A hard Rain Bob Dylan parody by Joan Baez - Records Pictures

[Stalky24]

Haha its hilarious :D

I love the way Joan imitates Bob.

[deadsnoopy1]

Dylans intonation and phrasing is/ was so interesting.

[silverstartrucker]

Joan has a great voice...

[trancentralovertone]

a hard rain indeed

[Ojja78]

This is definitely NOT a parody, but a tribute to Dylan. Baez and Dylan were friends, so that makes sense.

And this is such an amazing song. I've been looking for this version of this song for over 10 years, ever since I heard it at a friend's house, but I didn't know the singer. So glad I've found it.

[TheNigelc8]

What a voice , only K D Laing can be compaired  with J B and dont forget the genius who wrote it, lovethem all

[IAintOverYet]

The quality of Bob Dylan's singing voice should never...NEVER be the parameter by which the depth of his singing is judged. The emotion that wells up from within him is vehicle that drives his lyrics and his music in a way that no one, and I mean NO ONE, has ever come close to presenting his songs in the manner he does so brilliantly well. Anyone who has studied his music over the decades is convinced of that simple truth.

[belliose]

@IAintOverYet,

Wrong. Dylan's songs can be divided into two categories. Those that are personal to him and those that aren't. The songs that are personal to him, he completely understands and expresses with a feeling that no one else can reproduce. Like a Rolling Stone and Positively 4th Street, for example. His other songs, the ones he sings with fake emotion, others sing far better than he does - like this one. It's the fake emotion that gives rise to the ridicule in this rendition by Joan.

[IAintOverYet]

@belliose I just don't see things so finitely divided. To me, just about everything he (and every great songwriter) has done is something very personal. And why would anyone pick THAT song as an example of something impersonal or sang with "fake" emotion? I love Joan Baez, especially when she has collaborated with Bob, except for one time with that same song on the Rolling Thunder tour in 1975. It disappeared from YouTube for now. She just about ruined that rendition. She just did not get it.

[belliose]

@IAintOverYet,

Like A Rolling Stone and Positively 4th Street are "Fuck You" songs aimed at someone Dylan personally knew. His contempt and disdain for those people are evident. What is the emotion behind this song and who is it aimed at? What 'hard rain' does it portend? How is it 'personal' to Dylan?

[IAintOverYet]

@belliose I've listened to a 1963 radio interview where Dylan disputed what others claimed he meant by a hard rain.

"No, it's not atomic rain, it's just a hard rain. It isn't the fallout rain. I mean some sort of end that's just gotta happen... In the last verse, when I say, 'the pellets of poison are flooding the waters', that means all the lies that people get told on their radios and in their newspapers." Personal doesn't just have to be about other people. It can be about personal feelings.

[belliose]

@IAintOverYet,

I've always interpreted this song exactly that way; some kind of general warning that if people don't change, some calamity will befall us. But that's a pretty sterile, emotionless assessment of the way people do things and no amount of inflection can infuse an emotional quality into it. It's motivated more by intellect than feelings. That's why 'better' singers sing it better. A lot of Dylan's work are strictly intellectual exercises and those are the songs that others do better.

[IAintOverYet]

@belliose It's good that there are people like you who are so passionate about music. However, I don't judge a song necessarily by the quality of the singing voice. I prefer artists who are not so self-conscious about their voice or that every note is in perfect pitch. One should be able to tell that by the favorites and artist playlists on my YouTube page. The entire package is what appeals to me. But that song shouldn't be classified as "sterile". I lived that era, and I see the passion in it.

[hafischer1]

Dylan is a great lyricist, but frankly his voice leaves much to be desired. Baez' voice is head & shoulders above his musically speaking - not just octaves; she sings Hard Rain much much better ( listen to one of her albums/cd's) ; and she is a Class ACT 5 star, triple A and any other appropriate metaphor to decribe this most incredible voice & PERSON.

[blugreen3264]

a parody and a cover are two different things, idiot!

[auguritutto]

I very much really like her voice whatever the ins and outs. Thank you.

[Cordylcoh]

It is an homage by Joan to Bob I'm sure. Bob always sings in his own inimitable way but his singing is just as musical as Joan's. Respect!

[arashtony]

Hahahhaa! People are so funny. I love Joanie's voice! And I love her! Thanks for posting!!!!!

[TerrySleeper]

Nothing wrong with a piss-take.

Which is what the end of this song is.

Lighten up.

[tiredoldcrow]

Dylan is the best, Joan Baez is even better. You go Joanie.

[belliose]

Not parody. And definitely not homage. This is ridicule and it is right on! Dylan could never compete with phony Joanie as a singer. He is so deserving of her derision, and ours too...

[comfortat]

definitely NOT parody. imitation, homage to the man, but not parody.

sorry.

[XZYOE]

Meh, she picked the best part to do the parody.

Kind of ruined it...

[gambitvoleur]

@XZYOE I think the idea is that's when the blue-eyed son is responding to "what do you do now" so it makes a clever spot to do a different voice from the logic of the song... I agree it's the best part tho.

[RETRO714]

It's not a "parody" at the end...it's an "homage"

[WolfmanMusic]

nice nice nice sweet

[Mellusi1]

This is a Beautiful version... And I can see why you only have 5 videos... You did a great job.... Lots of work... I know... Look me up... would ya.... Mellusi1

[JRWTheMusic]

I do a cover of Bobs version on my profile page, a good one...on piano

[Marseille5]

Haha, her imitation, near the end, is excellent !

[brusselstarlight]

i think she does imitate Dylan toward the end, but imitating is not a parody either.

[izzapoppin]

@brusselstarlight

actually, imitating for comic effect is a parody.

[flipadiddle]

@izzapoppin shut the fuck up

[izzapoppin]

@flipadiddle

what the hell's a "flipadiddle?"

[slumdogjay]

I wish Joan Baez would just sing straight. She has a voice but she over sings with that vibrato. Gets annoying after about a minute.

[ioriorioriorio]

@slumdogjay kinda of a part of her personality....quivering, like a tender flower in the cold breeze...never annoying to my ears

[Lormont52]

If you listen right to the end, she does do a parody. Patience children.

[ElPanaManolo]

Oyendo esta gente uno nunca se pone viejo... forever young,,!!!

[TamarZucker]

Confused...

[lustre5]

She definitely breaks for parody!!!!

[jsebsteelguitar]

Génial!!!

[superwesman]

i don't think that parody means what you think it means

[trentreedbeyotch]

nostalgia

[RussMoxham]

I'm another one who came here on the off chance of discovering a parody and instead got a cover version. The two are very different things.

[pacoxguitar]

@RussMoxham -well, call it on the way you want but the minut 3:52 can be call it parody or maybe tribute but not just a simple covercover

[vinilos60s]

@RussMoxham well, call it on the way you want but the way to sing on the minut 3:52 can be called parody or maybe tribute but is not just a simple cover-Regards and thanks for comments

[GlassDeviant]

@vinilos60s A parody is putting new words to the music, not singing in a (possibly mocking, though not likely in this case) manner similar to the original artist's style. Please go learn something about music, come back when you've earned your ticket on the clue train.

[roryphelan]

@vinilos60s I think it is imitation rather than parody.

[lucy2011ization]

@RussMoxham U seriously don`t get it?!!! WOW...

[BrandNameChapstick]

this isnt a parody, you fool its a cover

[kennewicksheri]

ahhhhhhh .. thank you for posting this....

she 'does him good'... very good..

and what Classic... Lyrics.... what visuals.... packed with passion...

Dylan .. quite the poet.......

[BlueBlueFeelin]

sounds like she had a sudden case of retardation. no offense

[helbird72]

Parody?

[matchou75]

Very bad parody miss joanie, mister Dylan never say "merci" at the end of a song lol !

[Pepilotaaa]

hahaha very funny! :) Love them both!and great version. She does an amazing covers of It ain't me babe and Don't think twice it all right,  as well. All the time when I hear they take my breath away as they are so wonderful.Anyway love Joan Baez versions of Bob Dylan's songs!They both are really great in their unique way of viewing music and world!

[rhythm61]

Hey guys and women, please look up the history of these two. They toured together and dated and had an apparently rough break up. They later both apologized. Her Dylanizing would have worked better if it was shorter. It just sounds mean-spirited to me.

[MapOfTheProblatik]

hahaha great =D

[Raymantico]

This has Joan doing Bob's Rolling Thunder-style vocal and it ends up sounding like Patti Smith...Bob had asked Patti on that tour and was influenced by her singing at that time...he reabsorbed his own influence

[TheRealRalphButtawit]

i think joan should of sung like Bob its like punk

[speaklikesilence]

that's grat! love joan :)

[terigower]

just lovely Joan  ,,,her soul in everything she does,,,thanks for sending this 2 me,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[svemirjevelik]

I hate the way she destroys the song by putting her voice in the first plan. That is the last thing to do with dylan songs. Song becomes just like a million others from being one in the million.

[dslyoungNHI]

Joan Baez is the best interpreter of Dylan`s songs. You know what they called Dylan before Baez brought the melodic beauty out of his songs? "A Hillbilly".

[CompleteUnkn0wn]

Lol Joan is funny with her Dylan parodies.

Beautiful version too (aside from the parodying)

[ZackerZerack]

Well at 3:52 it is a parody ^^

[hughrrr]

Not a parody

[superego66]

I like the way she imitates his mid 70s rolling thunder concert vocal style, not the typical 60s nasal thing everyone does when doing dylan.

[stablejelly]

Fantastic collection of pics..best thing next to owning each one of them..Baez is my favorite of the clean singers. She does some justice to a Dylan song..

[aser05]

great, im searching this song with edie brichell & new bohemians, tanks