by Judy Joy Jones
She wailed like a dog in heat
and cried like an old cat
thrown out to die
Janis moaned and groaned
into every microphone
slugging her whiskey down
adding a snort or two of pure cocaine
to intensify her brain
Oh honey
that woman child
done shrieked and moaned her guts out
her soul laid bare
janis had nothing hidden there
Her shrieks cries groans and moans
came from a place deep inside
until she shot pure “H”
into her swollen veins
and one nite
janis joplin died
But oh when she was alive
“you go girl you go”
aint nothing pretty
‘bout livin in our cities
We hear our own
silent muffled groans
within your every
shriekin’ groan
So slug that whiskey down girl
put that wild stallion in your veins
and coke up your nose
makes your eyes mighty bright
they glows
And after your last show
layin’ all alone that nite
you crawled to the mirror and saw
a skeleton with a cross
and you knew
you had wailed yo last tune
Veins juttin’ out
puffy eyes
skin like glue
nothin purty ‘bout you
Grabbin’ a towel
you straddled the commode
one corner in yo mouth
and so tightly you pulled
until that last vein
popped into sight
Takin’ the needle
holdin’ it to the lite
you smiled
cuz its gonna be
one hell of a nite
and soon baby
soon every thing’s gonna feel alright
oh yeah it sho is
Last drop of whiskey
dribbling down your chin
one last look in the mirror
falling on the cold bathroom floor
you began to laugh
cause ms janis joplin
joke’s on us
We are left on this planet
with all the wars plagues famines
starin’ us in our stupid materialistic faces
all the crap we created
finally comin’ home
mirrors of our own sick souls
love what’s that?
ha! we want some fast green cash
But you ms joplin
you janis honey chile
you are ashes turned to dust
laughin’ at us
As we listen so closely
to your screechin’ moans
echoing in our bones
speaking the language
we are afraid to speak
as we pretend to be
“oh so sweet
so wise and kind”
And you know janis you know
its all motherfuckin’ lies
And as we listen
to your moaning truths
screamin’ thru the microphone
hangin’ on to your every word
as you slugged that whiskey down
snorted cocaine
and put big white ‘H’
into your swollen veins
What your voice
shrieked cried and moaned to us
before you died ms janis joplin
was we are living
motherfuckin’ lies
the joke’s on us
da last laugh yours
so tip your hat
and take yo last slug
of ol’ jim beam
a snort of coke
one last wallop
horse in your veins
this time its on us
cause you know
what we refuse to see
joke’s on us
yeah baby you know huh
ms janis joplin
the motherfuckin’ jokes on us