Janis Ian

We went to see Janis Ian last night as part of a collection of performances we bought tickets to. She is a folk singer from the sixties. She is my age, almost exactly. SO, tell me I don't look this old.

The event was poorly attended - maybe a third full.

The performance was an interesting one. Her songs were all stories, "At Seventeen" and "Society's Child" were ones my friends recognized from the sixties. I only recognized the first. At the time she wrote them, they were quite controversial. She told of being booed off the stage because of Society's Child. She had an interesting perspective on growing up in the sixties - racial bias, Viet Nam, the role of women.

Her perspective on being lesbian was insightful. She talked about being married in Toronto to her partner of twenty years. She had felt it was "just a piece of paper", but was very moved by the experience. She said, "Finally, our relationship was accepted by a nation." I appreciated understanding that emotion.

I will never forgive her for using the f-bomb in a song. Her manager had asked her, "Can you do your show in Logan Utah?" She knew she was playing before a conservative audience, yet didn't care. I just don't understand why people feel the need to use that word!