Diamond Songs Top Ten: Diamonds & Rust (#1)

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Happy Festivus for the rest of us! You normally don’t get diamonds on Festivus....all you get is a bunch of grievances. However, in this case, I’m making an exception: my favorite song with “diamond” in the title. Maybe a surprise, or maybe not, but here it is. #1: Diamonds & Rust - Joan Baez Judas what?? There are some things that I don’t understand getting covered, and this is one of them. I know a lot of metal fans love the Judas Priest version (and, they do it....interestingly), but I grew up with the original. And the original was by Joan Baez, written about her relationship with Bob Dylan. This song shows that relationship was a little contentious (“my poetry was lousy, you said”....”you’re telling me you’re not nostalgic, then give me another word for it”), but hey, it was two folkies. I am not a big Dylan fan (he can sing???? Okay, if you say so ), and I think a lot of the hype (“you burst on the scene already a legend”) was just that: hype. And I do kind of agree with Dylan’s assessment of Baez’s “lousy” poetry. But this is a killer song, filled with simultaneous pain, anger, hurt, and love. Thanks for reading. Diamonds & Rust Written by Joan Baez Recorded by Joan Baez From Diamonds & Rust, 1975 Here I sit, hand on the telephone: