Song in the Blood
1968 · Vanguard VSD-79275 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Joan Baez
- Title
- Song in the Blood
- Release
- Baptism
- Year
- 1968
- Label
- Vanguard # VSD-79275
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Songwriter
- Jacques Prevert
- Genre
- Folk · Contemporary Folk
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
As discussed above, Joan Baez played an active and important role in the 1960s/70s protest and civil rights movement. She was born on Staten Island, New York, on 9 January 1941. Her father was born in Puebla, Mexico, and she has spoken of identifying with the Mexican-American community. Released on this 1968 album (Vanguard Records # VSD-79275) were several songs about war in general, the theme of the A-Side. (1) Released during the Vietnam-era, they took an anti-war stance. The track "Song in the Blood", a poem by Jacques Prevert, reflected on the "great puddles of blood on the world" and wondered "where is it all going?" The song "I Saw the Vision of Armies" was a poem by Walt Whitman, which looked at the battle scene, the symbol of the flag, and the suffering of mourning families: "through the smoke of the battles, pierced with missiles...a few shreds of flags....battle corpses, myriads of them...they suffered not, the living remained and suffered". The song "Minister of War" was by English Orientalist Arthur Waley, which looked at the role of government in sending people to war: "we are the king's claws and fangs, why should you roll us on from misery to misery, giving us no…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs
As noted above, Baez's father was born in Puebla, Mexico, and she has spoken of identifying with the Mexican-American community. Released on this 1968 album (Vanguard Records # VSD-79275) were several songs about war in general, the theme of the A-Side. (1) Released during the Vietnam-era, they took an anti-war stance. The track "Song in the Blood", a poem by Jacques Prevert, reflected on the "great puddles of blood on the world" and wondered "where is it all going?" The song "I Saw the Vision of Armies" was a poem by Walt Whitman, which looked at the battle scene, the symbol of the flag, and the suffering of mourning families: "through the smoke of the battles, pierced with missiles...a few shreds of flags....battle corpses, myriads of them...they suffered not, the living remained and suffered". The song "Minister of War" was by English Orientalist Arthur Waley, which looked at the role of government in sending people to war: "we are the king's claws and fangs, why should you roll us on from misery to misery, giving us no place to stop in or take rest?" The album reached #84 in the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Born 9 January 1941, Staten Island, New York, USA. Currently Woodside, California, USA
Themes
In collections
Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs