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They could both be the Jewish voices of their generation — but they are just now getting the chance to harmonize.
On Wednesday, Barbra Streisand announced a forthcoming album of duets, The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume Two, with the likes of Hozier, Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande and — finally — Bob Dylan, resolving decades of a great musical will-they-won’t-they.
It’s no secret that Dylan and Streisand have influenced one another. In a 1971 interview, unearthed a few years ago, Dylan revealed he wrote “Lay Lady Lay” for her — not for Midnight Cowboy. But apparently, Dylan put out feelers for a more formal collaboration a few years later.
Toward the end of Streisand’s doorstopper memoir, My Name is Barbra, she wrote that she’d read an article that Dylan kept a letter from her in his archive.
“[B]ack in the 1970s he sent me flowers and a charming note, written in colored pencil with childlike letters, asking me if I would like to sing with him,” Streisand wrote.
Streisand’s 1978 letter thanking Dylan — and suggesting they work on a record together — went into his archive, but that wasn’t the end of the correspondence. When Yentl was coming out in 1983, Dylan sent a copy of his new album (it would have to be Infidels), with a note saying he was looking forward to seeing the film, and hoping that she might one day direct him.
“You are my favorite movie star,” Dylan wrote. “Your self-determination, wit and temperament and sense of justice have always appealed to me.”
For whatever reason, a duet never materialized, though Streisand’s manager called him around 2020 to confirm “Lay Lady Lay” was, indeed, written for her.
“I should have called him and said, ‘So Bob, what song were you thinking we could sing together? And let’s do it now, because we’re not getting any younger.’”
It turns out this duo will sing “The Very Thought of You.” We’re not yet sure if it’s the Dylan deep cut or the jazz standard. (The album seems to include both standards and newer songs, like “Fragile” by Sting, which Streisand will sing with the original artist.)
It’s a banner day for fans of Babs and Bob, but while it’s surely a milestone for the octogenarian entertainers, there’s plenty for younger devotees to enjoy.
Also on the track list is “Letter To My 13 Year Old Self,” which Streisand will sing with Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey. In that, I predict a new classic for bat mitzvah DJs.
Correction: A previous version of this article said Dylan and Streisand first discussed a duet over 50 years ago. The letters about it are from 1978, making it closer to 47 years.
This story was originally published on the Forward.
