Speaking of Dreams

Last updated
Speaking of Dreams
Speaking of dreams.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1989
Recorded1989
Genre Folk
Label Gold Castle
Producer Alan Abrahams
Joan Baez chronology
Diamonds & Rust in the Bullring
(1988)
Speaking of Dreams
(1989)
Play Me Backwards
(1992)

Speaking of Dreams is a 1989 album by Joan Baez that mixed personal compositions like the title song with political statements like "China", which was inspired by the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. (Baez also dedicated the album to the students of Tiananmen Square who "nonviolently, and at an enormous price, have changed the face of China forever.") The album featured collaborations with Paul Simon, Jackson Browne and the Gipsy Kings, and marked the beginning of a period where Baez notes she put her music ahead of the political activism that had preoccupied her for much of the prior decade.

Joan Baez American singer

Joan Chandos Baez is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist whose contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish and English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages. Although generally regarded as a folk singer, her music has diversified since the counterculture era of the 1960s, and encompasses genres such as folk rock, pop, country and gospel music.

Paul Simon American musician, songwriter and producer

Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Simon's musical career has spanned seven decades with his fame and commercial success beginning as half of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, formed in 1956 with Art Garfunkel. Simon was responsible for writing nearly all of the pair's songs including three that reached number one on the U.S. singles charts: "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", and "Bridge over Troubled Water".

Jackson Browne American singer-songwriter

Clyde Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Coming to prominence in the 1970s, Browne has written and recorded songs such as "These Days", "The Pretender", "Running on Empty", "Lawyers in Love", "Doctor My Eyes", "Take It Easy", "For a Rocker", and "Somebody's Baby". In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and given an honorary doctorate of music by Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked him as 37th in its list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time".

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Track listing


  1. "China" (Joan Baez)
  2. "Warriors of the Sun" (Baez)
  3. "Carrickfergus" (traditional, Alan Connaught)
  4. "Hand to Mouth" (George Michael)
  5. "Speaking of Dreams" (Baez)
  6. "El Salvador" (Gregory Copeland) (duet with Jackson Browne)
  7. "Rambler Gambler/Whispering Bells" (traditional, Fred Lowry, Clarence Quick) (duet with Paul Simon)
  8. "Fairfax County" (David Massengill)
  9. "A Mi Manera (My Way)" (Claude François/ Jacques Revaux/ Gilles Thibaut/ engl. Paul Anka) (with the Gipsy Kings)

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