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.
Fiction, poetry, music...these are the places (for me) where loneliness is countenanced, stared down, transfigured, treated.
Am I a guy who writes about himself in a comic book, or am I just a character in that book? If I die, will that character keep going, or will he just fade away?
Jazz is not background music. You must concentrate upon it in order to get the most of it. _x000D_ You must absorb most of it. The harmonies within the music can relax, soothe, relax, and uplift the _x000D_ mind when you concentrate upon and absorb it. Jazz music stimulates the minds and uplifts the souls _x000D_ of those who play it was well as of those who listen to immerse themselves in it. As the mind is _x000D_ stimulated and the soul uplifted, this is eventually reflected in the body.
There are so many separate selves; no one who writes creatively hasn't felt that.
When I was a kid I drew like Michelangelo. It took me years to learn to draw like a kid.
Only photography has been able to divide human life _x000D_ into a series of moments, each of them has the value of a complete existence.
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