Joan Baez Said the ‘Best Song’ of Her Life Came Out of Her Relationship With Bob Dylan 

In 1975, Joan Baez reflected on her romantic relationship with Bob Dylan in the song “Diamonds and Rust.” She said that she held onto anger towards Dylan for years, but she has come to let go of it. Baez said that at the very least, her best song came out of the relationship.

Joan Baez wrote ‘Diamonds and Rust’ about her relationship with Bob Dylan

Baez and Dylan were together in the early 1960s and went their separate ways in 1965. A decade later she wrote the song “Diamonds and Rust” about the relationship. She said she considers this her best song.

“The really, really good stuff comes from down deep, and that was how strongly I was affected by Bob in the relationship and everything,” she told Rolling Stone. “It’d be stupid to pretend otherwise. If the only thing to come out of that relationship was the best song of my life …”

In it, she reminisces about the relationship, touching on some of the brighter spots of the romance.

“Well, you burst on the scene / Already a legend / The unwashed phenomenon / The original vagabond / You strayed into my arms / And there you stayed / Temporarily lost at sea,” she sings.

Joan Baez said she has let go of any anger towards Bob Dylan

Baez said that she was angry with Dylan for years after their split. It didn’t help that on a 1984 tour, he treated her coldly. She said she has stopped blaming him for the relationship, though.

“We were in our early 20s,” she told People. “We were stupid, and you can’t blame somebody forever. I certainly tried but finally stopped.”

She painted a portrait of Dylan in his youth while listening to his music. She said this allowed her to let go of any lingering resentment.

“I put his music on, and I just dissolved into tears,” she said. “When I was through with the painting, I had no animosity left. None. It’s remained that way.” 

She said she continues to sing his music in concert.

“They’re the easiest and most pleasurable to sing,” she said. “There’s a quality other people didn’t get to, for the most part.”

She once shared why she thought their relationship ended

While Baez described parts of their relationship as “totally demoralizing,” she said that she loved Dylan deeply.

“I was crazy about him,” she said, per the Toronto Star. “We were an item and we were having a wonderful time.”

She believed that their relationship came to an end because she wanted him to continue writing political music. By the mid-1960s, he wanted to move away from protest songs.

“I was trying to shove him into a mold,” she said. 

For his part, Dylan said he has regrets about the way the relationship ended.

“I feel very bad about it,” Dylan said. “I was sorry to see our relationship end.”