I was a kid of the 60’s, literally. I was born in 1957 and became a teenager in 1970. I was affected by music at a younger age than most of my friends. My recall registry is a sequence of songs, music. To this day, I am confounded why the ear-bone-is-connected-to-the-heart-bone. I don’t know how, I just know it is.
Thanks to my extraordinary mother and the magic of television, I was quite aware of what was going on beyond my pre-teen orbit. The space race, the cold war, assassinations, Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, etc. I found it difficult to grasp the concept of segregation. Not the purpose, but the reason.
One of the most musically impactful moments for me was when I heard a song on the radio in late 1966 written and recorded by a 15-year-old girl. At the time, I didn’t know her name, age, background. I didn’t have to. She told me everything in 3 minutes and 12 seconds. Her song haunted me, and still does to this day.
Society’s Child by Janis Ian.
Released in ‘66, it struggled for a year to get wide radio play or chart position because of the controversial subject matter, a youthful interracial romance. It didn’t make Billboard’s top 40 until June of 1967.
What struck me so deeply was the combination of brilliant composition structure, lyrics and delivery. I didn’t play an instrument until I was 12, so didn’t know anything really about music beyond what was coming out of the speakers. This song did a number to the right side of my brain.
If it wasn’t for Leonard Bernstein who featured the artist and song on 1966’s “Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution”, and producer Shadow Morton (who insisted on changing the title from “Baby I’ve Been Thinking”) Society’s Child might never have made it from my General Electric transistor radio to my young, impressionable mind.
Thought provoking, moving and beautiful. It stands the test of time.
Janis Ian / Society’s Child interview with Ken Paulson
