A Feminist Heroine– Janis Joplin Interview

She grew up a marginalized, ungracious teenager in a small town in Houston, alienated by her peers for looking and being different. Yet, after discovering at age 17 next to a drunken campfire that she could sing, this bad reputation gave her an infamous voice that would be destined to echo in the male-dominated blues and rock music industry. This echo reverberated this past June at the Monterey Music Festival and has since, produced a golden record alongside the Big Brother and Holding Company. Janis Joplin sat down to discuss her experience as a countercultural figure in the music industry and discuss the themes surrounding her soulful, raw songs.

Janis, I would like to congratulate you on your achievements thus far with Big Brother and the breakthrough you've created in blues and rock. As a young girl, did you ever think you'd reach this point?

Thank you, it has been such a dream to reach this point in music. To be honest with you, whenever I'd daydream and you know, interview my brains about what I wanted to do with my life, I never pictured myself on a stage. My parents both wanted me to be a school teacher and I think that delayed my relationship with music. But, after Big Brother began and we got together, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. It was at that point that I realized that I was born to do this, that no barrier would hold me back from getting on that stage and pouring my heart out.

About those barriers you just mentioned, what has been your experience as a woman in a male-dominated industry? More specifically, does it get lonely being the only woman in Big Brother?

You know, I never really saw that as a barrier. When I was in high school, all my friends were guys so it came to a point where they saw me – and I saw myself– as one of the guys. So being in Big Brother doesn't feel too different from that, to be honest with you. We all get along spectacularly and we have that musical chemistry that I don't think we would have if there were to be another woman in the group. And as for on the wider spectrum, I am just unapologetically myself so I do not honestly care what others think of me as a woman. You know, if there are men out there who think I should be a pearl diver, taking care of the kids, good for them. But those thoughts won't hold me back from taking the microphone and saying what I have to say.

Now, I'd like to comment about some of your biggest songs thus far. "Me and Bobby McGee". I am sure you already are aware of this, but many have criticized the fact that you haven't changed the lyrics at all, so technically you are singing a song meant for men. Why have you decided to not follow the steps of Judy Collins and Joan Baez in this respect?

I respect both of those women, I really do. But I don't see the point in altering lyrics– you start to loose that feeling, that raw emotion that already comes attached to the song. When I took Bobby McGee, the song was telling me that I was meant to sing it as it told me. You know, who am I to go along changing something that already is perfect as it is? And it just is such a triviality, not changing the gender. I don't see why people whine about that, and the whining of men is not going to make me change my mind. I already get so much trash form others, being a white woman singing the blues. And I tell to myself, I already am getting enough trash so I'm not going to take any more. See it as a rebellious act or as whatever you want, but my goal as a singer is to be authentic and changing the lyrics would completely defeat that purpose.

I'd like to switch the conversation to another one of your hits. Did you get a negative male reaction to "Women is Losers"? Or really, what reaction were you expecting to receive?

See, when I wrote that song, I was in a time of my life where all the social injustices were as clear as day to me. I may not be a full out supporter of feminist groups like N.O.W, but I still have a voice in the matter. It hasn't been easy, being an almost female intruder in a man's world, and when you become that intruder you notice all these things that weren't as apparent before. We women get pushed into a mold of what the perfect woman, the perfect housewife should be and look like. I don't fit into that mold whatsoever, and honestly, not even if I were dixie fried would I try to make myself fit into that mold. So the reaction I expected was not really a positive one, you know, not everyone is going to agree with what you are saying. People don't like to be pointed fingers at, but in "Women is Losers" I think it was necessary to point that finger. Men can't shy away from their supremacy, they can't deny that they steer the patriarchy and that they create these unachievable double standards for women. What I really wanted was to make people listen at least, and consider that men really are superior no matter how hard we try. And that is honestly unfair.

Do you think women want to fight against that social injustice? Would you be willing to change this compliant mindset with your music?

You know, I feel that there are so many women out there who are just relaxing in their comfort zones. And I can't judge them really– if they want to be stewardesses in their own homes, by all means, they have the power of the choice. But the issue here is that some of them don't even know they have that choice. Society has never made them aware that they are human beings that have the right to be happy in their own terms outside of the kitchen and the children's nursery. I know my songs may be seen as taboo in some of those households. You know, I've got crazy hair and I look like a hippie and my songs may sound like noise to some of them with all the emotion and craziness that pours through the speakers. But I think that calls the attention, how unusual I am. And if I can at least call their attention and let them know they have a choice, my job as an artist is complete.

Which song of yours do you think is most powerful in communicating that choice that you just mentioned?

Without a doubt "Get It While you Can". Pearl to me was just an album filled with freedom, filled with wanting, filled with choice. And that song, I think, is the epitome of all those things. You know, with things like Vietnam and the Civil Rights Moment going on now, you have so many things to loose. Why wait, you know? I can't just wait for a knight in shining armor to come for me. "Get It While you Can" reminds you that life is short, and waiting is not living. I guess what I want is liberation in those lyrics. It feels so rewarding to free yourself from the shackles of societal expectations. All I want is for everyone to tap into the emotions I feel when I sing, to experience the thrill of just living without any holdbacks. And I don't just want that for women, I want that for everyone. It is the most exhilarating feeling, it makes you feel alive.

Lastly, do you think you'll ever change the road or approach your songs take when it comes to that liberation of sorts?

I do not think so, to be honest. It almost is like a drug, singing about that. I don't think I will ever get enough of it, it is a part of me. And I hope it will also become a part of somebody else someday.


Janis will be playing at the Woodstock Rock Festival this upcoming August. Tickets will be for sale next week. To find out more, tune in to 97.7FM between 6 and 7 PM.