WEBVTT 00:01.233 --> 00:04.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - And the winner is "At Seventeen," Janis Ian. 00:04.033 --> 00:07.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - [Janis] When I started out, I wanted to be really famous. 00:07.100 --> 00:09.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% (people shouting) So naive. 00:09.933 --> 00:11.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - [Interviewer] What do you consider yourself, Janis? 00:11.900 --> 00:13.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% - [Janis] Just a singer. 00:13.233 --> 00:15.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - [Interviewer] Of any particular notoriety? 00:15.866 --> 00:17.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - [Janis] Infamously, yes. 00:17.200 --> 00:19.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - Would you welcome please, Janis Ian. 00:19.200 --> 00:22.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - Janis standing there with just an acoustic guitar, 00:22.200 --> 00:24.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% it was just mesmerizing. 00:24.966 --> 00:28.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - This little woman wrote giant works of art. 00:28.866 --> 00:32.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - Very strong, emphatic social commentary. 00:32.033 --> 00:33.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - [Narrator] This is perhaps one of the most censored, 00:33.666 --> 00:35.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I think, of all records. 00:35.600 --> 00:37.800 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% - [Janis] What I was doing was right. 00:37.800 --> 00:39.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It had the power to make people stand up, 00:39.933 --> 00:41.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and that's why it scared them. 00:43.800 --> 00:45.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - You have this young girl 00:45.033 --> 00:48.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% taking on interracial relationships. 00:48.233 --> 00:49.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - The record company was afraid of it. 00:49.933 --> 00:52.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Radio stations were afraid of playing it. 00:52.333 --> 00:54.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% All the odds were stacked against her. 00:54.333 --> 00:55.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - [Janis] Bernstein said, 00:55.933 --> 00:58.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Let's have her on the show we're doing about pop music." 00:58.300 --> 01:01.500 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% - Listen hard to society's child. 01:01.500 --> 01:03.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - That was an embrace of God. 01:03.300 --> 01:06.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - It just took off and then she took off. 01:07.400 --> 01:10.766 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% ♪ I learned the truth at seventeen ♪ 01:10.766 --> 01:13.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - [Interviewer] How do you react to the music business? 01:13.200 --> 01:14.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - [Janis] You have to sacrifice 01:14.433 --> 01:16.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% a certain part of yourself for a time. 01:16.666 --> 01:18.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% (audience applauding) 01:18.900 --> 01:21.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - She was not able to cope with daily reality. 01:21.900 --> 01:25.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ♪ Those of us who knew the pain ♪ 01:25.500 --> 01:27.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - [Janis] I had no money. I had nowhere to live. 01:27.866 --> 01:31.566 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% ♪ Of Valentine's that never came ♪ 01:31.566 --> 01:32.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - [Janis] In those years, 01:32.833 --> 01:35.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% it was not cool to be out of the closet. 01:35.066 --> 01:38.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ♪ And those whose names ♪ were never called ♪ 01:38.400 --> 01:40.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - We were writing every day. 01:40.333 --> 01:43.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And of course, we fell in love. 01:43.166 --> 01:46.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (light upbeat music) 01:46.233 --> 01:48.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - [Janis] I know what it is to feel powerless. 01:48.000 --> 01:49.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I know what it is to feel trapped. 01:49.533 --> 01:53.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And so, I can use those feelings as part of being truthful. 01:53.066 --> 01:55.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - There's a creativity there. There's a power there. 01:55.966 --> 01:57.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - Her legacy is not just as a songwriter, 01:57.933 --> 02:00.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but it's as an LGBTQ icon. 02:00.333 --> 02:01.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - I can't say the rest is history, 02:01.600 --> 02:03.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but history was being made. 02:04.166 --> 02:06.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - Child prodigies have complications. 02:06.966 --> 02:09.000 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% - I don't think that she intended 02:09.000 --> 02:11.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to become a symbol of social change. 02:11.666 --> 02:14.200 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% She was writing about what she knew. 02:14.200 --> 02:16.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - She's true to her music and true to herself. 02:16.666 --> 02:18.666 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (upbeat music) 02:18.666 --> 02:21.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - [Janis] Music is about telling stories. This is mine. 02:21.833 --> 02:24.033 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Thank you. It's been a long time.