Mr. Lewenstein asked us to compare our sixties subject with something or someone our readers could relate to. I'm writing about Janis Joplin. I'm comparing her to Taylor Swift. Both of these women suffered through painful relationships. They freed themselves from their heartbreak by singing their songs.
As passionate as Janis and Taylor are for their music, it’s no surprise that their lyrics often express their heartbreak for relationships lost. I mean they are both free spirits. It’s hard to imagine either of them slowing down. How hard that must be to maintain a normal relationship? Their lovers must always feel secondary to their music. 
Janis most famous song – “Me and Bobby McGee” - was actually written by her lover at the time, Kris Kristofferson. It’s a song about discovering the world on your own terms. There is a line the song about independence that goes like this: “Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose. Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free.” What brought Janis and Kris together was what drove them apart. They both wanted to be free, but they would never feel that way in a long-term relationship.
In the same way, Taylor’s best songs are the most painful. As much as she dreams of enchanted love, she sings of crushing despair. In “White Horse,” her lyrics probably approach Janis’s “Me and Bobby McGee” in the way they express the hope to be with a person, and then there is that moment when you know it’s never going to happen. She sings, “Holding on The days drag on..Stupid girl…I should have known.. I should have known.” Man, all she wanted was the truth.
When I listen to these songs, I think of one sad disappointment after another. One’s driving off into the distance. One dreams of riding off on a white horse. Whatever are looking for, they’re never going to find it. The only place to feel free and honest is in their music.
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