Farewell, Angelina

I just finished watching Murray Lerner's documentary, Festival!, about the Newport Folk Festivals in the early 60s. My favorite performance was Joan Baez singing "Farewell, Angelina", which was written by Dylan (although his performance of the song wasn't released, and hardly known about, until his Bootleg Vol. 1-3 appeared in the early 90s). Baez's version appeared on her 1965 album of the same name (which I just realized I picked up for 50 cents a few weeks ago).

I don't think I'd ever heard it before, though it is hauntingly familiar, which might just be a quality inherent in the song. I find her version superior to Dylan's. She made of it a more mournful, but at the same time, inspirational tune.

One verse concludes with the lines:

While the make-up man's hands
Shut the eyes of the dead
Not to embarass anyone
Farewell, Angelina
The sky is embarassed
And I must be gone.

The documentary also reveals that Mary Travers was quite a piece. Judy Collins as well. And, I was kinda digging Joanie too. Those folkies were all right.