How Janis Ian Saved My Life

It’s a funny thing about music. Hearing a song can rocket you back to wherever you were in time when you first heard the song or when a significant time in your life occurred. When I was in college, I went through a time of depression. I had decided I hated the college I chose to attend and came home to wait till January to start a new semester at the community college. I managed to get my old job back but, when a dream dies, depression sometimes replaces it. There were some days where it was hard to get motivated. My best friend, Laura, was away at college and we did not have the luxury of cell phones and social media so communication was not easy. Then Janis Ian entered my life in the form of a record album called Between the Lines. We were not playing songs on repeat then, either. You ended one side of the record album and flipped it over or you replayed the album by carefully placing the needle on the first song again. The single hit song from that album was, I think, “At Seventeen,” but that was not my favorite. I liked it, but some of the others spoke more to me and my soul was listening.

“In the Winter.” “Watercolors.” “Tea and Sympathy.” “Lover’s Lullaby.” Those were particular favorites. It is all about words for me, obviously, and my original intent was to write a piece about wordsmith songwriters. There are others who have greatly appealed to me as well, but Janis Ian was instrumental (pardon the unintended pun) in helping me live through the pain and come out on the other side. Her soulful lyrics and melodies are unmatched.

After Between the Lines there were, of course, others. Although it was released prior, I found Stars after Between the Lines. Then Aftertones. Miracle Row. Janis Ian. I have a collection as well called Souvenirs which was released in 2004 but which I didn’t discover until probably 2008 or 2009. She has recorded many albums before and many after. I will need to explore what else she has done. Some may say I am not a true fan if I don’t have (and was actually unaware of) some of the other albums but Janis and I go way back and her lyrics spoke so loudly to me that my depressed inner voice was not silenced, really, but heard. I felt such a kinship with some songs and some were just really, really good (and still are) to sing at the top of my lungs with the windows rolled down and the sun and the wind carrying me along the road of life. She was there for the very rocky times and she is still there for me today. It’s like we are soul sisters who have never met.

I am not very savvy about copyrighted material but I did read it was okay to provide a link to song lyrics so I will do that here: https://genius.com/albums/Janis-ian/Between-the-lines. Listen if you have the time. Her phraseology is amazing.