The easiest kind of relationship for me is with ten thousand people. The hardest is with one.
Joan Baez
The Bob Dylan Dream
by Joyce Sutphen
So here is one of the best dreams I’ve
ever had: I am in New York City,
and everything is closed tight except
for one door that is wide open and seems
inviting, so I go through and up the
stairs to a room with wood floors and
a window seat where Bob Dylan is waiting
for me, and we have a long talk about
love and poetry, and afterwards we
stand up and fly over the Village, which
is quiet until we hear some music
a few blocks away so we fly there, and
it’s the Jefferson Airplane Marching Band!
Tell me-does it get much better than that?
Dylan and Baez met in New York City in 1961. Their artistic and romantic attraction was instantaneous and blazed brightly for the next 4 years. But emotions that combustible aren’t always sustainable and theirs burned itself out by 1965. By the end, Baez wanted to continue to play a role in the civil rights movement while Dylan wanted to evolve as an artist and not be limited by audience expectations. Each gave the other something before their parting. Baez would continue to perform Dylan’s legacy of political songs, while Baez bestowed a softer side to Dylan’s trajectory. Baez brought political relevance to Dylan’s lyrics and music through her artistry while Dylan absorbed Baez’s artistic and personal expression in ways that would nudge his muse in a new direction, from indignation towards beauty. Baez had absorbed some of his righteous anger while sheltering some of it from Dylan.
Dylan shared his perspective on his relationship with Baez and her influence on his life and music in Poem to Joanie. I have shared an excerpt below, a moving tribute to Baez on his understanding of ‘beauty’ and its significance in his art.
Poem To Joanie (Excerpt)
by Bob Dylan
So, once more it’s winter again
An’ that means I’ll wait ’til spring
T’ ramble back t’ where I kneeled
When I first heard the ore train sing
An’ pulled the ground up by its roots
But this time I won’t use my strength
T’ pass the time yankin’ grass
While I’m waitin’ for the train t’ sound
No next time’ll be a different day
For the train might be there when I come
An’ I might wait hours for the cars t’ pass
An’ then as the echo fades
I’ll bend down an’ count the strands a grass
But one thing that’s bound t’ be
Is that instead a pullin’ at the earth
I’ll jus’ pet it as a friend
An’ when that train engine comes near
I’ll nod my head t’ the big brass wheels
An’ say “howdy” t’ the engineer
An’ yell that Joanie says hello
An’ watch the train man scratch his head
An’ wonder what I meant by that
An’ I’ll stand up an’ remember when
A rock was flung by a devil child
An’ I’ll walk my road somewhere between
The unseen green an’ the jet – black train
An’ I’ll sing my song like a rebel wild
For it’s that I am an’ can’t deny
But at least I’ll know not t’ hurt
Not t’ push
Not t’ ache
An’ God knows … not t’ try –
Fourteen Lines 