August 27: Society’s Child

Songwriter and folksinger Janis Ian (Janis Eddy Fink) married Patricia Snyder in Toronto on this date in 2003. A red-diaper baby, Ian took the world of folk music by storm in the 1960s, writing at age 13 her first hit song, “Society’s Child,” about the challenges of being in an interracial relationship; the song was banned by numerous radio stations, but was introduced on television by Leonard Bernstein and ultimately sold 600,000 copies. Ian came out as a lesbian in 1993, with the worldwide release of her album, Breaking Silence. She has been a columnist for The Advocate and is a published science fiction writer, and her songs have been recorded by Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, Sheena Easton, Mel Torme, and many other performers.

“One of these days I’m gonna stop my listening
Gonna raise my head up high.
One of these days I’m gonna raise up my glistening wings and fly.
But that day will have to wait for a while.
Baby I’m only society’s child.
When we’re older things may change,
But for now this is the way, they must remain.
I say I can’t see you any more, Baby,
Can’t see you any more.” —Janis Ian

Watch Janis Ian describe shopping for a wedding dress and other preparations for her wedding as the lead-in to this 2011 performance of her song “Married in London”: