Janis Ian - Lonely One Lyrics

Wow....her voice is so powerful yet sweet on this recording.

Excellent young Talented Janis!

I was to young to remember, but there must have been some buzz  at the time of her being some kind of female Dylan.

adore her then and now...

How could anybody call her unattractive? Especially by Janis herself? She's so humble, honest, and a trailblazer. I feel her vibes along with the music, so mood shaking, & from the inside. Love her 'Spoken Word' album! & "Between the lines" of course.

I write the music and I sing my song! Do you remember talent and voices before the machine that made a squeak acceptable to???? No auto-tune -- live voices!

we that lived the 60's and 70's were the luckiest group to ever have lived on our Mother Earth

Linden Johnson , true. What a fantastic statement!

Heavenly. WOW! This kind of talent is raped before it can grow these days

a born natural gifted woman.

This is just beautiful. To see Janis singing a song that I have loved since 1968 is absolute magic. We were astounded that someone so young could write such powerful songs. and that voice! After her '70s success, following At 17, her earlier songs appeared forgotten and rarely if ever performed live. Thank you so much Kathleen Brogan.

My pleasure!

Love her voice & music - Thank you Janis

Quina veu més privilegiada la de la Janis... adorable en tots els sentits...

few singers today have her powerful voice,keeping that high tone

You are 6 years older than me. I wish I would have been as old as you were then. I would have found you. What a waste :( { BTW you were absolutely gorgeous in your face & spirit !!! }

She's 7 years older than me. We must be close to the same age! Thanks for your kind words!

She's utterly mesmerizing.

Her father was threatened in the McCarthy era...She knew what America was/is at a young age.

... absolutely stunning ...

Shes pretty..very pretty.Where is she now.

Have often wondered why this woman thought she was an ugly duckling! Have always preferred the plain Jane"s to the Barbie root around type!

She is so Alanis Morressetish! WOW! Magnificent!

xzyeee , or Lan is more like her...

I was so lucky to have interviewed her on my national radio show. She sang "At Seventeen" in studio. It was a song I could identify with. But, looking at her, I only saw (and heard) beauty. It stunned me that we had shared such an experience of youth.

It was bullshit what Bill Cosby did to this woman, I hope he rots in jail.

MerkinMuffly, he needed to mind his own business.

At seven has been my favorite song since I was ten years old and to this day I cry every time I hear it. It's the most touching, saddest, most beautiful song I ever heard.

I much prefer this type of music and presentation to today's no talent, wanna be pornstars, sorry excuses for pop singers. They should be locked up for their lewd behavior.

Great singer and guitarist with a voice of passion and conviction of what she's singing about

Ironically... this IS HER AT SEVENTEEN... hardly the ugly duckling...

Was this part of a TV show? It's fascinating to look back.

3年前にコメントしました。ジャニスイアン、好きです。ありがとうです。

Is that the black guy sitting to her right that she sang about in 'Society's Child's?'

Will, good question! A boyfriend, perhaps...

No...she wrote "Society Child" from sitting near an interracial couple on a bus.

How is it that this girl thought she was not good looking , pretty, or beautiful.
My goodness she looks like an "Angel & HOT" at the same time. ( In my youth I would have asked her to marry me on looks alone)
Some body really played/messed with & damaged this girls head & heart !! You know what Jesus said about that;
" It would be better for them after they died, if they were to tie a big stone around their necks & threw themselves into the sea now, than to cause one such as this, to stumble."

An excellent song and artist.

What a beautiful woman!

Beautiful.

Great song and such a great voice!  Powerful and strong!

screeching feedback alert

She is so talented and goddamn it she is so fucking gorgeous as well.

Her beauty is astonishing indeed. I need a picture of her from here so that I can enjoy her terrific looks all day long.

Thanks for clarifying, Kathleen. Really enjoyed your video, in fact I enjoy any older footage of Janis because I didn't become aware of her until 1977... Any ideas as as to who/what Lonely One is about... I am spookily close to being the songs' subject... Long story, but I'm recently bereaved of my mum and a friends' cat has a very similar personality.... Etc...🐱So I was wondering who/what the song was about, and if it was someone I had heard of ... Etc??

@Rona Topaz Sorry, no idea!

Very sexy in her younger years.
How can you miss it, however the 60's a different perception of what was sexy.
Well beyond her time.
Genius talent !

Robin Alexander i mean, i agree with the sentiment (and she is gorgeous) but sexy is probably not the word i would use. its a tad creepy just because she is a bit young. just sexy is a bit of a creepy word in this context

Rudy, saying sexy about someone who's young doesn't have to be about anything "creepy." Most people understand limits.

Rare and beautiful.  Thanks so much for posting!

JANICE IAN!!!!!  
'And at the age of 17, my name was televised incorrectly'

That girl could sure sing and she was an absolute knockout pretty.

bacsi19461,couldnt agree more. And what a songwriter, would loved to have seen her back then.Even cooler, shes still performing now. So talented!

What a doll !

I totally agree.

see back then the gays had talent

greatgatsb9o921o , they always did.

How old was Janis at the time she sang this song?

She was 17.

I learned the truth at 17

Um ... she was 16 when she recorded this song in 1967 for her 2nd LP, right? And that LP, 'For All The Seasons' was released in Nov/Dec 1967, right? And she turned 17 in April of 68, right? When was this TV appearance - after April of that year? I saw her several times on 'The Joey Bishop Show' and don't remember her doing this song there. Was this from 'The Smothers Brothers'? If anybody would know the answer, you would, Kathleen Brogan. Your thoughts, please.

'Lonely One' is one Janis's all-time best songs and recordings. It's perfect from start to finish.

Are there any pop stars nowadays with at least 1/10 the talent of Janice Ian? 1/20? Hmmm..?

of course.

George David Herrera I don't think so.

Kitten Lyric who?

unclebobunclebob Name one.

@Kitten Lyric Who?

The song "At Seventeen" was, according to her autobiography, inspired by an article about debutantes, which started with the title "I learned the truth at eighteen", but the word didn't scan as well as one with 3 syllables, so Janis changed it. On the other hand, the first time I met her she swore blindly that the song was completely taken from her own life and innermost emotions. Is anyone else as confused as me?!

I think you can read an article and still equate it to your own life.  I hope you like my video!

Songs come from a lot of different places, Rona. It's one of those mysteries in life that can never be completely explained.

she was just too loud.

Who, Ethel Merman? WTF are you talking about?

Mean looking black dudes in the back ground.

What do you mean by that???

Asshole in the comment section

someone should mention that if she did look like a blonde barbie doll, no one would have listened to her sing, just stare at her face. you can't say she wasnt a success, she is.

jade rozner like they did for Madonna...

Either she was singing mainly on behalf of the girls who really were suffering because of their 'looks', or the tyranny of beauty had her on the ropes as well, which these days seems ridiculous, but there it is.  One of the truly unfair elements of society, the only difference now being a slightly wider spectrum of 'acceptability'.  Brava to Janis for pointing that out so bravely.

Mo Bock yep...a great dialog/angle to make a name for oneself...sing it loud...sing it proud...sing it all the way to your bank account...love ya Janis

こんな音源アップしてくれてありがとう！Happy!

Janisは歌うのが上手だね！

Fabulous!  Thanks for uploading.  Janis Ian...AWESOME then and now.

52musicismylife. . . .you've got GREAT TASTE!. . . . .those where the best songs. I've still got the vinyl. . . .WITH Janis' Autograph on them. . . . I took all my albums with me when she performed in Berkely

I'll tell you whats BETTER than this song . . . .Queen Merka and Me! 

The entire LP was pretty damned excellent, although I could've done without 'And I Did, Ma' - even though it injected a little levity into an otherwise deadly-serious musical program. After hearing it a couple of times, it became a drag to have to get up, go to the record player and move the needle to the next track to avoid certain 'death by slide-whistle'. ;)

one of the best songwriters I know of, if not the best. Especially for her age when writing these songs. And I think she was pretty, but during that time, the long blonde hair, tan skin and blue eyes were in so I can see why ohers didnt think she was.

Crazy but she had seriously incredible features and waaaaay underappreciated good looks. But her insecurity at the subjection of shallow 17 year old males produced one heckuva songwriter. A girl across the street had a serious crush on me back in the mid 70's and I thought nothing of her, but when I look back now at her pictures I'm stunned at how gorgeous she was. Many people I'd bet think the same of Janis.

No body has ever come close to her genius!  I have followed her careet just wish I could have seen her in concert.

She still tours, you know.

shes going to perform at the mauch chunk opera house in jim Thorpe Pennsylvania on October 17 !

@m55sdn Yes, I heard that!

I agree wholeheartedly that Janis Ian was not only a lovely vocalist and songwriter, but a very attractive woman. "At 17" (a beautiful song) always puzzled me for this reason as well. I mean, I think she is gorgeous, and with such fantastic musical talent.

Not in 'the day'.... if you didn't look a certain way, even your own family would let you know about it. We've come a LONG way in regards to allowing diversity in beauty. Now if we can just get to the point where we accept everyone as beautiful and let go of the concept of ugliness altogether.

@Veronica Sanner You bet. Well, for various reasons not necessarily related to "ugliness" I can very well relate to Janis Ian's "At 17" and it is full of emotional significance for me. I agree that social expectations and "norms" have created a lot of grief for both young men and women in American society, and still it continues today. The American "glamor girl" or "cover girl" idea is as far from my own conception of beauty as it could get. Someone with depth, sensitivity and intellect is more beautiful than a shallow, skin deep sex symbol; ditto with men.

@Robert Phillips Amen to that.... Nothing is sexier than a great big intellect wrapped up in a kind, generous heart. Just... wow.

We easily perceive her physical beauty now. Society has become accustomed to diversity since 1968. At that time, the physical ideal for females in the U.S. was English model Twiggy, who was a severely anorexic blonde-haired, blue-eyed waif with a little turned-up ski slope nose.

Girls like Michelle Phillips were considered it. I remember Grace Slick telling Candice Bergen about men giving her grief because she wasn't blonde like Candice. That wholesome WASP look has always been a huge deal. Peggy Lipton was another one that men swooned over.

The song 17 is about discreet forms of racism...

absolutely right, . . .

couldn't of said it better , Ive always had a major crush on her,

russell banks, I cannot blame you for a minute.

From this paragraph I read something like regret from what she once said...

A brown-eyed girl in hand-me-downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
Said, "Pity, please, the ones who serve
'Cause they only get what they deserve"

I agree barry..lovely eyes, beautiful face, super talented. vastly underrated over the years. She looks good today too. She certainly has soul and and a good heart!

Great song, great voice!

I was JUST thinking, "I wonder who she was singing about in 'Seventeen,' because she is beautiful."

Just saw her last week . . . she is so funny and down to earth and a beautiful talent. When she performed 17 it was as if she just recorded it. It was exceptionally done.

She is absolutely stunning! what a beautiful young lady, with raw emotion, yes bravery and passion, raw talent and a powerful delivery of a great song.... Think I'm in love!

A lot of the pretty sounding pop stuff from this time actually had very dark undertones worthy of Ozzy or Metallica. Consider Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle". It's definitely not about the wonder of childhood celebrated in nursery rhymes, as one might gather from the title of the song.

She was gorgeous.

robby rensenbrink, goodness, yes.

Oh I love this song, hadn't heard it in so very long, she sounds so amazing!!!! What a star then and still now :))

I suggest you give a listen to the rest of Janis's catalog. The woman writes amazing songs. Catch Janis live: You will count yourself fortunate, indeed.
Peace

This lady is all kinds of awesome--still!

She still is!

damn she was pretty

....just think, today we have Disney, pre-packaged boy bands etc. We have a lot of singers but what happened to the singer/song writer/performers like Janis? It's a different world........

Great song but i like Fly too High the best!

Mark Chapman, I can see why. Janice was also so different a decade later.

I do get my love from dogs and cats, it's great!!

just Seventeen here...i can hardly believe her age

her guitar's as big as she is, or is she just smaller than the guitar...hmmm...and the guitar has twice as many strings as a normal one, but she is the master musician of the magical, mystical sounds emanating from all around her to me. Wow! So much has changed since then. She reminds me a little of Sandy Denny.

extremely under-rated artist.....an original

Her comeback disappointed me so much. "At Seventeen" has a singsong melody. And the rest of her 70s output to me was boring. But I ABSOLUTELY ADORED her first 3 albums from the 60s. They were kinda Dylanesque, with much more interesting stories, lyrics and melody than her later stuff, and wonderful musical arrangements. I had those albums in '73 when i was in jr. high and would just listen to them all the time -- they were like a whole world to me, with that NYC feeling and fabulous organ.

wowowoowowoWOWOOWOWOWOW

What an incredible voice and only 17 at the time! What a great songwriter!
Thanks so much for posting this video....I had not seen it before.

Such a beautiful girl. So talented.

I've loved Janis Ian for many, many years. I am getting old so forgive this question; what song was the sequel to Society's Child?

Is is possible that you could upload "Paris in Your Eyes" - I can't seem to find it anywhere on youtube.

damn. this makes me cry so hard.

What the? I was a teenager then, and I've never heard her before. Checking out her work... so nice to discover Janis. however late!

So amazing to see these old videos. from an old Janis Ian fan.

@sinnspenn A very very lonely one. lol

My "NEW" fave folksong.

@MarlonYHannah lol

so calm in the back....what a contrast to todays audience ... Like the Apollo

@FLSHBK1 She was clearly depressed when she was younger. In one song (Mrs. McKenzie), she says, "You can't fix your mind when it's trapped in the twine of the psycho blues."

top draw

I played guitar all through high school and on into Jr. Collage where I studied Music. I played with several people during that time in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were serious about what we were doing and thought we had a grip on what music was and meant. Then one night at a friends house Janis came on TV and sang At Seventeen.... Boy did I get schooled that night. Thanks for the Post. I have never seen these early performances. And Janis if you ever read these comments.. Thanks much!

Such intensity for such a young age. Janis is certainly the real deal and she has stood the test of time. In fact I have listened to some of her later stuff recorded last year and recently and I have formed the view her voice has got better with age. Thank you Janis from the years of enjoyment I have had from your talent!!!

I remember her on Jonny Carson, she turned him into stumbling complimentor (new word)...Bought the album next day,still have it...Thank you Miss Ian.