• 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?

• $172,500 in scholarship money distributed by the Pearl Foundation in 2011!

  Find more information about this and lots of other news (including the upcoming release of Janis' autobiography as an audio book!) in the Newsroom.

  [more]

• "I Am The One" free sample

  "I Am the One," Janis' collaboration with Sister Miriam Therese Winter, is done - per Janis, one of her all-time favorites. Go here to listen to a sample, then purchase the full version on iTunes. Lyrics, alone or with chords and lead sheets/transcriptions, available!

  [more]

• Download "Married in London" free!

  For those fans having trouble finding the download link, here it is.

  Enjoy, and remember - it's fine with Janis if you send it to friends or post it on your site!

  [more]

more hot news

• Married In London - Live
• Welcome Home (The Nebulas Song)
• Bold Centurion - From Acetate

more free downloads

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All tour dates updated on January 27, 2012

IMPORTANT: All merchandise sales at European tour dates are CASH ONLY.

• Sat, Jan 28 - Rathoat, Ireland SOLD OUT

  The Venue Theatre

  Rathoat, Ireland SOLD OUT

  Phone: 01 6895600

  Visit the venue's website

• Sun, Jan 29 - Dublin, Ireland SOLD OUT

  Vicar Street

  Dublin, Ireland SOLD OUT

  Phone: 0818 719 300

  Visit the venue's website

• Tue, Jan 31 - Barcelona, , Spain

  Sala Apolo Theatre

  Barcelona, , Spain

  Phone:

  Visit the venue's website
• Thu, Apr 19 - Williamstown, MA

  Sterling And Francine Clark Art Institute

  Williamstown, MA

  Phone: 413-458-0524

  Visit the venue's website

  One hour workshop beginning at 5:30PM.

• Fri, Apr 20 - Williamstown, MA

  Sterling And Francine Clark Art Institute

  Williamstown, MA

  Phone: 413-458-0524

  Visit the venue's website

• Sat, Apr 21 - Flushing Queens, NY

  Queens Theatre In The Park

  Flushing Queens, NY

  Phone: 718-760-0064

  Visit the venue's website

  Two shows! 2:00PM and 8:00PM. There will be no signing after these shows.

• Sun, Apr 22 - Tarrytown, NY

  Tarrytown Music Hall

  Tarrytown, NY

  Phone: 877-840-0457

  Visit the venue's website

  There will be no signing after this show.

• Wed, Apr 25 - Hoover, AL

  Alabama Library Association Convention

  Hoover, AL

  Visit the venue's website

  Janis will give the keynote address for the opening of the Alabama Library Association Convention. Details to be announced.

• Thu, Apr 26 - Jackson, MS

  Duling Hall

  Jackson, MS

  Phone: 800-745-3000

  Visit the venue's website
• Fri, May 4 - Hoover-Birmingham, AL

  Library Theatre

  Hoover-Birmingham, AL

  Phone: 205-444-7888

  Visit the venue's website

  With Karla Bonoff.

• Sat, May 5 - Hoover-Birmingham, AL

  Library Theatre

  Hoover-Birmingham, AL

  Phone: 205-444-7888

  Visit the venue's website

  With Karla Bonoff.

• Sat, Jul 28 - Private, NY

  Pearl Foundation Private Living Room Concert

  Private, NY

  Visit the venue's website

  Please do not send queries about attending; this show is private. Thanks.

• Tue, Oct 9 - Pulaski, TN

  Martin Hall Auditorium

  Pulaski, TN

  Phone: 931-363-9815

  Visit the venue's website
• Thu, Nov 8 - Old Saybrook, CT

  The Kate

  Old Saybrook, CT

  Phone: 860-510-0453

  Visit the venue's website

  Rescheduled from July 27th.

• Fri, Nov 9 - Ogunquit, ME

  Jonathan's

  Ogunquit, ME

  Phone: 207-646-4777

  Visit the venue's website

  Rescheduled from July 26th.

more tour dates