Kristine Kathryn Rusch » Current News, Tidbits » Janis Ian’s “Welcome Home”–for true fans everywhere

57 Responses to "Janis Ian’s “Welcome Home”–for true fans everywhere"

1. G D Townshende says:

   June 17, 2010 at 7:02 am

   My folks never banned books, either, Kris. Instead, my mother did what she could to get me out of the house to socialize more, because I wanted to spend more time inside… with my books. (Or, if not books, then sitting at my parents’ old manual Olivetti-Underwood typewriter — taught myself to type on that thing, using a typing manual my mother had — and writing stories of my own.) So, basically, when I was younger, she’d limit my time with books/indoors as much as she could. Funny thing is, in the end it didn’t work because I still spend too much time indoors reading than out-of-doors socializing. LOL!

   I do get out and socialize, though. My most recent excursion was to spend Memorial Day weekend at Balticon.

   Gary
2. Kris says:

   June 17, 2010 at 8:06 am

   Gary, my mother banished me outside as well. So I climbed the nearest tree, hauled out a book, and spent the afternoon reading.
3. Snapshots Colt .45 « File 770 says:

   June 20, 2010 at 7:56 am

   [...] Kristine Kathryn Rusch has done a great service for fans everywhere by publishing the lyrics to the song Janis Ian wrote this for the Nebula Awards banquet. It begins – WELCOME HOME (THE SFWA SONG) (Janis [...]
4. Janis Ian says:

   June 21, 2010 at 2:56 am

   Here it is, deconstructed:

   Gosh, where is Google when we need it…

   Here’s a breakdown of the references. Anyone wanting to download it can go to my site http://www.janisian.com , and head for the Music – Free Downloads page. You’re welcome to disseminate/reprint it; all I ask is that the copyright info and writer credit be used.
   And thanks for enjoying it! I love when music goes where it’s supposed to go.
   Janis Ian

   I learned the truth at seventeen
   That Asimov and Bradbury — Isaac Asimov & Ray Bradbury
   and Clarke were alphabetically — Arthur C. Clarke
   my very perfect ABC’s
   While Algernon ran every maze — Daniel Keyes’ short story “Flowers for Algernon”
   and slow glass hurt my heart for days — Bob Shaw’s “Light of Other Days”
   I sat and played a sweet guitar
   and Martians grokked me from afar — Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger In a Strange Land”, and the Martin word “grok”, or in its verb form, “to grok”, as in “to share the same reality or line of thinking with another physical or conceptual entity” (Wikipedia). Really untranslateable, much like the Portuguese “saudades” or the Japanese “wa”.

   Odd John was my only friend — Olaf Stapledon’s novel “Odd John”
   among the clocks and Ticktockmen, — a combination of Harlan Ellison’s “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ said the Ticktockman” and The Wizard of Oz mechanical man Tik-Tok.
   while Anne Mccaffrey’s dragons roared — the dragons of the Pern series.
   above the skies of Majipoor — Robert Silverberg’s “Majipoor Chronicles”
   Bukharan winds blew cold and sharp — M. J. Engh was the author honored when I was toastmistress of the Nebula Awards; as part of my preparation, I ordered and read her classic “A Wind From Bukhara”.
   and whispered to my secret heart
   “You are no more alone
   “Welcome home”

   Tribbles came, and triffids went — David Gerrold’s “The Trouble With Tribbles”, and the cult classic movie “Day of the Triffids”
   Time got wrinkled, then got spent — the first hardback book I ever bought (and still own, inscribed now), “A Wrinkle In Time”, by Madeleine L’Engle
   Kirinyaga’s spirits soared — referencing the collection of short stories, called “Kirinyaga”, by Mike Resnick – his story “For I Have Touched the Sky” influenced my own work heavily
   and Turtledove re-write a war -i Harry Turtledove’s various alternate histories
   While Scanners searched, and loved in vain — Cordwainer Smith, “Scanners Live in Vain”
   Hal Nine Thousand went insane — the film by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark “2001: A Space Odyssey”, referencing the rogue computer Hal 9000
   and Brother Francis had an ass
   whose wit and wile were unsurpassed — from Walter Miller’s “A Canticle for Liebowitz”, first a short story, then a novel

   Every story I would read
   became my private history
   as Zenna’s People learned to fly — Zenna Henderson’s “Pilgrimage: Book of the People”. More writers than I can count say Henderson was an enormous influence on them, from Orson Scott Card to Connie Willis.
   and Rachel loved until we cried — “Rachel In Love”, by Pat Murphy
   I spent a night at Whileaway — Joanna Russ’ short story “When It Changed”
   then Houston called me just to say — James Tiptree, Jr.’s “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”
   “You are no more alone
   “so welcome home”

   Who dreams a positronic man? — the novel “The Positronic Man”, by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg
   Who speaks of mist, and grass, and sand? — Vonda McIntyre’s short story “Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand”, which became “Dreamsnake”
   Of stranger station’s silent tombs? — from “Stranger Station”, by Damon Knight
   Of speech that sounds in silent rooms? — from the amazing “Speech Sounds”, by Octavia Butler
   Who waters deserts with their tears? — from Frank Herbert’s “Dune”, and the Fremen and Maud’dib
   Who sees the stars each thousand years? — Isaac Asimov’s story “Nightfall”
   Who dreams the dreams for kids like me
   Whose only home is fantasy?

   Let’s drink a toast to ugly chickens — Howard Waldrop’s “The Ugly Chickens”
   Marley’s ghost, and Ender Wiggins — Jacob Marley, who haunts Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Ender Wiggins of Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game”
   Every mother’s son of you,
   and all your darling daughters, too — Connie Willis’ “All My Darling Daughters”
   And when the aliens finally come,
   we’ll say to each and every one
   “You are no more alone
   “so welcome home
   “Welcome home”

   I believe that science fiction is the jazz of prose. An outlaw form, made for those of us who never quite fit in, who spend our lives with our noses pressed against the glass, who finally find a home in these stories, and their absolute, unshakeable belief that somewhere out there, we can find our own kind.
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5. G D Townshende says:

   June 27, 2010 at 6:14 am

   Ah, yes. “Saudades.”

   My girlfriend is Portuguese and one way of saying that you miss someone very much is to say, “Tenho muitas saudades tuas.” “Saudades,” as I’ve come to understand it, goes back to the age of exploration, when Portuguese explorers would leave on their ships and not come back for months or years at a time. The words “longing,” as in “to long for,” or “yearning,” come close to the idea, but one can’t really come to understand the meaning of “saudades” unless a loved one has returned after having been gone for a very long time. As a military brat, “saudades” is a concept I came to learn very young (although I didn’t know the word at the time), when I was about 9 years old. My father received orders for a remote tour to Korat, Thailand, to provide communications support for the Vietnam War, and he was gone for a year. My mother says that my brother and I asked her nearly every day when our father would return. That’s about as close to “saudades” as I’ve ever come. Going back to the sentence I gave earlier, to try to translate it: “Tenho [I have] muitas [much] saudades tuas [saudades (for) you].”

   Another way to say you miss someone in Portuguese, but it’s nowhere near as strong as using the word “saudades,” is “Sinto muito a tua falta.” This translates as, “Sinto [I feel] muito [much] a tua falta [your absence].” An alternate translation might be, “I feel much the lack of you.” (I’m being fairly literal with my translations.) “I miss you,” is an accurate enough translation of this particular sentence, but wouldn’t be sufficient when “saudades” is used. “Falta” can be translated several ways: lack, absence, want, shortage, need, etc. Like many English words, the meaning of “falta” — foul, fail, scarcity, paucity, shortcoming, and mistake are just a few possible translations — is dependent on the context in which it is used.
6. Wednesday various « occasional fish says:

   July 7, 2010 at 10:36 pm

   [...] Janis Ian covers herself (with a few tweaks) for this year’s Nebula Awards. [...]
7. Michael says:

   April 25, 2011 at 11:14 am

   I’ve passed the song file on to any and all I thought might be interested in it. Thank you, Ms. Ian. One hundred thousand thank yous.

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