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Thankyous
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(Janis Ian)
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Mom and I had our ups and downs, mostly during my adolescence and her first years as a divorced woman. There were months we didn't speak, years we didn't communicate. Later I realized she'd done the best she could, and began to understand what a hard road she'd chosen, living single as a middle-aged woman in the '60's. I grew not just to respect but to admire her. I finished this song while I was living in her apartment, shamefacedly taking grocery money from her because I was hoping to write my next album and get a recording deal. I walked into her bedroom while she was standing on the bed hanging a picture, said "Mom, I wrote a new song", and began singing it. She stood facing the wall until I'd finished, then turned to me with tears rolling down her face. It was the first time I realized how much a song could heal; we began to be close, close friends after that.
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Thankyous
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Papa gave me music. Mama gave me soul.
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Brother gave me reaching out to hold.
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Teacher gave me license
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Learning set me free
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Schooling gave me nothing ?
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music showed me how to be
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Papa gave me want-to-be
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Brother gave me empathy
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Mama gave me women,
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but that isn't all I need
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I have lived in houses.
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I have lived in homes.
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Eaten off of tables made of wood or stone
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Through the trials and tribulations
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I've never known
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how to say I love you
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and let my feelings show
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So thank you for the music
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Thank you for the song
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Bless you for the freedom
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in knowing right from wrong
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Thank you for the laughter
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the heartaches and the tears
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It's a blessing to grow
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It's a goodness to be here
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You give me want-to-be
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You give me sympathy
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You give me woman
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Thank you for loving me
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and letting it show
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It's a pleasure to be here
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so bless us, every one
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Thankyous
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| Janis Ian |
