Young Janis Joplin Wails Her Way Through ‘I’ll Drown In My Own Tears’

Young Janis Sings The Blues

It’s difficult to imagine Janis Joplin without that powerhouse voice that exuded strength and confidence – a healthy, broad sound from her diaphragm and deep down within her soul. This lost performance of ‘I’ll Drown In My Own Tears’ is a great glimpse into her teens when she was just discovering that she actually could sing yet was still unsure of herself.

‘Drown in My Own Tears’, originally credited as ‘I’ll Drown in My Tears’, is a blues song written by Henry Glover.

As much as I love Janis for the massive voice that built her legacy, there’s something really special about this performance. Hearing Janis sounding young and unsure but pushing through the uncertainty anyway feels like we knew her “way back when” and got to be firsthand witnesses to her evolution and meteoric rise to fame. (www.coloradoriveradventures.com)

This does make me wish, though, that we’d heard ‘I’ll Drown In My Own Tears’ once Janis fully developed her voice – it would have been absolutely amazing!

+ I’ll Drown In My Own Tears lyrics +

He brings a tear into my eyes
When I begin, Lord, to realize.
If you don’t think that, honey, you’ll be lonesome,
You know I’ll drown, drown, oh Lord, in my own tears.

I know it’s true into his mind
A little rain is bound to fall
But since you been gone honey I’m so blue,
It just keeps rainin’, keeps right on rainin’ more and more.

I didn’t cry just like a child,
My poor tears, Lord, they were runnin’ wild.
If you don’t think that baby you’ll be home soon now
You know I’ll drown, drown, oh Lord in my own tears.