Ik ontdekte een schitterend lied van de Amerikaanse singer/songwriter Janis Ian, die ik eigenlijk alleen ken van haar muziek uit de jaren 70, zoals het lied At Seventeen.

Some People’s Lives raakt me door de combinatie van de ontroerende tekst, de melodie en de manier waarop Ian het zingt, zichzelf begeleidend op de piano. Het lied komt van haar 14e album Breaking Silence uit 1993 en ze schreef het samen met singer/songwriter Kye Fleming.

Some People’s Lives
Some people’s lives
run down like clocks.
One day they stop,
and that’s all they’ve got.
Some lives wear out
like old tennis shoes.
No one can use,
it’s sad, but it’s true.

Didn’t anybody tell them?
Didn’t anybody see?
Didn’t anybody love them?
Like you love me.

Some people’s lives
fade like their dreams.
Too tired to rise,
too tired to sleep.
Some people laugh
when they need to cry.
And they never know why.

Didn’t anybody tell them?
That’s not how it has to be.
Didn’t anybody love them?
Like you love me.

Some people ask
if the tears have to fall.
Why take your chances?
Why bother at all?
And some people’s lives
are as cold as their lips.
They just need to be kissed.

Doesn’t anybody tell them?
Doesn’t anybody see?
Doesn’t anybody love them?
Like you love me.
Cause that’s all they need.