Analyse af Janis Ians 'Society's Child' selvbiografi

By publishing the song “Society’s Child” in 1964 at the age of only thirteen Janis Ian immediately became known as a rebel hoping for a revolution that would unite blacks and whites in society. She wrote this song without even thinking about the consequences it could have and the violent people it would upset. She just wrote it because she thought it would be a good song.

The biggest part of this excerpt from Janis Ian’s Society Child – My Autobiography (published in 2009) takes place at a concert hall in Encino, California (The United States of America) where the fifteen-year-old (this scene then takes place in 1966) Janis Ian is performing. Her song “Society’s Child” had been banned from almost every radio station in the entire country because it was about an interracial relationship. However, the reviews of this song were “astounding” which was why the president of the record company Verve Forecast kept on re-releasing it and demanding radio stations to play the song. And in 1960’s America, a record company president such as Jerry Schoenbaum had a lot to say and a lot of power. Even The New York Times gave it a fine review, but as the most respected radio tip sheet of the day said: “Magnificently done, but will probably never see the light of day. Too bad.” So here Janis Ian was with a highly recommended song that no radio station really dared to play. That really is too bad.