Joan Baez recently joined Variety to discuss her new visual memoir, ‘I Am A Noise,’ as she recalled her early days with Bob Dylan, how the rock icon broke her heart, and how she’d found the strength in her to make peace with him after years of resentment.
‘I Am A Noise’ premiered only a few days ago, letting the audience take an exclusive peak into Joan’s personal life, family, and once-close friends. One of the crucial points in the documentary was Baez opening up about her relationship with Bob Dylan, as the pair went way back and had a romance as young musicians.
However, it seems like Dylan was more than only an ex-boyfriend who broke her heart since the rocker’s presence was pretty significant in Baez’s life, even when they didn’t talk in the past. So, when the host asked if the former couple were in touch these days, the singer said they weren’t. Still, she held no grudges against Bob because her feelings for him went beyond simple resentment.
Baez recalled painting a portrait of Dylan one day, then listening to his music, realizing his importance in her life, and making peace with their complex relationship. She even wrote a letter to the rocker, letting him know that there was no resentment by her side. However, she didn’t want him to answer, so she left no return address or mailing info. Joan only wanted Bob to know how much he meant to him.
When asked if she was in contact with Bob Dylan, the folk singer replied:
“Not really. But it so much doesn’t matter. Whatever resentment I might have had hanging on there [inside myself] for all those years, you heard and saw that in the film Well, I was doing his portrait one day in my art studio. And it was a portrait of him when he was very young. And I put on his music, and all of that resentment, all of that bullsh*t, just drained away, it drained away.
And I wrote him a letter and told him so. And that was it. I didn’t put a return address or an email or anything that was in any way trying to get something out of him; I just wanted him to know how much he meant to me. How much his music had meant to me. And I may never see him again, and that’s okay too.”
It’ll be too romantic to say this, but Baez’s feelings might be the definition of what many would call ‘true love.’ She didn’t need to talk to Dylan or see him every other day to remember how much his presence meant to her. Whatever might have happened in the past didn’t matter to Joan Baez as she made peace with her ex-friend and lover, and that’s all she needed.
