Joan Baez - Honest Lullaby

Joan Baez - Honest Lullaby (1979)
Early early in the game
I taught myself to sing and play
And use a little trickery
On kids who never favored me
Those were years of crinoline slips*
And cotton skirts and swinging hips
And dangerously painted lips
And stars of stage and screen
Pedal pushers** ankle socks
Padded bras and campus jocks
Who hid their vernal equinox
In pairs of faded jeans
And slept at home resentfully
Coveting their dreams
And often have I wondered
How the years and I survived
I had a mother who sang to me
An honest lullaby ♪
Yellow brown and black and white
Our Father bless us all tonight
I bowed my head at the football games
And closed the prayer in Jesus name
Lusting after football heroes
tough Pachuco little Neroes
Forfeiting my A's for zeroes
Futures unforeseen
Spending all my energy
In keeping my virginity
And living in a fantasy
In love with Jimmy Dean
If you will be my king Jimmy Jimmy
I will be your queen
And often have I wondered
How the years and I survived
I had a mother who sang to me
An honest lullaby ♪
I travelled all around the world
And knew more than the other girls
Of foreign languages and schools
Paris Rome and Istanbul
But those things never worked for me
The town was much too small you see
And people have a way of being
Even smaller yet
But all the same though life is hard
And no one promised me a garden of roses
So I did okay
I took what I could get
And did the things that I might do
For those less fortunate
And often have I wondered
How the years and I survived
I had a mother who sang to me
An honest lullaby ♪
Now look at you
You must be growing
A quarter of an inch a day
You've already lived near half the years
You'll be when you go away
With your teddy bears and alligators
Enterprise communicators
All the tiny aviators head into the sky
And while the others play with you
I hope to find a way with you
And sometimes spend a day with you
I'll catch you as you fly
Or if I'm worth a mother's salt
I'll wave as you go by
And if you should ever wonder
How the years and you'll survive
Honey, you've got a mother who sings to you
Dances on the strings for you
Opens her heart and brings to you
An honest lullaby ♪
*Crinoline slips: la sottogonna, capo di lingerie ormai in disuso.
**Pedal pushers: pantaloni con il risvolto al polpaccio, denominati
più semplicemente Capri perchè imitavano quelli dei pescatori isolani,
erano in gran voga all'inizio degli anni '60 perchè immortalati in alcuni
celebri film hollywoodiani.
ps: non scommetterei neanche un cent sull'esattezza della traduzione ッ
www.antiwarsongs.org/canzone.p...

[@vogliadivolare99]

Straordinaria Joan..la tua voce risuona nel tempo sempre..💖

[@royrichards7477]

Beautiful dear Ms. Baez. Your influence was felt in our family...as well as Bobby Zimmerman’s!

[@l.campos8333]

Straordinaria, si. As greatest among greats, not "only " as a singer and musician, but as a rare poet, a gifted and intuitive painter and ,above all , a heart and soul which could be described in one word, LOVE. Love that she offers generously to give voice to the voiceless and care for the forgotten and the vulnerable and poor, unshakably, for the last more than 60 years. Gratitude forever and ever, Joan Baez.

[@CoreaKixx420]

Good Heaven's...this is my first hearing of this song, and my heart and my jaw is on the floor. I'm stunned. Her composition. This is pure poetry set to music. Thank you!!!

[@l.campos8333]

And she has another 63 gems of this kind, all of them pure poetry. She is really a gift from heaven to us all. May we can be worthy of her. God bless you and keep you forever , Joan Baez.

[@armandoguevara1947]

Joan Baez very nice voice

[@dominiquedv]

Beautiful and nostalgic memories of Joan!

[@gianfilippopiras7191]

bellissima voce di Joan, ciao Vale...

[@alaingouvernet413]

J'adore.....

[@mikewest8834]

what a wonderful thing.

[@letto26]

Leggenda!!! ciao Giulio

[@judithbarry4058]

Always brings tears to my eyes.

[@Amarcord777]

Stupenda!! Grande Vale!

[@lesaboo4740]

Lovely song always have loved Joan's music

[@valeriacenerelli6120]

❤ ❤ ❤

[@fixitmann6685]

*for english speakers: Crinoline slips: Usually nylon, basically a petticoat with tulle worn under a skirt to add volume, popular in the 1950s. Pedal pushers: calf-length trousers that were popular during the 1950s and the early 1960s. Often cuffed and worn tight to the skin, they are related in style to capri pants. Vernal equinox: the first day of spring, when the day and night are equal, and the sun shines on exactly half of the Earth, and a time of new beginnings, however, in this usage it could be taken as a euphemism for the two halves of the buttocks, for some reason, probably simply because it fit in the song, and, after all astrological references were popular in the 60's.

[@stevenconnelly1468]

1979, that was the year that "The Muppet Movie"came out.

[@Deanmo23]

Statler: I think honesty is always the best policy. Waldorf: Do you believe that? Statler: No, I was lying.