Recommendations of the Editorial team
Joan Baez wants today’s pop musicians to use their reach, to take a stand on political and social issues.
In the podcast “Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus,” host Julia Louis-Dreyfus asked Baez about her attitude toward younger artists who have not yet spoken out about the Trump administration’s abuses. “There is a whole generation of really talented artists who are pretty quiet in the face of the current attack on democracy,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “Do you find that incredibly frustrating, or do you perhaps have some understanding of where these artists are coming from?”
“I think I understand where they’re coming from,” Baez replied. “It’s telling that the one song played at all of these demonstrations is ‘The Times They Are a-Changin.’ Nobody has come close to the level of these texts from back then. No one. You can’t just conjure that up, I don’t think.”
Kudos to Carlile and Rogers
She added: “The young people right now are writing some amazing things. A few are ready to speak up. Brandi Carlile, for example. And Maggie Rogers, my friend, brought it right to the forefront at a rally against ICE. I shake my head a little bit when I think about these stadiums full of brilliant young female songwriters – why can’t they just take this small step? Most of them are already richer than God. So, this small step.”
Louis-Dreyfus then asked Baez what she wished she knew about activism when she was younger. “What comes to mind has nothing to do with activism, but with singing,” Baez said. She talked about playing for the Shriners while she was in high school. “I don’t remember what I sang, but I sang something for the Shriners and they got quiet and really listened,” she recalled. “Afterwards an old man came to me and said, ‘You know, girl, don’t sing cheaply. You’re good, you’ll make your way.'”
Earlier this year, Baez, who became known as an activist throughout her career, appeared alongside Rogers and Tom Morello at the No Kings rally at the Minnesota State Capitol. The two performed Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” Baez and Rogers also took part in the Artists United for Our Freedoms event in March to protest Trump’s redevelopment of the Kennedy Center.
The call for an anthem
Last year, Baez spoke to Rolling Stone about the lack of a contemporary protest song. “What we need is an anthem, but an anthem is not easy to write,” she said. “‘One in a Million’ is the closest thing to it, but something like that doesn’t come out of nothing. It has to come from another source. ‘Imagine’ is still so beautiful. The Dylan stuff is still internationally known, but it doesn’t have the same meaning for me as ‘We Shall Overcome’. Back then I had the sense to know that we weren’t going to overcome everything and achieve world peace. That’s even more true today.”
