1
00:00:01,468 --> 00:00:02,769
- It's not just, she's talking 
about the pain of adolescence

2
00:00:02,769 --> 00:00:04,704
and the pain of feeling 
like an ugly duckling

3
00:00:04,704 --> 00:00:08,141
and the pain of not being 
in the in crowd or whatever,

4
00:00:08,141 --> 00:00:10,243
it's also about being 
the tall, blonde,

5
00:00:10,243 --> 00:00:11,411
blue-eyed cheerleader.

6
00:00:11,411 --> 00:00:15,515
♪ Remember those 
who win the game ♪

7
00:00:15,515 --> 00:00:18,084
♪ Lose the love they 
sought to gain ♪

8
00:00:18,084 --> 00:00:20,053
- I was the 
cheerleader. (laughs)

9
00:00:20,053 --> 00:00:23,723
I was the girl that Janis 
sang about in "At Seventeen."

10
00:00:23,723 --> 00:00:26,926
I was a good girl who 
was dating the bad boy.

11
00:00:26,926 --> 00:00:30,530
♪ Their small town 
eyes will gape at you ♪

12
00:00:30,530 --> 00:00:35,135
♪ In dull surprise 
when payment due ♪

13
00:00:35,135 --> 00:00:38,772
- And I don't care if you're 
super handsome, beautiful,

14
00:00:38,772 --> 00:00:41,808
of you're smart or 
you're you're dumb.

15
00:00:41,808 --> 00:00:45,945
Everybody feels like a piece 
of [bleep] in some kinda way.

16
00:00:45,945 --> 00:00:48,281
- I was a very 
weirdo kid growing up

17
00:00:48,281 --> 00:00:50,150
in the eighties and 
nineties in the Midwest,

18
00:00:50,150 --> 00:00:52,986
and all of my peers were 
listening to Nirvana

19
00:00:52,986 --> 00:00:55,021
and Guns N' Roses, and 
I, for some reason,

20
00:00:55,021 --> 00:00:56,856
was this little sad closeted kid

21
00:00:56,856 --> 00:00:59,359
who was listening to 
Joan Baez and Phil Ochs

22
00:00:59,359 --> 00:01:02,395
and Janis Ian by 
candlelight. (laughs)

23
00:01:03,530 --> 00:01:05,065
The line that always 
made me laugh,

24
00:01:05,065 --> 00:01:07,967
because if we didn't 
laugh, we would almost cry,

25
00:01:07,967 --> 00:01:12,205
was the line, "To those 
whose names were never called

26
00:01:12,205 --> 00:01:13,840
when choosing sides 
for basketball."

27
00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,844
♪ And those whose names 
were never called ♪

28
00:01:17,844 --> 00:01:21,281
♪ When choosing sides 
for basketball ♪

29
00:01:21,281 --> 00:01:25,218
- I was never picked, 
(laughs) any sports team.

30
00:01:26,453 --> 00:01:30,356
♪ When dreams were all 
they gave for free ♪

31
00:01:30,356 --> 00:01:34,494
♪ To ugly duckling 
girls like me ♪

32
00:01:35,728 --> 00:01:37,864
- I mean, I was that ugly 
duckling girl, (laughs)

33
00:01:37,864 --> 00:01:41,034
and so the song 
hit me pretty hard.

34
00:01:41,034 --> 00:01:44,537
♪ Inventing lovers 
on the phone ♪

35
00:01:44,537 --> 00:01:47,006
- The fact that Janis 
had such a huge hit

36
00:01:47,006 --> 00:01:51,511
and such an iconic 
impact with that song,

37
00:01:51,511 --> 00:01:54,814
I think, speaks to its 
universal relevance.

38
00:01:55,782 --> 00:01:58,751
(audience clapping)