Joan Baez Sings Her Song

On Saturday, November 5th, Joan Baez played at the Carolina Theater in Durham, North Carolina. I've loved Joan's music since the early 70's, but this was only the second time I've seen her. The first was in September in Washington, DC at the "Operation Ceasefire" concert after the peace march.

After a wonderful opening set with two of her guitar players, Erik Della Penna and Graham Mabe, she sang this song acapella. It brought me to tears.

This is My Song

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

May truth and freedom come to every nation
May peace abound where strife has raged so long;
That each may seek to love and build together,
A world united, righting every wrong.
A world united in its love for freedom,
Proclaiming peace together in one song

Lloyd Stone, 1934

Here is an interview she did with David Menconi of the Raleigh, NC News and Observer.