Joan Baez, the historic voice of American folk, during a long conversation on the podcast Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus criticized the silence on politics of most contemporary pop stars in the face of what the actress called “the current assault on democracy” by the Trump administration.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus introduced the topic, asking Baez if she finds it frustrating that many young artists avoid exposing themselves: «I think I understand where they're coming from. It is significant that the song used in all these demonstrations is still there The Times They Are a-Changin'. That level of writing has never been reached again. Nobody came close to us.”
Baez pointed out that some artists are trying to use music as a political tool. She mentioned Brandi Carlile and Maggie Rogers, her personal friend, who recently took a stand during a demonstration against ICE, the US federal immigration enforcement agency. Then came the hardest jab: «I look at these stadiums full of brilliant young singer-songwriters and think: why can't they just take that small step? In any case, they are already as rich as God.”
During the interview Baez also recalled one of the first moments in which he understood the power of music when, as a teenager, he performed in front of the Shriners, a historic American Masonic organization: «I don't remember what I sang, but they all shut up and really listened. Finally an elderly man said to me: “Don't sell yourself short. You're good, you'll go far.”
In recent months, Baez has actively participated in protests against Trump's policies. She performed alongside Maggie Rogers and Tom Morello during the No Kings rally at the Minnesota State Capitol, singing The Times They Are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan. The three also took part in the Artists United for Our Freedoms event, organized against Trump's changes to the Kennedy Center and was announced among the guests of the Power To The People Festival organized by Tom Morello, together with Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters and Serj Tankian, conceived as an artistic and political response to the American climate of recent months. But it's not the first time Baez has denounced the absence of real contemporary protest songs either. In a previous interview with Rolling Stone he had said that «we need an anthem. But hymns cannot be manufactured. Imagine she is still beautiful. Dylan's songs are still known everywhere. But nothing has the same effect as We Shall Overcome».
