[ad_1]
Joan Baez has been singing his protest songs for 60 years, his incomparable soprano voice rising above all boredom. She can boast an extraordinary career that includes a new interpretation of Bob Dylan's songs in the '60s and songs for Martin Luther King (with whom she became a friend). Daughter of a physicist of Mexican descent and a strong Scottish mother, she announced, at the age of 78, that she was currently performing her last tour, performing his swansong album. Whistling in the wind.
What prompted you to record the album Whistling in the wind after a 10 years gap?
I felt that it was the moment. I'm retiring and I wanted to choose something to link my first album. My original album contains a song about a silver dagger; my last a song on a silver blade. The first was a traditional folk song – the girl lost. In the last one, which was written for me, she turns around and kills the guy – she could be part of the # MeToo movement.
You are 78 and on your last tour, where do you find your incredible endurance? What is the secret to taking care of yourself so well?
My mother lived up to 100 years and never had a serious illness. My father died at age 94 with all his hair and all his teeth. I have a lot of things to do to … take care of me? The most important element is the Gokhale method, which is about posture and is based on aboriginal women who stand straight even after picking up rice all day and have no back problems. And meditation, even if it's always slightly bored, is important. Plus, yoga and pilates clbades. And at my age, walking is the best exercise. I have a nice lot that I cross every day for about 40 minutes.
And your voice? What does it need – rest or exercise?
Both. But what has been exhausting, is to rebuild every song that I have always wanted to do in a low and limited range. I like how Whistle In the wind is out, but my voice will continue to deteriorate, no matter how hard I try.
So you do not intend to get to Leonard Cohen's grunt?
Well, these are guys and somehow get better …
I loved your anti-trump song Naughty man on YouTube, a viral success in which your friendly performance contrasts with your subject…
Did you read Trump on the couch? It's a wonderful book, but its main message is that Trump is incapable of change – no compromise, no recoil, my button is bigger than your button.
So depressing … are you optimistic or pessimistic?
When I was 15, I considered myself realistic. But now, I have to stay in denial for a good part of the time, otherwise I would go crazy. You must measure what you do in small victories that reintroduce compbadion and empathy. We will not have social change until people are able to take risks.
You have been an activist all your life. But can a song change something?
The songs change a lot. Music raises people's minds, goes beyond borders and can lead people to do things they would not have done otherwise.
Do you still define memory as in your song on your affair with Bob Dylan as "diamonds and rust"?
This song has remained in the depths of my soul … I do not know where his words come from.
Is it inevitable that your name remains in Dylan's memory?
Well, what has happened recently is that I painted some pictures of him, and I put his music on, and all that hindered, all the jealousies, all the resentments, have completely disappeared. And maybe it had to do with that period of my life, or maybe with the realization that you can only hold grudges for so long. And that's stupid to keep a grudge. Buddhist training consists of forgiving.
And besides, I thought to myself: oh my God, your name will stay attached to someone for the rest of your life … and it's an honor for what this guy has created. And you know, he's not socially gifted, but it does not matter. He can take the liberties of an artist as far as I'm concerned.
In each interview, you are defined by famous men: Dylan, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King. Which woman has influenced you the most?
Emma González, representative of the youth movement. We must depend on young people – they come together to fight climate change. We adults do not know how to deal with them. This small movement has the maximum potential of everything we have seen in the United States over the past 40 years. The other woman who influenced me was my mother. She was so funny. When I asked her what she wanted for her 100th birthday, she replied, "Abandoned to death!" A week later, she did it. I was influenced by his connection with nature, living in the woods. My house is in a very civilized wood in California.
Do you mind getting old?
About two years ago, I thought, oh my God, I'm going to be 80 years old. So I walked around the house saying, "I'm going to be 80 years old" for about a month. It does not bother me now. Meryl Streep is one of my other female heroes. She argues that women do not rearrange their faces with surgery. My goal is to kiss wrinkles.
Speaking of houses, did I hear that you are a disciple of the Japanese decluttering Queen Marie Kondo?
I was messy when I was small, but I realized later that you had to keep things tidy because your house is your brain: all that is there is the reflection of what is happening inside you.
Your son Gabriel has been with you on tour as a percussionist. Do you think that makes up for the time you missed with him when he was little?
He will finish the tour with me. It's more than a mother could have dreamed of, because most mothers can not go out with their sons once their sons are married.
How do you plan to spend your time when you are no longer performing?
I will paint. And I like to dance – maybe I will take Latin dance clbades.
You do not stop singing?
The more my voice deteriorates, the less happy I am. I'm humming around the house, it's all flat and crazy and I think [laughs] maybe I'll just talk to me instead.
• Joan Baez's Fare Thee Well tour is at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, on February 25; Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, February 26; and London Palladium February 28, March 1
Source link
