Diamonds & Rust (song)
"Diamonds & Rust" was a 1975 song written and performed by Joan Baez, which is said to describe her affair with Bob Dylan ten years prior. 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 seedy hotel in Greenwich Village. She recalls giving him a pair of cuff links, and summarizes that memories bring "diamonds and rust" (time both turns dirty charcoal into beautiful diamonds and shiny metal into ugly rust).
The song, which provided a top-forty hit for Baez on the U.S. pop singles chart, is regarded by a number of critics, as well as Baez' fans as one of her best compositions. It served as the title song on Baez' gold-selling Diamonds & Rust album in 1975. The song was later covered by Judas Priest, and appears on some remasters of the Rocka Rolla, and Unleashed in the East albums. It was later re-recorded for Sin After Sin and remains a staple of their live concert performance. It was also covered by Blackmore's Night, on their album Ghost of a Rose.
On her live 1995 recording Ring Them Bells, Baez performed the song as a duet with Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Lyrics
I'll be damned, here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you decided to call
And here I sit, hand on the telephone
Hearing the voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Headed straight for a fall
But we both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Yes we both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Now I see you standing with brown leaves all around and snow in your hair
Now we're smiling out the window of the crummy hotel over Washington square
Our breath comes in white clouds, mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me we both could've died then and there
Now you're telling me you're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You were 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, Ive already paid
But we both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Yes we both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Diamonds, diamonds and rust
Diamonds, diamonds and rust
Diamonds, diamonds and rust
Diamonds, diamonds and rust
Trivia
Dylan is never specifically named in the song, but Baez has admitted in her memoir, as well as a number of interviews that he is inspiration for the song.
References
- Baez, Joan. 1987. And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir. Century Hutchinson, London. ISBN 0-7126-1827-