David Bianculli

When Janice Ian was young, she was very precocious. She got her first song, both lyrics and music, printed in the same folk music magazine that first published a song by Bob Dylan. But at the time, she was only 13.

Not long after, she recorded another composition, Society's Child, which was about a young girl whose date arrived to pick her up and was met with disapproval from her mother, because her daughter was white, but her date was black. That was in the mid-60s, and the song became a hit after Leonard Bernstein featured it and her on a TV special he hosted for CBS in 1967.

Not long after, she recorded another composition, Society's Child, which was about a young girl whose date arrived to pick her up and was met with disapproval from her mother, because her daughter was white, but her date was black. That was in the mid-60s, and the song became a hit after Leonard Bernstein featured it and her on a TV special he hosted for CBS in 1967.

Not long after, she recorded another composition, Society's Child, which was about a young girl whose date arrived to pick her up and was met with disapproval from her mother, because her daughter was white, but her date was black. That was in the mid-60s, and the song became a hit after Leonard Bernstein featured it and her on a TV special he hosted for CBS in 1967.

The next time Janice Ian had a hit record was almost a decade later. At age 24, she appeared as a musical guest on the very first episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live, singing a song looking back on her own adolescence. It was called At Seventeen.

The next time Janice Ian had a hit record was almost a decade later. At age 24, she appeared as a musical guest on the very first episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live, singing a song looking back on her own adolescence. It was called At Seventeen.

The next time Janice Ian had a hit record was almost a decade later. At age 24, she appeared as a musical guest on the very first episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live, singing a song looking back on her own adolescence. It was called At Seventeen.

In Janice Ian Breaking Silence, the new documentary by Varda Barkar, you get to see and hear Janice perform it, while people such as actress Jean Smart talk about what the song meant to them.

In Janice Ian Breaking Silence, the new documentary by Varda Barkar, you get to see and hear Janice perform it, while people such as actress Jean Smart talk about what the song meant to them.

In Janice Ian Breaking Silence, the new documentary by Varda Barkar, you get to see and hear Janice perform it, while people such as actress Jean Smart talk about what the song meant to them.

Janis Ian won her first Grammy for At 17. When it was presented to her by Lily Tomlin, Janis noted the long gap between her first and second hit records in her acceptance speech, which I will now play in its entirety.

Janis Ian won her first Grammy for At 17. When it was presented to her by Lily Tomlin, Janis noted the long gap between her first and second hit records in her acceptance speech, which I will now play in its entirety.

Janis Ian won her first Grammy for At 17. When it was presented to her by Lily Tomlin, Janis noted the long gap between her first and second hit records in her acceptance speech, which I will now play in its entirety.

Janis Ian won her second Grammy not for singing, but for talking. In 2013, she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for her reading of her just-published memoir, Society's Child. That memoir showed that Janice Ian was a gifted writer even when she wasn't writing lyrics. Her writing style is clear and honest, and the way she read her own words was both conversational and confessional.

Janis Ian won her second Grammy not for singing, but for talking. In 2013, she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for her reading of her just-published memoir, Society's Child. That memoir showed that Janice Ian was a gifted writer even when she wasn't writing lyrics. Her writing style is clear and honest, and the way she read her own words was both conversational and confessional.

Janis Ian won her second Grammy not for singing, but for talking. In 2013, she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for her reading of her just-published memoir, Society's Child. That memoir showed that Janice Ian was a gifted writer even when she wasn't writing lyrics. Her writing style is clear and honest, and the way she read her own words was both conversational and confessional.

The same elements shine through in this new film documentary, which has Janice Ian talking candidly about her past. Whether she's talking in vintage or newly recorded interviews, she's a gifted storyteller. Even when she's talking about such personal memories as her then-husband who abused her.

The same elements shine through in this new film documentary, which has Janice Ian talking candidly about her past. Whether she's talking in vintage or newly recorded interviews, she's a gifted storyteller. Even when she's talking about such personal memories as her then-husband who abused her.

The same elements shine through in this new film documentary, which has Janice Ian talking candidly about her past. Whether she's talking in vintage or newly recorded interviews, she's a gifted storyteller. Even when she's talking about such personal memories as her then-husband who abused her.

After that marriage, Janice Ian kept recording albums and writing songs, but approached her work and her life differently. She came out and wrote a regular column for The Advocate. She married again in 2003, this time to a woman, Patricia Snyder.