Yikes--nine days late. I'd tell my readers (all three of you) that I'll work on being on time, but I think we all know better than that....
My introduction to this week's tune was most assuredly WLS-89 out of Chicago, which played all the top forty hits back in the day. In fairness, I did not care at all for the song when it was first released--it was a little too slow and a little too whiny. As the years progressed, I came to see its greatness--though exactly when that occurred, I do not recall. I'd like to think that the wisdom that comes with age played a part, but not really sure that I've gathered all that much wisdom yet....
Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink in 1951 in New Jersey) had her first hit record at the age of sixteen ("Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)"), her second hit at the age of twenty-four, and never came close to another. Still, she's enjoyed a nearly sixty-year career thanks to those singles, been nominated for ten Grammys (winning two, including one for our song of the week), had numerous tours, and written a number of songs for other artists. Ian also writes prose, having had several stories published in science fiction magazines, writing regularly for The Advocate (Ian came out in the early nineties), and an autobiography. For her career, Ian has released twenty-three studio albums, five live albums, eighteen compilations, and sixty-three singles. She released her latest album in 2023 and released a single with Joan Baez just this year.
"At Seventeen" was the second single released from Ian's seventh studio album, the rather knowingly entitled Between the Lines. The single would reach #3 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the only #1 hit of her career.
Fun Fact: Ian makes note a couple of times in this week's song about the Valentine's she never received, but the first Valentine's Day after the song's release made up for it at least a little bit--fans sent her 461 Valentine's cards. Who says romance is dead?
Ian has said that she took her time writing "At Seventeen" because she wanted to make sure she got it just right--and man, oh, man did she ever succeed. Her vocals are heartbreaking but not maudlin, her lyrics carry a sophistication (pretty sure it's the only song ever written that uses the world "debentures") that isn't often seen in top forty singles, and the music has a jazzy vibe that enhances the song from beginning to end. While listening to it as I did my half-assed research this week, the instrumental break really stood out, with first some melancholy trumpets and closing with a smooth guitar line. I also like the way the trumpets reappear toward the end of the song, echoing the pain that Ian weaves into her vocals. Ian has said that the song is full of hope (she calls herself an ugly duckling for a reason), and in the end I think it is--the world is full of misfits who have inspired so many of us, and with this song Ian adds herself to that very special list.
Lyric Sheet: "It was long ago and far away/The world was younger than today/When dreams were all they gave for free/To ugly duckling girls like me..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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