Rolling Stone did a lovely interview with Joan Baez, who is still kicking ass and taking names. She’s a grandmother, she paints, she’s still political and she still makes music. She’s released a new protest song, “One in a Million,” but when speaking to RS about the state of American politics, she sounds like she has little hope that the United States can ever be repaired. There are also her first comments about A Complete Unknown, the early-years Bob Dylan biopic which earned eight Oscar nominations. One of those nominations was for Monica Barbaro, who played the young Baez. You can read the full RS piece here. Some highlights:
On Trump’s reelection: “Surprised the sh-t out of me. Nobody could have dreamed this up. Nobody could have predicted that it would turn into what it’s turned into, because that’s for other countries, the “sh-thole countries.” This is turning into a sh-thole country because of them. It’s all the evil things that sh-thole countries do. On the other hand, we’ve all sort of known that the Heritage Foundation has been plugging away and making plans, and we just weren’t prepared….the truth is it’s been in the works for 50 years. It’s not even about Trump. He just turned out to be this wizard of a disgusting human being who gives people the right to do what he does.
What’s surprised her this time around: “In the first 100 days, sending people like that [snaps fingers] to prisons known for torture. All the work I did in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and the Eastern Bloc, and it’s the same mechanism, with all the ruthlessness and the steps to the dictatorship. I’m worried about the speed at which they’re doing it and where they’re going, and the horrible cruelty that takes place every day. I really appreciated Bruce Springsteen repeating “It’s happening now” [during his concerts in the U.K.]. Because you tend to say, “Oh, it’s going to be a rough four years.” No, it’s now.”
Her granddaughter is going to law school: “My beautiful granddaughter Jasmine is a singer-songwriter but decided she wanted to be a lawyer. She’ll be going to law school in August, and I’m thinking, “What a time!” She wants to be a constitutional lawyer. We’re not going to have a f–king Constitution very likely. So, all I can do with my son and my granddaughter is walk through this day by day and encourage her to do what she’s doing.
Whether there could be a pendulum swing after Trump: “[Soberly] This is different. I don’t know how you make up for what’s already been done.”
She reached out to the ‘Complete Unknown’ actors: “Are you kidding? I reached out to them, to the actors: “Would they like to talk to me?” So, Monica called, and then Ed Norton. They both had long conversations with me. Monica said, “If you like it, please tell me. But don’t tell me if you didn’t like it.” I said, “Listen, if we don’t like it, we’ll throw popcorn at the screen, but I think we’ll probably like it.”
She heavily praises Monica Barbaro and even mentions that Monica studied and correctly imitated some of her little nervous tics. Baez also thought Timmy Chalamet was great as Dylan, but she thought he looked too clean – her memory of Dylan at that time was that he rarely bathed (ew). As for what Baez says about the current political situation… she’s saying that we’re f–ked. The part about her granddaughter broke my heart – “We’re not going to have a f–king Constitution very likely. So, all I can do with my son and my granddaughter is walk through this day by day and encourage her to do what she’s doing.” Exactly – we’re so profoundly f–ked, but people still have to try and hope that we can change things or do something to end this trauma.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
