janis joplin

[dopediana]

so who else here is a big janis joplin fan? i got her album "pearl" a few months ago. i was hooked instantly. she's got such a voice and such passion. and her life story makes her all the more amazing. she was harassed for being herself so much. in college at the university of texas in austin some fraternity voted her ugliest man on campus. i totally respect her for not letting them bring her down. and the way she lays all her pain into her songs is completely efficient, because good music is music that moves you. i've been listening to my "cheap thrills" album alot these days. "piece of my heart" is such an intense song. i also love "get it while you can." and then there are the mandatory "cry baby" and "little girl blue"

Piece Of My Heart

Oh, come on, come on, come on, come on!
Didn't I make you feel like you were the only man —yeah!
Didn't I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can ?
Honey, you know I did!
And each time I tell myself that I, well I think I've had enough,
But I'm gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough.
I want you to come on, come on, come on, come on and take it,
Take it!
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby!
Oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, oh, have a!
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby,
You know you got it if it makes you feel good,
Oh, yes indeed.
You're out on the streets looking good,
And baby deep down in your heart I guess you know that it ain't right,
Never, never, never, never, never, never hear me when I cry at night,
Babe, I cry all the time!
And each time I tell myself that I, well I can't stand the pain,
But when you hold me in your arms, I'll sing it once again.
I'll say come on, come on, come on, come on and take it!
Take it!
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.
Oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah,
Oh, oh, have a!
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby,
You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good.
I need you to come on, come on, come on, come on and take it,
Take it!
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby!
oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart, now darling, yeah, c'mon now.
oh, oh, have a
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.
You know you got it —whoahhhhh!!
Take it!
Take it! Take another little piece of my heart now, baby,
Oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart, now darling, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Oh, oh, have a
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, hey,
You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good.


Little Girl Blue

Sit there, hmm, count your fingers.
What else, what else is there to do ?
Oh and I know how you feel,
I know you feel that you're through.
Oh wah wah ah sit there, hmm, count,
Ah, count your little fingers,
My unhappy oh little girl, little girl blue, yeah.
Oh sit there, oh count those raindrops
Oh, feel 'em falling down, oh honey all around you.
Honey don't you know it's time,
I feel it's time,
Somebody told you 'cause you got to know
That all you ever gonna have to count on
Or gonna wanna lean on
It's gonna feel just like those raindrops do
When they're falling down, honey, all around you.
Oh, I know you're unhappy.
Oh sit there, ah go on, go on
And count your fingers.
I don't know what else, what else
Honey have you got to do.
And I know how you feel,
And I know you ain't got no reason to go on
And I know you feel that you must be through.
Oh honey, go on and sit right back down,
I want you to count, oh count your fingers,
Ah my unhappy, my unlucky
And my little, oh, girl blue.
I know you're unhappy,
Ooh ah, honey I know,
Baby I know just how you feel

[praxis1966]

Have you ever seen the original Woodstock movie? I've seen it at least a dozen times and Janis tugs at me each and every one. She left her soul on the stage then, and with every performance. The footage of "Piece of My Heart" is really intense.

[dopediana]

i haven't, but now that you mention it i'll definitely check it out.

[praxis1966]

I was just fooling around on IMDB to figure out the name of the documentary and it turned out to be really simple; Woodstock. If you'd like to check out the other artists featured: here (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0066580/fullcredits). The dvd is on sale at amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0790729350/qid=1071306925/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-6627838-1863029?v=glance&s=dvd). I'd hightly suggest this thing to anybody interested in the music of that era, Janis or otherwise. Though I have to admit Janis's was probably the defining performance of the festival.

[dopediana]

kickass. i'm going to see if they have it at the video store or the library. and if they don't, i'll have them order it.

[Rastafari]

=-Janis Fan-=

Bluesy White-Woman Voice. Hard to find, but perfect when acquired

[iwwobblie]

She used to date Pigpen from The Grateful Dead.Here's a pic of them together:

http://www.themusicarchive.com/garcia/dead...adgallery1c.htm (http://www.themusicarchive.com/garcia/deadgallery1c.htm)

They wrote this song for her after she died:

Bird Song

All I know is something like a bird within her sang,
All I know she sang a little while and then flew on,
Tell me all that you know, I'll show you snow and rain.

If you hear that same sweet song again, will you know why?
Anyone who sings a tune so sweet is passin' by,
Laugh in the sunshine, sing, cry in the dark, fly through the night.

Don't cry now, don't you cry, don't you cry anymore.
Sleep in the stars, don't you cry, dry your eyes on the wind.

All I know is something like a bird within her sang,
All I know she sang a little while and then flew off,
Tell me all that you know, I'll show you snow and rain.

[iwwobblie]

Leonard Cohen wrote this song for her:

Chelsea Hotel #2 Lyrics
by Leonard Cohen

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
you were talking so brave and so sweet,
giving me head on the unmade bed,
while the limousines wait in the street.
Those were the reasons and that was New York,
we were running for the money and the flesh.
And that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left.
Ah but you got away, didn't you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you,
I need you, I don't need you
and all of that jiving around.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend.
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music."

And then you got away, didn't you babe...

I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can't keep track of each fallen robin.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that's all, I don't even think of you that often

[dopediana]

oh my god. both those songs have amazing lyrics. especially that leonard cohen song.

You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music."
And then you got away, didn't you babe...
I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can't keep track of each fallen robin.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that's all, I don't even think of you that often

thanks, i'm going to find those songs next time i'm out along with that woodstock dvd. i think leonard really must have liked her, reading that song, but he's hurt.

and that pigpen picture, typical raunchy janis but still showing that she cares.

[FatFreeMilk]

Janis is awesome! I was her for Halloween back in sixth grade :D My favorite song is probably summertime. Cry Baby, Me and Bobby McGee, Get it while you can, and Move over are awesome too! Basically every song on her Greatsist Hits cd, which I jacked from my dad :P Awww, but it doesn't have the one where she's like "oh lord won't you buy me a merdes benz..." on herre. I don't know what it's called but that's the first song I ever heard from her and I was hooked.

Her soulfull voice is just great.

[dopediana]

besides the ones i mentioned before, i love janis' vocals on "combination of the two" especially that little bit at the end where she goes "do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do" in that great high key. it's just beautiful and kills me every time.

is it just me, or does anyone else feel like hugging someone after listening to her music?

[Eastside Revolt]

"Turtle Blues"

Ah, I’m a mean, mean woman
And I don’t mean no one man, no good, no.
I’m a mean, mean woman,
I don’t mean no one man, no good.
I just treats ‘em like I wants to
I never treats ‘em, honey like I should.

Oh, Lord, I once had a daddy,
He said he’d give me everything in sight.
Once had a daddy,
Said he’d give me everything in sight.
Yes, he did
So I said, “Honey, I want the sunshine,
you take the stars out of the night.
Come on and give ‘em to me, babe, ‘cause I want ‘em right now.”

I ain’t the kind of woman
Who’d make your life a bed of ease, ha ha ha ha!
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I’m not the kind of woman, no,
To make your life a bed of ease.
Yeah, but if you, if you just wanna go out drinkin’, honey,
Won’t you invite me along please.
Oh, I’ll be so good to ya babe, yeah!
Whoa, go on!

I guess I’m just like a turtle
That’s hidin’ underneath its horny shell.
Whoa, whoa, oh yeah, like a turtle
Hidin’ underneath its horny shell.
But you know I’m very well protected —
I know this goddamn life too well.

Oh! Now call me mean, you can call me evil, yeah, yeah,
I’ve been called much of some things around,
Honey, don’t ya know I have!
Whoa, call me mean or call me evil
I’ve been called much of some things, all things around,
Yeah, but I’m gonna take good care of Janis, yeah,
Honey, ain’t no one gonna dog me down.
Alright, yeah.



This and Summertime are my favorite two songs of hers.

[Soul Rebel]

I love janis. been listening to her since i was a child. i adored her as a kid and still do. she opened the door for so many womyn and taught us to be tough and to take no shit. she was gonna do what she wanted.

my friends mother said she saw a lot of janis in me- my vocals, my attitude, my drinking and drug use. said it scared her, but i took it as the best damn compliment ever :)

[dopediana]

lol, laura. i remember a while ago you said something to the effect of my voice sounding like janis'. i was all happy for about an hour after that. i sing along alot. i ought to be an impersonator and go around singing me and bobby mcgee or something.

some wisdom from the mouth of the rock goddess:

"my whole purpose with this thing is to communicate. what i sing is my own reality but the fact that people come up to me and say, 'hey, that's my reality too' proves to me that it's not just mine."

[dopediana]

oh, and going back to what laura said about her opening doors for women, that reminds me of something. people like to paint feminists as man-hating, jealous lesbians and janis was anything but that. she was a sensitive and loving bisexual who believed in freedom of expression and she deflected all those personal attacks on her womanhood through her music. funny thing is, her music provoked them, too. but fuck those assholes. and she didn't put things in terms of man and woman or good and evil, but in terms of who truly loves and who doesn't.

[RedCeltic]

I always loved Janis, much to the dismay of my parents... they never really understood hippies, even though both of my parents were against the war, they couldn't understand the music of the period haha...it's actually kid of strange, but both my parents kind of have this weird idea that the music that was popular when you graduate high school should be the music you listen to... hahaha... so my dad is stuck in 1959 with the 50's stuff and my mom is stuck in 1964 with the beatles haha...

sorry about that... haha... anyway yeah I love her music, always have. :)