- I learned the truth at seventeen,
That love was meant for beauty queens - There's never much to say between
The moments of our games and repartee - Put your ear to the ground,
there's a buzz
about a new type of song - And I'm leaving the light on the stairs
No I'm not scared - I wait for you
Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home - Nothing's sadder than the man who thinks he's free
when he is chained to the prison of his hatred,
and a dream gone up in flames - I would tell her how I've yearned
to be worthy of the grail.
All these years and all I've learned
is just how brilliantly I fail - There are voices on the wind.
Stolen whispers, sacred moans.
You can hear them through your skin,
and the singing of the bones - Here we all are, waiting for God,
or someone who looks just like Him - We live beyond our means
on other peoples' dreams,
and that's succeeding - We were speaking of values and violence.
Breaking silence - And if I never reach Orion,
and if I never fly that far -
still there's no harm in trying
to go walking on a star - And if Jesus was a black man,
or as white as Sambo's grin,
it's his words that we'd remember,
not the color of his skin - Old lace and picture frames
rattle their ancient chains.
Midnight will surprise moonlight at the door - I want to make you love me,
and I want to make you smile,
and I want to be your family,
for just a little while - I believe in tomorrow,
but I remember yesterday - How could I have loved you for so long?
I know I enjoyed you,
but how could I have liked you? - Old cliches, they grow like vines,
to clutch the heart of the one you leave behind - It's the road that makes the rhythm.
It's the chalk marks on her soul. - She was younger than forever.
She was older than goodbye. - It's not who you love,
but whether you can. - Vocatus atque non vocatus, deus aderit.
Sursum, Domini, sursum Domini.
Ora pro nobis, in ora pro nobis pacem, Kyrie.
In ora Kyrie eleison. Kyrie. - She can taste it on your breath,
cutting through the cigarette.
She can smell it on your sweat - The city casts no shadow now.
At midnight,
all the whores come out and dance with darkness,
and the night rains pour. - How does it feel to pull out the nails,
and find you still can walk? - Yesterday's preacher,
today's bikini beacher - Now all over this big wide world,
I play like a girl -
from the California lights to the Serengetti nights,
I play like a girl - Close the light. Still the flames.
Candles light the empty frames.
A photograph can never be
the song you are to me. - Some overdose, and some wrap like a rose
'round the slick perfumed nose of high noon.
Burning their lips as they stoop low
to kiss some rich man's excuse for the moon. - First time I saw Paris in your eyes,
you told me how you loved me,
under blue Picasso skies. - No one sends roses to crazy old ladies
who lie in dark dusty rooms,
the size of a small foreign car.
Sometimes I wonder
where all the good people are. - Some sell their bodies for dimes,
while others marry for the houses,
and the jewelry.
It's a real thin line,
what you charge for your time. - Hide me in the wisdom of your thighs.
Ride me like a wave. - And is she beautiful?
She must be pretty, or worse,
to ride the high seas. - The gates of the city are closed until dawn,
when the ghosts of midnight have come and gone,
and the hearts of the weary carry on - Why can't my wings soar like yours?
Why can't my span spread as wide?
Maybe I've got too much left to hide - I am waiting for my life to be
one long unbroken symphony.
Will it come too late to shelter me?
I long to be eternity.
Come on, come on, eternity! - I lay the baby out each dawn,
inbetween the tender corn,
with sunrise for her bonnet,
and flies her only blanket. - Somewhere out there are millions just like me -
homesick for Eden,
heartsick at the memory. - You mistake the moment for the song.
The drama for the play.
The actor for the role.
The neon light for day. - The old ones like to claw and clutch.
Be careful not to offer much.
They understand the fist and crutch. - Here I am dancing at last.
Holding my own,
even when the band plays fast -
tonight's the night! - How we used to like the old-time movies.
The silent picture show,
where you make up your life
at the end of the night,
as your reel to reels unfold - Her new name was tattooed to her wrist.
It was longer than the old one... tattoo. - God said I wish you'd known me,
when I still believed you'd be true.
Now for the rest of your days,
when you call our my name,
I'll be "Mr. God" to you. - Every man's an island in the desert of his soul.
Take to the sky,
there's nowhere else to go. - I went to drink some water,
but the faucet heads were gone.
They weren't sterling silver,
but I loved to turn them on. - Enough about me - let's talk about you.
What do you think of me?
Society's Child finalist for Distinguished Achievement in Production!
In addition to her own nomination, Janis' production team have been nominated for the finals!
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Janis Nominated For An Audie Award!
We are proud to announce Janis has been nominated in the "Best Narration by Author" category. This is the only awards program in the United States devoted entirely to honoring spoken word entertainment.
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Janis WINS the GRAMMY!
We are thrilled to announce that Janis has won the 2013 GRAMMY award for "Best Spoken Word Album"! Up against Bill Clinton, Michelle Obama, Ellen Degeneres and Rachel Maddow, Janis' autobiography Society's Child took home the award.
[more]
Check The Latest Update!
Visit the News Room for all the latest news on Janis. Visit the On Tour page for her current tour schedule.
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All tour dates updated on April 17, 2013
- Thu, May 30 - New York, NY, USA
- Fri, May 31 - New York, NY, USA
Javitts Center-APA Author Tea
New York, NY, USA
Visit the venue's website
Moderating the 13th annual APA Author Tea! With Bill Bryson, Louise Penny, & Brad Sanderson. 4pm - 5 pm.
- Mon, Jun 3 - New York, NY, USA
- Thu, Jun 27 - Chicago, IL, USA
American Library Association annual meeting
Chicago, IL, USA
Visit the venue's website
Attending the annual American Library Association's convention, and premiering "The Tiny Mouse" children's illustrated book! The premiere will be a private event, sorry!
- Sun, Jul 28 - Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA
Swannanoa Gathering
Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA
Phone: 828.298.3434
Visit the venue's website
Morning master classes focusing on performing, songwriting, history. Afternoon discussion and interviews focusing on the things no one ever talks about.
- Sat, Oct 5 - Nashville, TN, USA
more tour dates
Society's Child - My Autobiography
WINS 2013 GRAMMY!
Congratulations on your latest GRAMMY win, Janis!
We are thrilled to announce that the audiobook of Janis' autobiography, Society's Child - My Autobiography, has won the GRAMMY award for Best Spoken Word! The audiobook is on sale in the store right now! It's available as a 12 hour / 10 CD package. You can also listen to samples from the audiobook and read more about it in the Reading Room.
In honor of her GRAMMY win, Audible.com are offering a free 17 minute sample of the book! Look under the cover photo and press "Sample."
You can also visit the Official Grammy website to watch video footage of the award presentation.
"Her mesmerizing memoir transports us back in time with both words and music. Each chapter begins with an evocative lyric, and in this audio, read and sung by Ian, listeners are thrust into the moment."
– Booklist featured review
Noted director Stefan Rudnicki worked with Janis on the Audible.com version of her autobiography, Society's Child - My Autobiography. In the works for more than three years, Stefan liked Janis as a reader so much that he used her for two other books while she was in LA! Says Janis, "I love that I got to sing and play and tell my story in words and music. One of the most fun things I've ever done!!"
Listen to samples from the audiobook and read excerpts!
The story of a lifetime...Janis Ian's long awaited autobiography spans over a half century or music and change. From her earliest shows of protest in the sixties to today, Society's Child - My Autobiography tells a tale of love, of loneliness, of music and hope. It's a must read for any fan, and a really good read for the rest.
"At 15 she was already breaking all the rules. In an era-the mid-1960s-when people of her parents' generation didn't speak about "ugly things" like interracial romance, prostitution, and war, Janis Ian was opening her big mouth and getting hounded offstage for singing her taboo-busting lyrics. Society's Child (Tarcher/Penguin) is the hugely readable autobiography of an artist who has lived through success and crushing hardship but knows that ‘you can't sing and cry at the same time.’ Sing on!" - O Magazine™
“Fans will love the book, of course, but many nonfans, too, should find this painfully candid memoir hard to put down.” - Booklist, starred review
