• 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?

• Our "Christmas In August" Sale Is Live!

  Visit us now at our official Janis Ian Store. We kick off with an incredible $15,000 donation from Lloyd & Nadine Baggs (of LR Baggs fame). Sale ends Sunday, August 26th at 6:00PM (CST). Everything is on sale, including Janis' Godzilla hi-tops, the much-sought-after Strictly Solo CD, newly re-mastered imports, gear, and whatever else we could drum up! Many items are only available in limited numbers, so you'll want to hurry - and remember, 100% of every cent raised this week benefits the Pearl Foundation.

  [more]

• Personalized cards on sale!

  Personalized Cards sale has been extended! Remember, everything you purchase at the Janis Ian Store benefits the Pearl Foundation. 

  [more]

• New story from Janis!

  My heart was broken long before we met, so when love came sneaking up, it was completely unexpected.
  I'd grown up in the shadow of The Wall, but never given it much thought. I was grateful to be living on this side, where the Rio Grande provided water for the agricultural station my father ran...

  [more]

more hot news

click on any date for full information
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All tour dates updated on August 15, 2018

• Saturday, September 8th
  Private Living Room Concert
  

  Private Living Room Concert

  Visit the venue's website
• Tuesday, September 11th
  Midland Cultural Center
  Midland, ON, Canada

  Midland Cultural Center

  Midland, ON, Canada

  Phone: 705-527-4420

  Visit the venue's website

  TV taping, interview with Eugene Rea, audience Q&A
  Doors: 7:00 pm
  7.30 pm – 10 pm
  Tickets on sale via ticketfly.

• Wednesday, September 12th
  Midland Cultural Center
  Midland, ON, Canada

  Midland Cultural Center

  Midland, ON, Canada

  Phone: 705-527-4420

  Visit the venue's website

  Concert at 8:00 pm

  Tickets on sale via ticketfly.

• Saturday, Sept 15
  City Folk Festival-Master Class & interview
  Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

  City Folk Festival-Master Class & interview

  Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

  Visit the venue's website

  Janis will be spending two days at City Folk, her first Canadian appearance in well over a decade. Day one, the 15th, will feature a Master Class in Artistry and a personal interview with audience Q&A. Day two, September 16, will feature a full "Evening With Janis Ian" show. Please check venue website for more information - tickets on sale now! Or you can reach out to Chris White. (chris@folkzone.ca, 613-327-9621). Links below: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/janis-ian-master-class-tickets-46668720399 https://www.facebook.com/events/247832379130608

• Sunday, Sept 16
  CityFolk Festival mainstage appearance
  Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

  CityFolk Festival mainstage appearance

  Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

  Visit the venue's website

  Janis will be spending two days at City Folk, her first Canadian appearance in well over a decade. Day one, the 15th, will feature a Master Class in Artistry and a personal interview with audience Q&A. Day two, September 16, will feature a full "Evening With Janis Ian" show. Please check venue website for more information - tickets on sale now! For information about the master class and interview, please reach out to Chris White. (chris@folkzone.ca, 613-327-9621) or follow : https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/janis-ian-master-class-tickets-46668720399 https://www.facebook.com/events/247832379130608

more tour dates

• A Thousand Years
• Society's Child (live)
• Welcome Home (The Nebulas Song)
• Architect Of All Creation

more free downloads