Janis Ian Reflects on the 50th Anniversary Of Her Influential Song, “At Seventeen,” In Her New Documentary Janis Ian: Breaking Silence
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Janis Ian Reflects on the 50th Anniversary
Of Her Influential Song, “At Seventeen,”
In Her New Documentary Janis Ian: Breaking Silence
The Iconic Singer Is “Horrified” That Its “Ugly Duckling” Theme
Is Still So Relevant Five Decades Later
“‘At Seventeen’ confronted lookism and bullying
with a candor that anticipated the work of contemporary artists
including Billie Eilish, Demi Lovato, and Lizzo.”
— The New York Times
NEW YORK — “It’s a song about the cruelty of adolescence,” “an evergreen ballad of adolescent heartache,” “an anthem for ugly duckling girls maligned by false beauty standards,” and “a fragile and exposed account of teenage insecurity” are just some of the poignant ways Janis Ian’s indelible song “At Seventeen” has been described. Ian celebrates 50 years of the release of the GRAMMY Award-winning song, and the GRAMMY Award-winning album it came from, Between the Lines, which was released on March 22, 1975, on Columbia Records.
“It’s a piece of luck when you can hit on a universal theme like ‘At Seventeen,’” says Ian. “It’s what you strive for as a writer. I’m astonished that the song has lived this long, but I’m also horrified that ‘At Seventeen,’ and ‘Society’s Child,’ are both still so relevant. I would have hoped that by now so many things would be better.”
Ian wrote the song at age 23 while living with her mother in-between tours. She promised herself that she’d write every day. And that’s exactly what she did. The song was inspired by a New York Times Sunday Magazine article about an 18-year-old girl coming out at a debutante ball, and she started strumming the guitar and singing about an 18-year-old. But 18 didn’t quite fit, so she changed it to 17.“I wrote the first verse and then put it in the drawer because it was scary writing from such an open place. Came back to it a month later, wrote the second verse, and a month later I finished it. Then I called Brooks Arthur at 914 [Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York] to say I thought I’d written a hit,” Ian recalls in her upcoming documentary Janis Ian: Breaking Silence. The late Arthur, who was the engineer on “Society’s Child” and producer/engineer for Ian’s Between the Lines, says in the documentary, “Everyone in the studio was quiet when Janis shared the first 32 bars of the song. The pros clapped.”
Arthur, and everyone in the recording studio that day, knew it would be a smash, and they were not wrong. “At Seventeen,” one of Ian’s biggest hits, hit No. 1 on the Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Between the Lines, her seventh studio album, reached No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart.
The song and album also received critical and peer acclaim. They received five GRAMMY nominations and took home two trophies for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “At Seventeen” and Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical for Between the Lines. In 2008, “At Seventeen” was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. Music critics praised the work as well. The Advocate said, “At Seventeen” is “the best song about growing up female ever written.”
“At Seventeen” made its way in popular culture through the decades, being covered by an eclectic mix of artists, among them Celine Dion, Jann Arden, Anita Kerr, and recently Dave Grohl’s teenage daughter Violet. The song can be heard in a multitude of films and television shows, from The Simpsons to Sex Education and End of the F*cking World. Says Janis “The only movie I really feel badly about is Stephen King’s Carrie. ‘At Seventeen’ would have been so perfect!”
Even though it’s been 50 years, fans can’t stop thinking of the song and what it meant and still means to them. One of her many famous fans, Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis, recently told The New Yorker, “There’s something just awful about being a teenager, and art can help you work through it. Janis Ian recorded a song called ‘At Seventeen,’ which is told from her standpoint of what it was like to be her at 17— and the brutality of being a teenager, and how awful it is if you’re different,” said Curtis.
“I remember when I heard that song,” she continued. “It makes me cry just saying the words ‘at seventeen.’ There’s something so deeply emotional about the longing that a young person has for what she thinks everyone else is having except her. It’s heartbreaking.”
The Official Janis Ian Store has signed copies of Between the Lines available here: https://janisian-signed.
The documentary Janis Ian: Breaking Silence will be in theaters on March 28 and everywhere you rent movies on April 29. For more information, visit www.janisiandocumentary.
Meanwhile, the Janis Ian Archives are now open at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. To learn more about her musical and personal journey, visit berea.edu/janisian.
Janis Ian: Breaking Silence confirmed screenings
February 17, 2025
Judy Levis Krug Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival
Boca Raton, FL
Janis will appear in-person for the Q&A.
February 20, 2025
Sacramento Jewish Film Festival
Sacramento, CA
February 24, 2025
East Bay International Jewish Film Festival
Pleasant Hill, CA
February 26, 2025
Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
Sandy Springs, GA
Janis will appear in-person for the Q&A.
March 2, 2025
Mort Skirboll Jewish Film Festival
Sarasota, FL
Janis will appear in-person for the Q&A.
March 6, 2025
Maine Jewish Film Festival
Portland, ME
Between the Lines & “At Seventeen” Timeline
September 17, 1974: “At Seventeen” is recorded at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York
March 22, 1975: Her seventh studio album, Between the Lines, featuring “At Seventeen,” is released on Columbia Records. It goes on to be certified double platinum.
March 25, 1975: Between the Lines debuts on The Billboard 200 album chart.
June 14, 1975: The single “At Seventeen” debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.
August 9, 1975: “At Seventeen” peaks at No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It holds at No. 1 for two weeks and remains on the chart for 15 weeks.
September 13, 1975: “At Seventeen” peaks at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and spends 20 weeks on the chart.
September 20, 1975: Between the Lines peaks at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and stays at No. 1 for 1 week and remains on the chart for 64 weeks.
October 11, 1975: Janis performs “At Seventeen” on the first episode of Saturday Night Live. George Carlin was the host, and Billy Preston was the other musical guest. Janis performs with strep throat and a 104-degree fever.
February 28, 1976: The 18th Annual GRAMMY Awards ceremony is held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. She wins Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “At Seventeen” and Between the Lines wins for Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical, which became Brooks Arthur, Larry Alexander, and Russ Payne’s only GRAMMY win. Other nominations included: Record of the Year: “At Seventeen,” Album of the Year: Between the Lines, and Song of the Year: “At Seventeen.”
2008: “At Seventeen” is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
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