The Ol' Ball & Chain doesn't alway refer to marriage...

I spent my Thanksgiving vacation driving to see my family in Oklahoma - and Janis Joplin accompanied me the entire way. This particular version of "Ball & Chain' has always been my favorite - because of the speech she gives at the end.

I've utilized her way of thinking to get me through a few different tough situations - when I wanted someone who I couldn't have. She taught me to relish the moments you do have - rather than cry about the ones you don't.



Preach it, Janis:

And I want someone that could tell me, tell me why

Just because I got to want your love

Honey, just because I got to need, need, need your love

I said I don't understand, honey, but I wanna chance to try

Try, try, try, try try try try

Honey when everybody in the world wants the same damn thing

When everybody in the world will need the same lonely thing

When I wanna work for your love, daddy.

When I wanna try for your love, daddy.

I don't understand how come you're gone, man.

I don't understand why half the world is still crying, man, when the other half of the world is still crying too, man, I can't get it together.

If you got a cat for one day, man I mean, if you, say, say, if you want a cat for 365 days, right you ain't got him for 365 days, you got him for one day, man. well I tell you that one day, better be your life, man. because, you know, you can say, oh man, you can cry about the other 364, man, but you're gonna lose that one day, man, and that's all you've got. you gotta call that Love, man. that's what it is, man. if you got it today you don't want it tomorrow, man, cause you don't need it, cause as a matter of fact, as we discovered in the train, tomorrow never happens, man. it's all the same fucking day, man.

So you gotta, when you wanna hold him, You gotta hold him like it's the last minute in your life, baby.