- 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?
TFT-TV Presents Janis Ian!
Please join me this Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 8:30 p.m. EDT (live in all corresponding time zones) when TFT-TV Presents Janis Ian! (That would be me….) AND - I will be on line to join in a real-time chat during the YouTube Premier! Join me at the Tales From the Tavern YouTube channel.
[more]
The Better Times Project has a new, dedicated website!
The Better Times Project has a new home. When this project first started, back in April, there were just a handful of artists contributing. Now there are almost 150. As the project began to grow the decision was made to create a new website for everything. We hope you like the new home. You can listen to all of the different versions of "Better Times Will Come" and watch all the videos. You can also download the songs, sheet music, lyrics, coloring pages and more. Visit the new site and let us know what you think.
[more]
Janis Ian Announces Wearables & More
I've partnered with Hogan Made, a small Tampa-based business that's offered to create T-shirts, masks, pillows, and whatever else we can come up with, using quotes from my songs and prose. In turn, Hogan Made will be sending a full third of every cent you spend on these items (not including postage of course) directly to the Pearl Foundation. So if you spend $24.00 on something, the Pearl Foundation will receive $8.00. That's 100% of my share - I'm making nothing, Hogan Made are covering their material and labor costs. Nobody's getting rich here!
[more]
more hot news
- "This Long Night" by Janis Ian
- "Better Times Will Come" performed by Jeff Lake
- "Better Times Will Come" performed by Eric Bibb
- "Better Times Will Come" performed by Andrea's Open Mic
- "Better Times Will Come" performed by John Gorka
- "Better Times Will Come" Coloring Pages by Sandra Boynton
- "Better Times Will Come" ASL version performed by Carla Warnock
- "Better Times Will Come" performed by Frank Turner
- "Better Times Will Come" performed by Janis Ian - Video by Christine Lavin
- "Better Times Will Come" performed by Aco Takenana & Toshiyuki O’Mori
more free downloads
click on any date for full information
click again to close that date
All tour dates updated on May 16, 2020
- Sunday June 27 to Saturday July 3
Swannanoa Gathering Fiddle Mando Banjo Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USASwannanoa Gathering Fiddle Mando Banjo Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA
Phone:
Visit the venue's website
For the first time, Janis will be giving her 5-day series "A Master Class In Artistry" during each of the Swannanoa Gathering weeks. The final week will also feature a second, more interactive class tentatively titled "War Stories". Time of classes is TBA; please check the website for more information. The 5 day class covers everything from the origins of artists to physicalization, songwriting for profit and not so much, performance, the need to be brave, how to survive as an artist in the modern world, and why bother. Points are illustrated with songs and playing as she takes us on a journey that begins with the first caveman to tell a story and continues through the myth of the artist as "crazy", the need for silence, and why she believes "art saves". Drawing on her 55 years of experience in the entertainment industry and her ten years with Stella Adler, presented with humor and grace, brutally honest, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her students.
- Sunday July 04 to Saturday July 10
Swannanoa Gathering Traditional Song Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USASwannanoa Gathering Traditional Song Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA
Phone:
Visit the venue's website
For the first time, Janis will be giving her 5-day series "A Master Class In Artistry" during each of the Swannanoa Gathering weeks. Time of her classes is TBA; please check the website for more information. The 5 day class covers everything from the origins of artists to physicalization, songwriting for profit and not so much, performance, the need to be brave, how to survive as an artist in the modern world, and why bother. Points are illustrated with songs and playing as she takes us on a journey that begins with the first caveman to tell a story and continues through the myth of the artist as "crazy", the need for silence, and why she believes "art saves". Drawing on her 55 years of experience in the entertainment industry and her ten years with Stella Adler, presented with humor and grace, brutally honest, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her students.
- Sunday July 11 to Saturday July 17
Swannanoa Gathering Celtic Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USASwannanoa Gathering Celtic Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA
Phone:
Visit the venue's website
For the first time, Janis will be giving her 5-day series "A Master Class In Artistry" during each of the Swannanoa Gathering weeks. Time of her classes is TBA; please check the website for more information. The 5 day class covers everything from the origins of artists to physicalization, songwriting for profit and not so much, performance, the need to be brave, how to survive as an artist in the modern world, and why bother. Points are illustrated with songs and playing as she takes us on a journey that begins with the first caveman to tell a story and continues through the myth of the artist as "crazy", the need for silence, and why she believes "art saves". Drawing on her 55 years of experience in the entertainment industry and her ten years with Stella Adler, presented with humor and grace, brutally honest, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her students.
- Sunday July 18 to Saturday July 24
Swannanoa Gathering Old Time Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina,Swannanoa Gathering Old Time Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina,
Phone:
Visit the venue's website
For the first time, Janis will be giving her 5-day series "A Master Class In Artistry" during each of the Swannanoa Gathering weeks. Time of her classes is TBA; please check the website for more information. The 5 day class covers everything from the origins of artists to physicalization, songwriting for profit and not so much, performance, the need to be brave, how to survive as an artist in the modern world, and why bother. Points are illustrated with songs and playing as she takes us on a journey that begins with the first caveman to tell a story and continues through the myth of the artist as "crazy", the need for silence, and why she believes "art saves". Drawing on her 55 years of experience in the entertainment industry and her ten years with Stella Adler, presented with humor and grace, brutally honest, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her students.
- Sunday July 25 to Saturday July 31
Swannanoa Gathering Cont. Folk & Guitar Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USASwannanoa Gathering Cont. Folk & Guitar Week
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA
Phone: N/A
Visit the venue's website
For the first time, Janis will be giving her 5-day series "A Master Class In Artistry" during each of the Swannanoa Gathering weeks. Time of her classes is TBA; please check the website for more information. The 5 day class covers everything from the origins of artists to physicalization, songwriting for profit and not so much, performance, the need to be brave, how to survive as an artist in the modern world, and why bother. Points are illustrated with songs and playing as she takes us on a journey that begins with the first caveman to tell a story and continues through the myth of the artist as "crazy", the need for silence, and why she believes "art saves". Drawing on her 55 years of experience in the entertainment industry and her ten years with Stella Adler, presented with humor and grace, brutally honest, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her students.
more tour dates
The Better Times Project has a new,
dedicated website!
The Better Times Project has a new home. When this project first started, back in April, there were just a handful of artists contributing. Now there are almost 150. As the project began to grow the decision was made to create a new website for everything. We hope you like the new home. You can listen to all of the different versions of "Better Times Will Come" and watch all the videos. You can also download the songs, sheet music, lyrics, coloring pages and more. Visit the new site and let us know what you think.
A Note From Janis: On April 8, 2020, the day after John Prine died, I was doing laundry when a chorus began running around in my head. Two hours later, I sang the new song into my old phone (dog barking in the background), and put it on line. My colleagues and I had just lost all our 2020 shows due to the pandemic. Knowing how many of us would suffer financially, I suggested a few of them make “home-grown” versions of my new song. I’d put them on line, with leads to social media, and try to create new fans and sell a bit of merchandise for everyone. First was John Gorka: 70,000 hits later, it clearly helped raise awareness of his work. Then a quarantined parent emailed that coloring books were sold out, so Sue Coccia and Sandra Boynton helped me begin “coloring pages”. Donna Russo, a dancer friend in a wheelchair, sent me a video; Frank Turner and Mary Black signed on, and now there are versions from punk to American Sign Language to Japanese. It’s an illustration of the many ways one song can be used, and a reminder that you don’t have to be a professional to make art. Every version here was done from lockdown and quarantine, with birds, dogs, children in the background. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we enjoy it, give voice to it, and remember that someday, better times will come. Thanks, and stay safe.
Janis
WANT TO DONATE?
Free is good, but think of the karmic benefits of taking the money that the above downloads would have cost at some other on-line music site, and then donating that money to a good cause. My gosh, a few of these and you're on the path to nirvana! The link below can be used to make a contribution to the The Pearl Foundation. Donations are accepted via Paypal. Every penny raised by this link benefits the Pearl Foundation.
OR...
Send us an email offering a donation in return for something special. (See the Pearl Foundation pages for more info!)
Or if you don't have a computer, you can send a check to:
The Pearl Foundation
Rashford Kruse & Asso.
Post Office Box 121228
Nashville TN 37212
