In a message dated 3/23/02 4:38:16 PM, Murphycopy writes:
<< They call and say 'Come dance with me'
And murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me
At seventeen (Janis Ian, "At Seventeen")>>
(Bob) I wonder if Janis really felt this way, or if she was just writing
about geeks in general. I always thought she was kinda cute! Besides, how
many of the other kids with whom she interacted at that age could say they
had experienced fame and had had a major hit ("Society's Child") long before
they were 17 years old?
(Walt) I seem to remember reading about her at various times, some back in
the '70's and some more recently, and i think this song came from the heart.
She wasn't miserable -- but her beauty wasn't of the blond-and-blue type, and
being smart, as most of us who grew up in the U.S. know, is hardly a
guarantee of happiness in the high school environment. Granted, she got that
early fame from "Society's Child", but her second album flopped, and the
third did worse, and so on until she took a break during college and came
back with a vengeance, so to speak.
<< (Bob) I wonder -- what are her lyrics like these days? I don't think I
ever really paid much attention to her after her "Society's Child" album came
out. I do remember one song from that long-lost album, and I'm not going to
even guess at the title, that had the lyrics that went something like this:
Don't talk about sex
You might get hexed
God will punish you
For your dirty mind
It's no sin to enjoy a raping
Just to find out the facts of life
So you make it with your mind
Pretty provocative stuff for a (I think) 13 year old in the 1960s. Is her
current stuff worth checking out? >>
(Walt) Yeah, you've got her age about right -- she was born Janis Eddy Fink
(one can see sometimes why people change their names -- with a name like
this, you sound like Wally's disingenuous friend from Leave It To Beaver) in
1950, so she was awfully young in, what, 65 or 66, when "Society's Child"
came out.
The most recent lyric I have at hand is a heartbreaking one she wrote about
people with AIDS, called "When Angels Cry", from her "Revenge" album, 1995:
Wait
Your tired arms must rest
Let this moment pass
Wait until the morning
Close your eyes and let me see who you used to be
Left without a warning
Who knew one so big could grow so small
Lighter than the writing on the wall
CHORUS
When angels cry, can I stand by
When stones weep, can my heart sleep
Wish I'd never heard
Wish I'd never heard
Wish I'd never heard
The power of a four letter word
Only love will matter in the end
For woman or for man
What's the difference now?
Here, we live with bottles and needles and truth
Here is your living proof that death cannot be proud
Some say it's a judgement on us all
I can't believe that God could be that small
CHORUS
If ever was a heart that longed to fly
If ever was a soul that longed to bloom
If ever was an angel, it was you
So close your eyes and say goodbye
Goodbye
When angels cry, I can't stand by
When stones weep, my heart can't sleep
Guess I've finally learned
Guess I've finally learned
Yes, I've finally learned
Love is just a four letter word
Hope is just a four letter word
[Copyright 1995 Rude Girl Publishing
BMI/Administered by Bug Music]
(Back to me, now) Um, I have to go be by myself for awhile.
hugs,
walt
