Dept. of Fluffy Bunnies

[kaffy_r]

In an Effort to Palate Cleanse After Today ...

... it's the return of the Music Meme ...

... and it's Day 17. 

A song about being 17:

Oh, was there ever going to be any other song?

Even though I first heard the song well after I left 17 behind, Janis Ian's song spoke to me in a general sense. I understood it, even though I hadn't suffered what she undoubtedly suffered during her own school days. I'd suffered smaller heartbreaks in high school, for the crime of being weird. Besides, her writing was beautiful. So of course, I loved it. Teenagers have it tough, y'all. 

Watch on YouTube

Years later, I learned she was a science fiction fan, and she wrote a song about that, and put it to the music for "At Seventeen." Here it is. (I don't know if it was written for SFWA, or for the Nebula Awards; Geri, if you're out there, can you tell me? It was the title of her rewritten song, "Welcome Home," which she repeats more than once in the lyrics, that hit me harder than "At Seventeen" ever did. That's what I felt when I discovered SFF fandom; I'd found a home. 

Watch on YouTube

Even later, I had the chance to listen to her live when she played a gig in Evanston. Afterwards, I spoke briefly to her about how much I loved that, especially the mention of Cordwainer Smith, one of my favorite weirdly beautiful writers. It turns out that she was also a Smith fan. That was as much a gift to me as "Welcome Home" was

If you want to see any of my earlier answers, visit Day 16 The links are at the bottom. 

Comments

[kerk_hiraeth]

What are the songs; just getting 'This Video is Unavailable' screen messages here,

kerk

[kaffy_r]

I'm so sorry; on my screen both videos show up. A link saying "Watch on YouTube" lies under there. Have you tried the link? Or has that disappeared as well? I wish I could figure that out on your behalf. I can't imagine that these are not available in your neck of the woods.

[kerk_hiraeth]

Just did that.

First one says it's content has been unavailable in your country, which is ludicrous since there are dozens of different versions on YT; couple of which I have watched in the last couple of weeks.

This audio version works just fine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi-5tiHE48c

Second one worked this time.

Not heard of this version before; need to check for the lyrics.

Usually don't check the links when I see that message as it's usually a waste of time.

kerk

[kaffy_r]

Well, I'm glad you've been able to access the songs in some fashion. It is ludicrous that anything should be blocked in your neck of the woods. And it's doubly ridiculous because you were able to access one of the videos the second time you tried. That's sometimes happened to me when I'm visiting YouTube. I have no clue as to why it happens.

The lyrics to "Welcome Home" are quite lovely, and name-check numerous science fiction writers and science fiction live media. I think that if you go to YouTube to listen to it, one commenter provided all of the words. That proved helpful to me.

[gerisullivan]

Janis wrote "Welcome Home" for the 2008 Nebula Awards banquet and performed it there in her role as the Toastmaster for the evening. I think she may have performed it again at the Nebula Awards Banquet in 2009 and/or 2010. (All 3 years are mentioned by various online sources. Kristine Kathryn Rusch posted the lyrics and a link to a recording on June 9, 2010. I first heard it from Kristine's post while sitting in a rocking chair on a posh hotel veranda while in Georgia for my younger niece's June 12th wedding, and played it over and over and over and over (times many more).


https://kriswrites.com/2010/06/09/janis-ians-welcome-home-for-true-fans-everywhere/

The song won the 2011 Asimov's Readers' Poll for Best Poem after it was published in Asimov's, October-November 2010 issue. Steven H Silver published it in his fanzine, Argentus, in 2009.

https://efanzines.com/Argentus/Ag09.pdf

I continue to adore it.

[kaffy_r]

Thank you for all the information, my dear!

[kerk_hiraeth]

I miss being able to pick magazines like Asimov's up from a local shop; even a local newsagents sometimes.

Now they're all but impossible to get hold of.

kerk

[kaffy_r]

I share that regret. Even in a city like Chicago, It's hard to find those magazines. I think I know of only one or two places to find them. I used to buy them with near religious fervor.