It's been 20 years since Janis it was a bad year for the young Wasted lives and bitter vibes and the best songs left unsung I played the music over till I thought I understood Hell can look like heaven when your vision has been blurred And everyone said tragedy and an awful goddam shame And they said she'd live forever in the matyrs hall of fame I was just a kid in high school when I heard that she had died And like the man once said I can't remember if I cried The pearl shone with a lustre only she could fail to see But the rebels bluff bravado hid a frightened woman's need She only wanted a Mercedes Benz and a night out on the town But oh cheap thrills took her down 27 summers and it seemed she'd just begun The big time took her high but the she flew too near the sun She almost had it in her hand when she slipped and fell to ground She was looking for the home she never found Repeat chorus They made a film about her and write books that told it all The highs the hopes the promises that came before the fall They took a little piece of her heart and it snapped under the strain And the fame was just another ball and chain Repeat chorus 2x