694 Joan Baez (1941- ) “Birmingham Sunday” 1964

“Inspired by the deaths of four Negro schoolgirls when a white racist firebombed a church during services in September 1963, the song is neither a straightforward reportorial account nor a protest anthem but a gently poetic evocation of a tragedy…derived from the traditional Irish love song ‘I Once Loved a Lass.’ (Langston Hughes would describe it as ‘musically so beautifully understated…a quiet protest song.’)” (David Hajdu, Positively 4th Street, 2001).

Joan Baez “Birmingham Sunday”