans of it with posttraumatic stress disorder.
History
There are two studio recorded versions of this song: the album version which is 6:55 minutes, and the shorter version which is 6:05 minutes and features slightly different (and shorter) solos at the beginning and end of the song. The version that appears on Dire Straits' greatest hits album, Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits, is 4:55. The version featured on the live album On the Night contains an extra pedal steel guitar solo and is 8:55. The full-length, studio album version (6:55) was also included on the 2005 compilation Private Investigations.
Mark Knopfler recorded and usually played the song on a Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar, rather than his usual Schecter "Stratocaster", and the sunburst Les Paul appears in the distinctive promo video, which is in the style of a charcoal drawing, interspersing scenes of the band playing with scenes of war. During Dire Straits' 1992 "On Every Street" tour, Knopfler used his Pensa-Suhr MK1 for this song, like most of the others.
The song is reported to be the first CD single ever released;[2] it was released in the United Kingdom in 1985.
The song's meaning, influence and impact was discussed in the BBC radio programme and podcast Soul Music in January 2013
The song was featured in the third season episode of Miami Vice, "Out Where The Buses Don't Run" as the closing theme, and the second season finale of The West Wing, "Two Cathedrals". [4] It was also featured in the 2001 movie Spy Game.
Joan Baez - Diamonds and Rust (With Lyrics)
Well I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall
As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the midwest
Ten years ago
I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Well you burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes the girl on the half-shell
Could keep you unharmed
Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling all around
And snow in your hair
Now you're smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there
Now you're telling me
You're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
'Cause I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid
"Diamonds & Rust" is a song written, composed, and performed by Joan Baez. It was written in November 1974 and released in 1975.
In the song, Baez recounts an out-of-the-blue phone call from an old lover, which sends her a decade back in time, to a "crummy" hotel in Greenwich Village circa 1964 or 1965; she recalls giving him a pair of cuff-links, and summarizes that memories bring "diamonds and rust." Baez has stated that the lyrics refer to her relationship with Bob Dylan.
The song, which was a top-40 hit for Baez on the U.S. pop singles chart, is regarded by a number of critics, as well as by Baez fans, as one of her best compositions. It served as the title song on Baez's gold-selling album Diamonds & Rust, which was released in 1975.
Variations
For her 1995 live recording Ring Them Bells, Baez performed the song as a duet with Mary Chapin Carpenter. In that performance, she changed the end lines: "And if you're / offering me diamonds and rust / I've already paid," to: "And if you... well I'll take the diamonds." The line "I bought you some cuff links, you brought me something" was changed to "I bought you some cuff links, you brought troubles." And on 25 February 2009, in Austin, she sang it, "And if you... well I'll take the Grammy." In 2010, she recorded it as a duet with Judy Collins on Collins's album Paradise.
Bob Dylan
The song alludes to Baez's relationship with Bob Dylan ten years before. Although Dylan is not specifically named in the song, in the third chapter of her memoir, And a Voice to Sing With (1987), Baez uses phrases from the song in describing her relationship with Dylan, and has been explicit that he was the inspiration for the song. She recounts how she originally told Dylan that the song was about her ex-husband David Harris, which was obviously not true.[2] The lyrics, for example, include the lines, "Well, you burst on the scene already a legend / the unwashed phenomenon, the original vagabond..." which would describe Dylan but not Harris.
In her memoir, And A Voice To Sing With, Baez records a 1975 conversation between herself and Dylan, discussing songs to include in the then-upcoming Rolling Thunder Revue concerts:
But Baez's marriage to Harris had, in fact, already ended by the time the song was written and composed. In an interview with music writer Mike Ragogna, Baez later admitted that the character in the song is Dylan:
Charts
| Chart (1972-2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) | 14 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM) | 61 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) | 5 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 35 |
Popular covers
| "Diamonds and Rust" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Judas Priest | ||||
| from the album Sin After Sin | ||||
| Released | 23 April 1977 | |||
| Recorded | January – February 1977, Ramport Studios, Battersea | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 3:28 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Joan Baez | |||
| Producer(s) | Roger Glover, Judas Priest | |||
| Judas Priest singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Sin After Sin track listing | ||||
| ||||
The song was later covered with edited lyrics by Judas Priest for the album Sin After Sin. It was originally recorded a year earlier for Sad Wings of Destiny, but not included on that album. This early version appears on The Best of Judas Priest, Hero, Hero, and some remasters of their first album, Rocka Rolla. A live version of the song is on Unleashed in the East. The song remains a staple of Judas Priest live concert performances. In recent years, Priest have been performing a mostly acoustic version of the song that is more similar to the original than the rock version on their recorded albums.
Baez commented on the Judas Priest version:
Cover versions have also been recorded by Blackmore's Night, S.O.D., Great White, Taylor Mitchell, and Thunderstone.
The song has been sampled in two popular hip-hop songs, "Happiness" by Busdriver and "Upgrade Call" by Andre Nickatina. The versions used in both songs are pitch-warped to sound squeaky.
Song Facts
- In this song, Joan Baez is singing to her former lover Bob Dylan, fondly reminiscing about their 1960s affair. Released as a single, this track became only her second top 40 hit in the States, and her biggest self-composed hit (her other hit came in 1971 with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."
- Baez revealed to The Huffington Post that she wrote this song after Bob Dylan called her from a phone booth and sang her the lyrics to his song "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts." Baez said that this gave her inspiration to write "Diamonds & Rust," and that she lied to Dylan, telling him it was about David Harris, to whom she was married from 1968-1973. Bob Dylan rarely reveals much about his songs, but his track "Queen Jane Approximately" is most likely his take on his relationship with Baez.
- The song was later covered by Judas Priest, first appearing on Sin After Sin, and later as an earlier recording on The Best of Judas Priest, Hero Hero, and on some remasters of their first album, Rocka Rolla. It also appeared live on Unleashed in the East and other live albums. It remains a staple of their live concert performances. In the 2000s, Priest performed a mostly-acoustic version of the song more similar to the original than the "rocked up" recorded version.
- The band wes named after "The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest," a track from Dylan's album John Wesley Harding. >>
- In addition to singing on this, Baez played the Moog and Arp Synthesizers.
- The end of Side 1 of the album contains a parody of Bob Dylan's voice on his own "A Simple Twist Of Fate."
- "That crummy hotel over Washington Square" refers to the Hotel Earle, where Baez and Dylan lived for a while. It's located at 103 Waverly Place on the corner of MacDougal Street in New York City. Once a place of luxury, the Hotel Earle deteriorated in the '60s and became an apartment hotel popular with starving artists. Notable inhabitants included Ernest Hemingway, Barbra Streisand and Bill Cosby. It was purchased in the '70s and became the Washington Square Hotel in 1986.
- Asked by Mojo July 2014 what Bob Dylan thought of the song, Baez replied: "When I saw Bob on the Rolling Thunder Tour he said, (Impersonates Dylan) 'Are you going to do that song you wrote about me?' I said, 'Oh the one about the blue eyes, the one about my husband?' (Facially impersonates Dylan looking glum). 'Bob, I'm bullsh---ing you!'"
- "He has actually said nice things about Diamonds And Rust," she added.
- Blackmore's Night covered this song for their 2003 album Ghost of a Rose. Candice Night describes Joan Baez as her "favorite American folk singer."
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