Joan Baez singing
Phil Ochs’ ‘There But For Fortune’ is an incredibly beautiful thing. It is so very
moving, and Phil somehow succeeded in striking the perfect balance between
writing a particularly compassionate song and being quietly angry. The gently reflective
way Joan sings it, well, sometimes it seems like it was meant for her: she
sounds so wise, so understanding, and the recording is so stark and haunting
that its magic lasts.
‘There But For Fortune’ is how many of us first unwittingly came across Phil’s work. Once it was often on the radio, the Joan Baez recording, or at least that’s the way it seems. Certainly, at home, it was one of those songs that would be listened to intently whenever it came on: a warning finger raised and the head cocked on one side to catch the words better, and woe betide anyone who interrupted. Joni’s ‘Both Sides Now’ is another one where this would happen, and lines from that song have been pinned up on the wall here for years and years: can you guess which ones?
