THE BASICS
Original release date: 1968; recorded at Mira Sound Studio, A&R Studio, New York; producer: Janis Ian, Shadow Morton; mixed by Phil Ramone; arranged by Janis ian & Carol Hunter; photography: Carl Fischer; art direction: David Krieger.
PERSONNEL
Musicians: Richie Havens, Carol Hunter, Janis Ian, Joe Price, Buddy Saltzman. Vocalists: Janis Ian.
LYRICS
Everybody Knows
I’m sitting here all alone
You don’t know how I cry
Oh, it’s no fun to be alone, made of stone
You don’t know how to try
Jeannie with the light brown hair comes up the stair
Tells me what to wear, says it’s there
I know she’s a fool
Wish she could sing to you, maybe even bring to you
some kind of ring or two for you
but that wouldn’t be cool
You’ve been a bad, girl.
You’ve been had, girl
Your mama’s in the pantry
with your other daddy
Quietly
turn off the electricity
Everybody knows that
you’ve been wearing no clothes
ever since the time you tried to
fly from the Eiffel Tower
The power of the flower is dead
I’m sitting here all alone
You don’t know how I cry
Oh it’s no fun to be alone, made of stone
You don’t know how to die
June is a flower-child.
She tries to run wild
She says it’s only the style.
I know she’s truthful
Sitting on a stone all alone.
Never know how it grows
through the holes in your clothes
I know it’s beautiful
You’ve been a bad boy.
You’ve been had, boy
Your daddy took the toys
to the neighbor cop to investigate
Your daddy’s upper plate is made of gold
Nobody told you.
No one wants to hold you
Nobody showed you.
I could have told you to
watch it, kid
You might end up dead
Don’t mind the words of my song,
they’re not strong
I’ll get along
Don’t get tangled with the do-you-inners
They can eat you for dinner
You’re a full-time sinner, yeah
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Ask them why,
they reply that it shows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
all about the holes in your clothes,
how they grow
’til they’re shown on a screen
to the Queen
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
Mistaken Identity
Instrumental
Friends Again
Do me a favor kid
Tell me what it was I did
to make you want to live without me
You’re not being fair
Let down your hair
Make it clear why you doubt me
I don’t really know what you think I done or why
but all you got to do is tell me
I’ll apologize
And I don’t want anything much
if you’ll just
be my friend again
Aw, give me a chance, babe
Remember all the things you used to say
and now the words are gone
I want to talk to you
I want to walk with you
Find out the truth to what you think I done
I wouldn’t mind leaving or saying goodbye
if you could just tell me the reason why
And I don’t want anything much
if you’d just
be my friend again
Please open the door
I can’t say any more
I’m down on the floor on my bending knees
Answer my ring
and tell me just one thing
What was it I done to make you dislike me
I don’t want nothing from you, babe
excepting maybe
the chance to say
that I don’t want anything much
if you’ll just
be my friend again
Be my friend again
Friends again
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
42nd St. Psycho Blues
42nd Street psycho blues
and I’m paying off the man
He can make me, he can break me,
and I know that he can
If I didn’t have need to be sketching my song
I would leave this dirty business
and return to the norm
Blind man on the corner
won’t you show me my way?
If you see my friend the star
ask him how the Syndicate is
and has he finished with paying them
for the promotion job they did
If you should see my manager
tell him I was trying to be good
Mouth just happened to open,
fingers couldn’t help but move
Blind man on the corner
won’t you show me my way?
42nd Street psycho blues
No I don’t go to parties anymore
When they ask for entertainment
I don’t feel like a guest
I feel like a whore
Don’t smoke or curse in public, kid
Your image won’t sell
Trapped within the confines
of my own private hell
Blind man on the corner
won’t you show me my way?
Isn’t it right, I’m praying tonight
and you won’t hear my words
I’ll try and explain
It all seems so insane
You see it’s only ’bout my world
I’m living three different lives
and for each I’m paying
In a world of cheating, child-beating, soul scraping
Blind man on the corner
won’t you show me the way?
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
She’s Made Of Porcelain
She’s made of porcelain
A waxen figurine sanding over me
She never cries
She’ll close her eyes to you
Her mind to you
Oh oh
Sometimes it shows
She stands alone again
There upon the plain
She plays the game
Taking the pain
Accepts the blame for you
Explains for you
Oh oh
Sometimes it shows
Dawn breaks
Her mistakes
Have been remade
In another way
Maybe someday
She’ll find a way to you
A brand new game for you
Oh, oh
Nowadays it shows
Goodbye lady
Sleep tight, lady
Goodbye lady
Sleep tight, lady
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
Sweet Misery
All that matters in the end
are the good times that have been
Living’s tiresome, killing a sin
Death is easy if you’ve been
and you don’t think of the bad times when you’re dying
I don’t believe you hear what I say
Don’t bar the windows, keep out of my way
I’ve got so little time to pray
I want to have fun
I got no time to take from my games
to pay my dues riding box-car trains
Throw me a pillow-fight, let’s go and play
I like to run
So hurt no one else
Put your cares on a shelf
and come along with me
Sweet misery
It don’t matter if you’re six or sixty-three
once you have lost your hold on the dream
Forget that you’re human – become a machine
You’re old and you’re tethered
But if you’d really like to be free
take hold of the dream, grab it with me,
You’ve got to take whatever you need,
’cause now is forever
So hurt no one else
Put your cares on a shelf
and come along with me
Sweet misery
All that matters in the end
are the good times that have been
Living’s tiresome, killing a sin
Death is easy if you’ve been
And you don’t think of the bad times when you’re dying
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
When I Was A Child
When I was a child
the days whispered by
in a half-seen memory of an angel’s flight
People used to say –
You’ll be old before your age
My bitter laughter would ring out at them
Once I was a child on the outside
Now I am a child on the inside
Sometimes I cry
I used to be a child
Sitting by a stream,
the night breeze shone on me
I swore to never leave
Once there was a boy
A breeze flew past
through our laughter
Now there’s no time
for sitting by a stream
I’ve got other things on my mind
Now there is no boy
I’ve left him in the past
along with my love
When I was a child
the days whispered by
in a half-seen memory of an angel’s flight
People used to say –
You’ll be old before your age
My bitter laughter would ring out at them
Once I was a child in the daytime
Now I am a child of the nighttime
Sometimes I cry
I used to be a child
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
What Do You Think Of The Dead?
What do you think of me
Is it something you really can’t see?
Don’t you wish that you maybe could be
on top of a star
What do you think of her?
Is she somebody like a bird?
Don’t you wish you could speak and be heard?
I’ve heard all you’ve seen
How you have been hurt?
What do you think?
How does it ring?
What can it bring?
Will it make you any bread?
Maybe it will clear your head?
Perhaps you can steal it instead?
What do you think of the dead?
My lover brings me roses
I lie by his knee
We worship the hours
Your lover brings you black orchids
You lie alone by the sea
You worship dead flowers
When are you going to grow?
Yes that’s something you really don’t know?
Would you like for me maybe to show
you how it would be, if I were to leave?
and would you agree?
What do you think?
How does it ring?
What can it bring?
Will I make you any bread?
Maybe I will clear your head?
Perhaps you can steal me instead?
What do you think of the dead?
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
Look To The Rain
I have nothing to bring you that you’d ever return
I have nothing to sing you that you’ve never before heard
I’ve got nothing to teach you that you’ll never learn
Yes, that’s how it works
If you’re wanting an answer – a final solution
I haven’t the words
Look to the wind and the rain
Look there for your answer, babe
Me and my friends, we know we must make amends
and so do you babe
Me and my friends, we know it’s just around the bend
and you do too babe
Me and my friends are lucky
We don’t have to be scared of things in the air
Of answers to questions – solutions about which
we’ve never really cared
Look to the wind and the rain
Look there for your answer, babe
I’m not up here to tell you what’s right and what’s wrong
I can’t tell you anything but how my world’s coming along
Can’t do anything for you but sing you a song
If you want something more
you’ll have to find someone – a prophet or something
Someone who’ll never be wrong
Look to the wind and the rain
Look there for your answer, babe
I have nothing to bring you that you’d ever return
I have nothing to sing you that you’ve never before heard
I’ve got nothing to teach you that you’ll never learn
Yes, for better or worse
If you’re wanting an answer – a final solution
these are the words
Look to the wind and the rain
Look there for your answer, babe
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
Son Of Love
Like a shepherd and his flock,
He will not mock, but only lead me
Like a piper and a rat,
His tune tells me that he will believe me
Just like a Muse,
The sound of his music does surround me
Just like a scent,
The noise of innocence begins to drown me
He has lovely eyes,
Shining with the light of new-spun plexiglass
He has cheek of pale,
Likened to a summer’s gale as the wind rides past
His voice is silent,
Screaming in the fires that are feeding you
His lips are shallow,
Engulfing the shadows that are leading you
He can get you things
All the nameless ecstasies brought from the air within the sea
He can get the cure
To take away the door, unlocking your forbidden needs
His ways are hidden
The medicine’s forbidden. Use it secretly
He will come and go,
Allowing you to show only a memory
He will bring you medicine,
Taking away all the sin you’ve ever seen
He can get you traces,
Taking you to places no one’s ever been
He will not grieve you
He’ll only leave you, yourself to burn
He will come and go,
Leaving you alone to wish that he’d return
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.
Baby’s Blue
Baby’s blue, and he’s blue over you
Babe, he’s blue, and I know he’s only blue
over you, yeah, over you who were
Sugar and spice (to him)
and everything nice (to him)
You didn’t do right to him
Now you no longer lie by him
Babe, he’s blue
and I know he’s only blue
over you, yeah, only over you
Now, I’m old enough to know there are some things
that should never be heard
I’m old enough to know there are feelings
you just can’t put into words
Ah, but he’s hurt
He’s laughing on the outside, looking in at you
Crying on the inside, looking out at you
And he’s laughing outside, smiling outside
He’s dying inside
Babe, he’s blue
You know he’s only blue
over you, yeah, over you
Baby’s blue, and you know why he’s blue
Only over you
He’s blue only over you
Sugar and spice (to him)
and everything nice (to him)
You didn’t do right to him
Now you no longer lie by him
Babe, he’s blue
and I know he’s only blue
over you, yeah, only over you
Baby, he’s lonely
and I know he’s only blue over you
Only over you
© Taosongs Two. All rights reserved; international copyright secured.