A song inspired by the story of Janis Joplin, the soul singer who was affectionately nicknamed "The Pearl."
“The Pearl”
The Story
For this third week of the Steemit Open Mic Songwriters Challenge, the theme is: "Stolen Soul". I experienced my first taste of writer's block this round, because I felt some resistance to the theme, which ultimately proved to stretch me in a good way. I found a breakthrough when I remembered the story of Janis Joplin.
I started listening to her music while I was in high school, during a delicate point in my life when I connected deeply with her soulful, wailing voice. I continued to explore her songs in my college years, when I discovered she was a headliner for the Woodstock '69 music and arts festival, alongside Jimi Hendrix. I learned that she opted out of the Woodstock documentary, because of her lackluster performance, but the truth is that she showed up and shined on the stage at 2 a.m., singing a full set in the spotlight.
Known for her electric presence, she wore rose-tinted glasses, hip-hugging bellbottoms, and colorful feather boas–also bringing Jimi Hendrix to mind. Janis Joplin's flowery stage presence is revealed in the movie playing behind me, Janis: Little Girl Blue. For me, though, her legacy is best preserved in her songs, including "Piece Of My Heart", "Mercedes Benz," and other classics. According to her Wikipedia biography, she is one of the top-selling musicians, with 15.5 million albums sold in the U.S., along with being ranked by Rolling Stone as number 28 on its 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
In my perspective, she and Jimi Hendrix have much in common, from their virtuoso talents to their admirable levels of higher consciousness and all of the traits that come with this: creative expression, self-acceptance, compassion for others... Jimi and Janis broke through the ceilings and walls of their day, pushing the boundaries of what was possible in their lifetimes. Sadly, both of them died at the age of 27.
Metaphorically, this new song I'm sharing here recalls Janis Joplin's substance abuse–specifically alcohol and heroine–referring to the rare and precious "pearl" she is as an artist; while heroine is the needle that pierced her like a bead in a pearl necklace, which essentially "stole her soul." This is the unfortunate end that is memorialized in her life story. Luckily, we still have her life's work to remember her by. To me, her music has a special way of making listeners feel rare and precious, as she is, as if we are all pearls.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia, made pink by me.
The Lyrics
They call this girl the Pearl
A psychedelic rainbow swirl
She is a sight to behold
She has a voice so beautiful
They say the world is her oyster
Her singing brings a band to join her
They take the show on the road
She has a voice so full of soul
Her audience adores
The way she opens up their doors
She brings them out of their shells
Reveals the pearls inside themselves
The Pearl’s singing draws them
By the hundreds and thousands
They take a piece of her heart
They steal a piece of her soul
Her audience adores...
They pierce the skin of the Pearl
They make a pearl necklace out of her
They take a piece of her heart
They steal a piece of her soul
Her audience adores...
Wishing for the pearl inside each of us to sparkle and shine,