Born Janis Eddy Fink on 7th April 1951 to a Jewish family in New York City, she was primarily raised in New Jersey, initially on a farm, and attended East Orange High School and the New York City High School of Music & Art. Her parents, Victor (a music teacher) and Pearl, ran a summer camp in upstate New York, and, in that Cold War era, were frequently under government surveillance because of their left-wing politics. (Ian alluded to these years later in her song "God and the FBI"). Young Janis admired the work of folk pioneers such as Joan Baez and Odetta. At the age of twelve, Ian wrote her first song, "Hair of Spun Gold", which was subsequently published in the folk publication Broadside and was later recorded for her debut album.
At the age of thirteen she legally changed her name to Janis Ian, using as her new last name her brother Eric's middle name. Also in that year, Ian wrote and sang her first hit single, "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)", about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl's mother and frowned upon by her peers and teachers; the girl ultimately decides to end the relationship, claiming the social norms of the day have left her no other choice. Produced by George "Shadow" Morton and released three times between 1965 and 1967, "Society's Child" finally became a national hit on its third release, after Leonard Bernstein featured it in a television special: Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution. The song's content was taboo for some radio stations, and they withdrew or banned it from their playlists; in her 2008 autobiography Society's Child, Ian recalls receiving hate mail and death threats as a response to the song, and mentions that a radio station in Atlanta that played it was burned down. In the summer of 1967, "Society's Child" reached number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100.
Her most successful single in the United States was "At Seventeen", released in 1975, a bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the perspective of a twenty-four-year-old. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart. It won the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female. The song's album, Between the Lines, reached number one on Billboard's Album chart. It was quickly certified gold, and later earned a platinum certification for sales of over a million copies sold in the U.S.
Ian finally became one of the first "indie artists", resurfacing in 1993, with the worldwide release of Breaking Silence and its title song about incest. She also came out as a lesbian with that release. Her most recent album, Folk Is the New Black, was released in 2006; it is the first in over twenty years for which she did all the songwriting herself.
Jesse
Janis Ian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's a hole in the bed
Where we slept
Now it's growing cold
Hey jesse, your face
In the place where we lay
By the hearth, all apart
It hangs on my heart
No I'm not scared - I wait for you
Hey jesse, I'm lonely, come home
Jesse, the floors and the boards
Recalling your step
And I remember, too
All the pictures are fading
And shaded in grey
But I still set a place
On the table at noon
And I'm leaving a light on the stairs
No I'm not scared - I wait for you
Hey jesse, I'm lonely, come home
Jesse, the spread on the bed
Is like when you left
I've kept it all for you
And all the blues and the greens
Have been recently cleaned
And they're seemingly new
Hey jes, me and you
We'll swallow the light on the stairs
We'll do up my hair
We'll sleep unaware
Hey jesse, I'm lonely, come home
Janis Ian's song Jesse is a touching ballad that tells the story of a woman named Jesse who has left her lover behind. Jesse is personified as a symbol of love, a feeling that the singer cannot let go of. In the first verse, the lyrics describe the empty bed where Jesse once lay. The singer suggests that the absence of Jesse is causing a pain that feels like a physical coldness. The song builds on the longing that the singer feels for Jesse as memories of her presence in the house fill the empty spaces. The second verse suggests that the singer is holding on to everything that reminds her of Jesse, from the sounds of her footsteps to her favorite chair. The images of pictures fading and colors being washed away imply that the passage of time is erasing what once was. But the singer is steadfast in her love for Jesse, setting a place at the table each day, and keeping the bedspread just as it was when Jesse left. In the chorus, the singer invites Jesse to come back home, indicating that she still holds out hope that Jesse will return.
The music video of "Jesse" features a young girl in a house full of cobwebs and shadows, echoing the cold emptiness that pervades the song's lyrics. The video was shot in a house where concrete blocks were used as a foundation.
The song was released in 1978 on the album "Stars" and it became a hit in the United States, peaking at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Jesse" was inspired by a girl Janis Ian went to high school with. It was after college that Janis decided to write a song about the girl she knew in high school.
Janis Ian won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1979 for "At Seventeen", a song from the same album.
"Jesse" gained new popularity after being featured on an episode of the television show "The O.C." in 2005.
Janis Ian has said that "Jesse" is her favourite song that she's ever written.
In 1983, Roberta Flack covered "Jesse" on her album "I'm the One".
The chords used in "Jesse" are G, C, D, and Am.
The song has been covered by many artists over the years, including Jennifer Warnes, Olivia Newton-John, and Lucy Kaplansky.
Janis Ian has been an advocate for LGBTQ rights and her song "Jesse" has been interpreted as a queer love song, despite the fact that the story is not explicitly about two women.
Chords:
G C
Jesse come home, there's a hole in the bed
D Am
Where we slept, now it's growing cold
G C
Hey Jesse, your face in the place where we lay
D Am
By the hearth all apart, it hangs on my heart
G C
And I'm leaving the light on the stairs
D Am
No I'm not scared, I wait for you
G C
Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home
Line by Line Meaning
Jesse come home
I miss you and I want you to come back.
There's a hole in the bed
Your absence is felt physically in the bed we once shared.
Where we slept
We used to sleep here together.
Now it's growing cold
The bed and my heart feel cold without you here.
Hey jesse, your face
I can still see your face in my mind.
In the place where we lay
I remember where we used to lie together.
By the hearth, all apart
I still feel the pain of being separated from you by the fire we used to sit by.
It hangs on my heart
The memory and pain of our separation weighs heavily on my heart.
And I'm leaving the light on the stairs
I continue to hold onto hope and wait for you to come back to me.
No I'm not scared - I wait for you
I am not afraid to wait for you because I believe you will return.
Jesse, I'm lonely, come home
I am lonely without you and I want you to come back to me.
Jesse, the floors and the boards
The physical surroundings of our home still remind me of you.
Recalling your step
I still remember the sound of your footsteps in this space.
And I remember, too
I remember all the moments we shared.
All the pictures are fading
Even the memories of us captured in pictures are beginning to fade over time.
And shaded in grey
The once vibrant memories are now dull and grayed out.
But I still set a place
I am still holding onto the hope that you will return and share a meal with me.
On the table at noon
I still prepare a place setting for you every day at noon.
And I'm leaving a light on the stairs
I continue to hold onto hope and wait for you to come back to me.
Jesse, the spread on the bed
The bedspread remains unchanged since the day you left.
Is like when you left
The bedspread looks exactly the same as the day you left it.
I've kept it all for you
I have not changed anything since you left, everything remains the same.
And all the blues and the greens
The colors we used to love have been cleaned and are now vibrant and new.
Have been recently cleaned
I have made sure that the things that we shared are kept clean and tidy.
And they're seemingly new
Despite having been cleaned, the things still hold the same memories and emotions as before.
Hey jes, me and you
Together we can face anything.
We'll swallow the light on the stairs
We'll overcome the challenge together.
We'll do up my hair
We'll help each other look and feel our best.
We'll sleep unaware
Together we'll find peace in our dreams.
Hey jesse, I'm lonely, come home
I am still waiting for you to come back to me because I am lonely without you.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JANIS IAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Gwangbok Min
Jesse come home
There's a hole in the bed
Where we slept
Now it's growing cold
Hey Jesse, your face
In the place where we lay
By the hearth, all apart
It hangs on my heart
And I'm leaving the light on the stairs
No I'm not scared - I wait for you
Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home
Jesse, the floors and the boards
Recalling your step
And I remember, too
All the pictures are fading
And shaded in grey
But I still set a place
On the table at noon
And I'm leaving a light on the stairs
No I'm not scared - I wait for you
Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home
Jesse, the spread on the bed
Is like when you left
I've kept it up for you
And all the blues and the greens
Have been recently cleaned
And it's seemingly new
Hey Jes, me and you
We'll swallow the light on the stairs
We'll do up my hair
And sleep unaware
Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home
Aideen Leonard
This brings me back to when I used to listen to this album as a child, revelling in the beauty of the words and melodies. When I listen to this particular song now as a 55 year old woman I still revel in its beauty. Great music is timeless and never grows old.
Robert Munro
Everything Janis writes and sings are filled with poignant words and phrases; this song is no exception, one of her best.
Blue Bee
Janis cranks up the pathos, and it has a life of its own. Phenomenal.
Paul Ray Young
She must be one of the worlds greatest songwriters , Nobody can match the emotion in this x
una mckillen
What it is about, though. I have tried to express it. It is about loss; so much loss.
Rasberry fields
Writers and singers! That voice is like fine crystal ❤️
Yellowbear Bill
Still one of my favourite songs. She has the ability to make a sad song so personal that it brings a tear to your eye.
AndyMac
The fragility in the slightly wavering voice…so powerful
una mckillen
This is one of the most gorgeous songs ever written. It so sums up losing and still hoping. Everything still there -- the blues and the greens - and the set place for someone who is not there. This is clearly about a lost lover/husband but for me could just as easily be about mum and dad who will never come home.
Kord Sandford
This song is very special. My Jesse, the love of my life for over 48 yrs, died a month ago. From 1975 onward this beautiful song would describe the pain and longing in my heart when he was away. He was a loyal husband and best friend, a very rare find today. Jesse, I'm lonely, come home