I was thinking the other day about how and why I choose these pieces and came to the conclusion that each of them has some meaning for me for some part of my life, whether it be a period that spans decades or describes something that lasted a mere moment. I think music is one of those things that has to have a personal connection while you play it, otherwise you end up sounding like a ragtime piano player in a Western dive bar, hitting the right notes but ultimately sounding soulless.
Though “The Entertainer” is one of my favorites musical pieces, as is irony my favorite rhetorical device. But let’s not dive that far down. Maybe I’ll unironically play “The Entertainer” for this newsletter. It is deceptively… not easy.
“Tea and Sympathy”, a song written and performed by Janis Ian on her album “Between the Lines,” released in 1975 when she was just 24. This was the LP that also contained her hit single, “At Seventeen,” but I think there are more gems than the popular single, including “Tea.”
In the first wave of blogging, I got to know Jane Devin pretty well. She was a popular writer on the original Huffington Post and eventually wrote her memoir, The Elephant Girl. I think it’s still available in print and Kindle, though it keeps getting taken on and off Amazon. I’ve lost touch with Jane; I hope she’s ok wherever she is. In this book, she recounts how “Between the Lines” helped get her through some dark times.
I had forgotten about that until I was going through some stuff as well a couple years later. I downloaded the album, plugged the earbuds in and played the LP on loop almost every night for about two years. So that’s the connection to this musical piece.
Janis Ian cut her last tour short due to some health issues in 2022, dashing my hopes of catching one last live show. She had released a new album the prior year, “The Light At The End Of The Line” which is also really, really good.
“…skin just covers who I am…” from the first track, “I’m Still Standing.”
I love that line.
Thanks for this Gerard! I am envious of your signed copy of Janis Ian's memoir! Here's to "still standing."