She was already writing poetry by the age of 12, along with her first song, “Hair of Spun Gold.” By the time she was 13, Janis Ian, born April 7, 1951, penned one of her most iconic songs, “Society’s Child (Baby I’ve Been Thinking),” which was later released on her eponymous 1967 debut when she was 16.
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In 1973, Ian released one of her biggest hits, the ballad “Jesse,” then pursued on with “At Seventeen” in 1975, which earned her a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. On October 11, 1975, Ian and Billy Preston also made history as the first-ever musical performers on Saturday Night Live.
After releasing her 13th album, Uncle Wonderful, and leaving her label, Ian took a brief hiatus from music in the mid-’80s and later reemerged with the more vulnerable Breaking Silence in 1992, which followed her coming out as a lesbian.
Ian’s collaborations have crossed Willie Nelson (“Memphis”), Bette Midler (“I Would Bring You Spring”), and more, and her songs have been covered by John Mellencamp, Celine Dion, and Cher, among many others. In 2020, Crowded House’s Neil Finn joined Ian on “Better Times Will Come,” which she later rereleased on her final album, The Light at the End of the Line, in 2022.
Though she has retired from music, Ian said she’ll never stop writing songs. “I want there to be a light at the end of the line,” Ian told American Songwriter in 2022. “I don’t want to leave people thinking ‘That’s the end of it.’ There’s gotta be a light. You walk through the tunnel, and there’s a light.”
Ian added, “It’s not often that you get to live long enough to fulfill your dream of doing something you consider great. And not, many people get to live long enough to even make a final statement.”
Throughout her nearly 60-year career, Ian also wrote some songs outside of her own catalog. Here’s a look at four songs she penned for other artists.
Read out full interview with Janis Ian in 2022 HERE.
1. “Jesse,” Roberta Flack (1973)
Written by Janis Ian
Coming of age within the next decade after her debut, Ian released her 1973 ballad “Jesse,” which would be considered her signature song. The song was first recorded and released by Roberta Flack and peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“I was 14 or 15 when I started that song,” said Ian of “the song “Jesse.” Elaborating a bit on the meaning of the song, she added, “Originally Jesse was going to be about a Vietnam War vet coming home, but then that was limiting.”
Joan Baez covered the song in 1975 on her album Diamonds & Rust, and again in 1995 as a duet with Ian.
Jesse, come home
There’s a hole in the bed
Where you slept
Now it’s growing cold
Jesse, your face
In the place where we lay
By the hearth, all apart
It hangs on my heart
And I’m leaving the light on the stairs
No I’m not scared, I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home
2. “What About The Love,” Amy Grant (1988)
Written by Janis Ian and Kye Fleming
Released on Amy Grant‘s eighth album, Lead on Me, “What About The Love,” along with the album, reached No. 1 on the Christian charts. The affecting downtempo song examines the societal neglect of love.
I went to see my brother
On the 32nd floor
Of a building down on Wall Street
You could hear the future’s roar
He said, “Here we make decisions
And we trade commodities
If you tell me where there’s famine
I can make you guarantees”
I said, “Is this all there is
Power to the strong?”
Something’s wrong
Something’s wrong in heaven tonight
You can almost hear them cry
Angels to the left and the right
Saying, “What about the love?
What about the love?
3. “Some People’s Lives,” Michael Johnson (1988)
Written by Janis Ian and Rhonda Fleming
Written by Ian, “Some People’s Lives” was first recorded by the late Michael Johnson (1944-2017) — known for his hits “Bluer Than Blue,” “Give Me Wings” and “The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder” — as the closing track on his 1988 album That’s That.
In 1990, Bette Midler covered the song and used it as the title of her 17th album, which also included one of her biggest hits “From a Distance.”
Some people’s lives run down like clocks
One day they stop, that’s all they’ve got
Some lives wear out like old tennis shoes
No one can use, it’s sad but it’s true
Didn’t anybody tell them
Didn’t anybody see
Didn’t anybody love them
Like you love me
And some people’s lives fade like their dreams
Too tired to rise, too tired to sleep
And some people laugh when they need to cry
And they never know why
4. “This Old Town,” Nanci Griffith (1993)
Written by Janis Ian and Jon Vezner
In 1994, the late singer, songwriter and guitarist Nanci Griffith (1953-2021) won a Grammy for her 10th album Other Voices, Other Rooms. The project featured a cover of Townes Van Zandt‘s “Tecumseh Valley,” a duet with John Prine on his 1986 song “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” a cover (featuring Guy Clark) of Woody Guthrie‘s 1940 folk song “Do Re Mi,” and more.
The album also featured the original song, “This Old Town,” which was co-written by Ian for Griffith. Ian later recorded “This Old Town” for her 2001 album Unreleased 3: Society’s Child.
This old town should’ve burned down in 1944
When the last men went to war
They came back different
If they came back at all
This old town should’ve burned down in 1956
That’s when the twister hit
And all our hopes were buried
Beneath the boards and bricks
And we almost called it quits
Photo: Keith Stokes / Courtesy of All Eyes Media
