CWW: Janis Ian

CWW: Janis Ian

-Janis Eddy Fink (aka Janis Ian) was born to a Jewish family in New York City on April 7, 1951.  -admired the work of folk pioneers like Joan Baez and Odetta.
-At 12, she wrote her first song, "Hair of Spun Gold," which appeared on her debut album
 -At 13,, she legally changed her name to Janis Ian, using her brother Eric's middle name as her new last name.
-Also, she wrote and sang her first hit single, "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)," about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl's mother The girl ultimately decides to end the relationship, citing the societal norms of the day
-Her most successful single in the United States was "At Seventeen", which was acclaimed by critics and record buyers alike: it charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "At Seventeen" also won the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
-On Valentine's Day 1977, Ian received 461 Valentine cards, having indicated in the lyrics to "At Seventeen" that she never received any as a teenager
Ian finally became one of the first "indie artists," resurfacing in 1993, with the worldwide release of Breaking Silence and its title song about incest. She also came out as a lesbian with that release.


 I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired.
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth.
And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say come dance with me
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems
At seventeen.
A brown eyed girl in hand me downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
Said, Pity please the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve.
The rich relationed hometown queen
Married into what she needs
A guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly.
Remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
Indebentures of quality
And dubious integrity.
Their small town eyes will gape at you
In dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received
At seventeen.
To those of us who know the pain
Of valentines that never came,
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball.
It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
And dreams were all they gave for freeTo ugly duckling girls like me.
We all play the game and when we dare
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
That call and say, come dance with me
And murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me
At seventeen

Connection to "Letter To A Daughter At Thirteen"
These two pieces are about woman looking back on their awkward adolescent years and feeling the pain of how unsure and self destructive they were in their negative thoughts. Barbara Kingsolver never felt like she belonged as a teenager as well. She felt that she was "a collection of all the wrong things; too tall and shy to be interesting to boys." Janis Ian also felt that she was not as interesting to boys due to the lack of valentines she received and the bullying she seemed to endure. Kingsolver looked back at her yearbook photos and remembered how ugly she felt and believed she looked. Ian does not give an indication that she feels any differently than from when she was 17, keeping in mind that she is singing this song as a 24 year old.