and
Bob Dylan, August 28, 1963 The song alludes to Baez's relationship with
Bob Dylan ten years previously. Although Dylan is not specifically named in the song, in the third chapter of her memoir,
And a Voice to Sing With (1987), Baez uses phrases from the song in describing her relationship with Dylan, and has been explicit that he was the inspiration for the song. She recounts how she originally told Dylan that the song was about her ex-husband
David Harris, which was obviously not true. In her memoir,
And a Voice to Sing With, Baez recounts a 1975 conversation between herself and Dylan, discussing songs to include in the then-upcoming
Rolling Thunder Revue concerts: "You gonna sing that song about robin's eggs and diamonds?" Bob had asked me on the first day of rehearsals. "Which one?" "You know, that one about blue eyes and diamonds..." "Oh", I said, "you must mean 'Diamonds and Rust,' the song I wrote for my husband, David. I wrote it while he was in prison." "For your husband?" Bob said. "Yeah. Who did you think it was about?" I stonewalled. "Oh, hey, what the fuck do I know?" "Never mind. Yeah, I'll sing it, if you like." But Baez's marriage to Harris had, in fact, already ended by the time the song was written and composed. In an interview with music writer Mike Ragogna, Baez later explained how Dylan's phone call had changed the development of the song: MR: "Diamonds and Rust" was another magic moment. You've said when you began writing the song, it started as something else until Dylan phoned you. Then it became about him. That must have been one helluva call. JB: He read me the entire lyrics to "
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" that he'd just finished from a phone booth in the Midwest. MR: What was the song about originally? JB: I don't remember what I'd been writing about, but it had nothing to do with what it ended up as.
Dylan's reaction Dylan included a scene of Baez performing the song live on the
Rolling Thunder Revue in his 1978 film
Renaldo and Clara. In the 2009
American Masters documentary
Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound, Dylan praised the song in an on-camera interview: "I
love that song 'Diamonds & Rust'. I mean, to be included in something that Joan had written, whew, I mean, to this day it still impresses me". ==Variations==