At Seventeen — Janis Ian

Photo by Simon Harmer on Unsplash

“At Seventeen” is sometimes described as a song about teenage angst, but I’ve never been sure that’s quite the right word.

For me, angst implies a degree of frustration, bordering on anger, and a desire to bring about tangible change…the faster the better.

There was plenty of angst in punk. And also in early rap music before it came to define itself as the home of casual misogyny and debates…