Society’s Child
One of these days I'm gonna raise up my glistening wings and fly
Welcome to new subscribers and regular readers! Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “Society’s Child” by Janis Ian (1966). If you’d like to hear the song before you read about it, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article.
Below, you’ll find my interpretation of the lyrics which are written in italics. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below. TOEIC (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1.
(514 words)
Janis Ian was born in New York City in 1951. She wrote this song when she was 15 years old. At the time, there were people who were openly racist in the way they acted and the way they spoke.
The song is about racial discrimination. It’s about a young woman who still lived at home. Her boyfriend came to visit her, but her mother answered (opened) the door and…
Come to my door, baby
Face is clean and shining black as night
My mother went to answer you know
That you looked so fine
The young woman thought her mother would see his good qualities and that she would invite him inside, but her mother didn’t do that. She looked at him and told her daughter that she couldn’t see him again.
Now I could understand your tears and your shame
She called you "boy" instead of your name
If you are talking about a small child, using the word “boy” is normal and appropriate. However, if you are talk to an adult Black man, is implies that he is not an adult and is a discriminatory word.
When she wouldn't let you inside
When she turned and said
"But honey, he's not our kind."
She says
I can't see you any more, baby
Can't see you anymore
young woman and her boyfriend walk to school together. Everyone puts social pressure on them to stop being together. Other students ignore them. The teachers stare at them and make the couple feel uncomfortable.
Walk me down to school, baby
Everybody's acting deaf and dumb
Until they turn and say, "Why don't you stick to your own kind."
My teachers all laugh, the smirking stares
Cutting deep down in our affairs
This last line means that the couple doesn’t like other people judging their personal lives (our affairs) because it’s none of their business.
Her teachers taught about how, in the U.S., people should be treated equally, but in reality, the teachers did not behave toward them in an equal way. She wants them to leave her and her boyfriend alone (let us be).
Preachers of equality
Think they believe it, then why won't they just let us be?
They say I can't see you anymore baby
Can't see you anymore
The young woman doesn’t want to go along with “society”, what her family and friends are telling her to do.
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
Social pressure is hard to stop. She decides not to fight back now.
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 anymore baby
Can't see you anymore
No, I don't want to see you anymore, baby
Racism in the U.S., and many places around the world, has not gone away. It has just taken different forms.
Leaving a comment is a good way to practice your writing skills.
Vocabulary
racist 人種差別的
discrimination 差別
ignore 無視する
stare 見つめる
deaf and dumb 耳が聞こえず口がきけない
smirk ニヤニヤ笑う
it’s none of their (your, etc.) business それは彼らには関係ないことだ
preacher 説教者
glistening 輝く
I believe that education should be free.
All of the articles about the songs will remain free for students to use. (We are all students, are we not?) However, if you find these articles useful and are in a position to make a small (or large) donation, I would be deeply grateful.
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Such a pretty song for exposing racial realities of the 1960s. I remember those days (more so 1970s) and the unique qualities of Janis Ian songs.