I started ‘Society’s Child’ on a bus in East Orange as I was going home from school. I saw a black and white couple sitting there and started thinking about it. Janis Ian Read Quote
Of course, I have a different vested interest in the gay community, because I am gay, and I would certainly enjoy the tax advantages that straight people have, and the inheritance advantages, and things like Social Security, but I’ve always been a civil rights advocate across the board. That’s how I was raised. Janis Ian Read Quote
I think these last 10 years have seen just a huge shift in the psyche of this country as regards gay people. I think AIDS had a lot to do with it. So many families who really believed they’d ‘never met one’ were suddenly confronted with their sons becoming ill, and friends of sons. I think that brought a lot of it into the open. Janis Ian Read Quote
I know just enough Japanese to get by if I get lost and greet an audience properly, just from having a lot of Japanese friends and being there over the years. Janis Ian Read Quote
I bought all my friends guitars and I had a good time with my money. But then one day the IRS came knocking. Janis Ian Read Quote
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. Janis Ian Read Quote
The best thing you can learn from the worst times of your life is that it always gets better. It may take a month, a year, a decade, but it will get better if you leave yourself open to it. Janis Ian Read Quote
