- 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?
The "Tiny Mouse" has launched!
Janis' song "The Tiny Mouse", written especially for The Boat Project, has become reality. The little wooden carving of a mouse, which inspired the song, has been placed at the top of the steering wheel on the boat, which will be touring the UK and going down the river Thames as part of the Olympic Ceremonies this summer.
[more]
Audible.com autobiography coming soon!
Janis is currently in Los Angeles, recording her autobiography!
[more]
"Nothing Special," featuring "Days Like These" chosen for Academy of Motion Pictures collection!
Writer/director Angela Garcia Combs has confirmed it - Janis' work is now part of motion picture history!
[more]
$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]
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All tour dates updated on May 11, 2012
- 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
- Wed, Oct 10 - Decatur, GA
- Thu, Oct 11 - Duluth, GA
- Sat, Oct 13 - Carrboro, NC
- Tue, Oct 16 - Charlotte, NC
McGlohon Theater At Spirit Square
Charlotte, NC
Phone: 704-372-1000
Visit the venue's website
With Tom Paxton!
- Thu, Oct 18 - Supply, NC
Brunswick Community College
Supply, NC
Phone: 910-755-7416
Visit the venue's website
In the Odell Williamson Auditorium. With Tom Paxton!
- Fri, Oct 19 - High Point, NC
- Sat, Oct 20 - Asheville, NC
- Sun, Oct 21 - Newberry, SC
- Tue, Oct 23 - Ashland, VA
- Thu, Oct 25 - Sellersville, PA
- Fri, Oct 26 - Annapolis, MD
- Sat, Oct 27 - Bay Shore, NY
- Sun, Oct 28 - Voorhees, NJ
more tour dates
Remember: Live 1977 Australia & Japan
This stellar two-CD set was recorded with Janis and her band at Osaka Festival Hall, Japan, and the Sydney Opera House, Australia during her 1977 tours there. Live to 24-track, with no editing other than starts and endings, it shows mid-careerJanis at her best. A nice companion to Working Without a Net as well!
Says Janis: "I can't put into words how thrilled I am to see and hear this project again. I really thought it was lost forever. The package is a beautiful rendition of the original Japanese version, with additional tracks from the Australian release. I love the triptych packaging, with the complete booklet in the center. All in all, a 'new' CD I can distribute with pride!"
DISC ONE
Hymn
When the Party's Over
From Me To You *
Jesse
Watercolors
New York In the Springtime
In the Winter
Applause
Party Lights
I Want to Make You Love Me
Hotels & One Night Stands Love Is Blind
DISK TWO
Miracle Row
Maria
Let Me Be Lonely
Boy I Really Tied One On
Slow Dance Romance *
Take to the Sky
At Seventeen
Will You Dance?
I Would Like to Dance
Bright Lights & Promises
* Bonus Tracks
