Introduction
In her 2018 live performance of “Donna Donna,” legendary folk icon Joan Baez revisits one of her earliest and most hauntingly beautiful songs—a piece that has followed her since the early 1960s, yet remains just as urgent, poetic, and emotionally stirring today. Performed during her Fare Thee Well tour, this rendition feels like both a farewell and a reaffirmation of everything Baez has stood for: truth, empathy, and the enduring voice of the oppressed.
Originally adapted from a Yiddish theater song by Sholom Secunda and Aaron Zeitlin, and translated into English by Arthur Kevess and Teddi Schwartz, “Donna Donna” tells the symbolic story of a young calf being led to slaughter while a swallow flies freely overhead. The contrast between submission and freedom is laid bare in the refrain:
“Stop complaining,” said the farmer,
“Who told you a calf to be?
Why don’t you have wings to fly with,
Like the swallow so proud and free?”
Baez, with her unmistakable crystalline soprano—now seasoned with age and gravity—sings the song not as a relic, but as a living protest, a parable for those still denied their voice, their dignity, their wings. There’s no theatrics, just presence: one woman, one voice, one guitar, and a truth that still resonates.
Her 2018 performance is imbued with reflective grace. The tone is softer now, more contemplative, but no less piercing. Every word carries the weight of decades spent fighting for justice, and every note seems to hold a memory of the civil rights marches, the Vietnam protests, and the countless times she’s used her platform to speak out.
The stripped-down arrangement—just Joan and her guitar—is a return to form. It reminds us that folk music at its core is about message and emotion, not polish. Her fingers gently pull the strings, and her voice, though weathered, holds its clarity like a lantern in the dark.
“Donna Donna” in 2018 is no longer the voice of youthful defiance—it’s the voice of a wise witness, still urging us to see the difference between flying and following, between living freely and quietly fading away.
For longtime fans, this performance is a circle completed—a powerful reminder of where it all began, and how the heart of Joan Baez has never stopped beating for those still in chains.
“Donna Donna” (Live 2018) is not just a folk song—it is a whispered cry for freedom, still echoing after all these years.
