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Jesse Lyrics

Jesse come home, there's a hole in the bed
Where we slept; now it's growing cold.
Jesse your face, in the place where we lay
By the hearth, all apart, it hangs on my heart

And I'm leaving the light on the stairs
No I'm not scared; I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it's lonely, come home.

Jesse the stairs in the halls, recalling
Your step; and I remember too.
All the pictures are shaded and fading in grey
And I still set a place on the table at noon

And I'm leaving the light on the stairs
No I'm not scared; I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it's lonely, come home.

Jesse the spread on the bed,
It's like when you left, I kept it for you.
All the blues and the greens have been recently cleaned
And are seemingly new; hey Jess, me and you.

We'll swallow the light on the stairs
I'll fix up my hair, we'll sleep unawares
Hey Jesse, it's lonely, come home
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Cover art for Jesse lyrics by Joan Baez

I like the sound of this title (No. 4 from 1975 "Diamonds and Rust"). But I can't say I understand much of it. "blues and the greens"? "swallow the light"? And, "Jesse" who?

Jesse is a man who has left the narrator (or maybe died). She has not gotten over him and feels that he has left a hollow place in her life, as expressed in the first two verses. She says she's leaving the light on the stairs, not because she's scared living alone, but to invite him back.

In the third verse, she describes how she has kept everything intact for his return. The "blues and the greens" are the colors of the linens and so on, which are clean and ready for him to come back. She imagines...

Another possibility is that Jesse hasn't actually left her, but is just away for a long period, maybe traveling on business or in the army. Anyway, it's clear she misses him and wants him to come home.

Cover art for Jesse lyrics by Joan Baez

i think she wants Jesse to come home, not to state the obvious! everythings darker without Jesse,All the pictures are shaded and fading in grey.

Cover art for Jesse lyrics by Joan Baez

Love this song. So beautiful and sad.

 
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