It's what I do well - I write about things that make people uncomfortable. That's probably the only thing I do better than my peers.
Interpretation
The quote speaks to the author's strength in addressing difficult subjects through writing.
Janis Ian expresses her unique talent for writing about uncomfortable topics, suggesting that her ability to confront challenging issues in her work sets her apart from others. This highlights the value of addressing discomfort and truth in artistic expression, which can resonate deeply with readers and provoke thought and conversation.
In practice
A speaker at a literary festival discussing the importance of vulnerability in storytelling.
I was one of I think three white girls in my school. So, I was very much an outsider. And plus I was Jewish and all of my friends were black and Baptist because they listen to the coolest music. We were all listening to Ray Charles and what was then called race music.
Artists are taught to be humble about their impact, especially in folk music. It's so ingrained that I have a hard time even thinking I had any impact other than what a normal hit song would have.
I see interracial couples all the time in Nashville. I'm a Jew in Nashville. I'm a gay person in Nashville. It's a non-issue in most of the time. That's a huge leap forward.
'Society's Child' was a real hard record to start with. That's all you want is for you to put your first record out and have people screaming at you in the streets. But it taught me right away that what I was doing was valuable and important.
I had a vague idea of the song's impact in the '60s, but that was tempered by the hate mail and threats I was receiving. It was only about ten years ago, when I finally put it back in my show because so many people were asking for it, that I understood 'Society's Child' real impact.
It seems to be part of the human condition to need someone you can look down on. I still don't get that one.
By making us stop for a moment, poetry gives us an opportunity to think about ourselves as human beings on this planet and what we mean to each other.
Then came a moment of renaissance,_x000D_ _x000D_ I looked up - you again are there,_x000D_ _x000D_ A fleeting vision, the quintessence_x000D_ _x000D_ Of all that`s beautiful and rare.
People tell me they open my e-mails first, because they aren't demands and you don't need to reply. They're simply for pleasure.
Most of the time - in 'Pan's Labyrinth' or 'Devil's Backbone' - I'm talking about my childhood.
All the music I loved as a child, people thought it was junk. People were unaware of the subtext in so many of those records but if you were a kid you were just completely tuned in, even though you didn't always say - you wouldn't dare say it was beautiful.
Theatre is fake... The knife is not real, the blood is not real, and the emotions are not real. Performance is just the opposite: the knife is real, the blood is real, and the emotions are real.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.