Buried Alive In The Blues

Album: Pearl (1971)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • There are no vocals on this track. Joplin's band, the Full Tilt Boogie Band, the recorded their parts on October 3, 1970 at Sunset Sound studios in Hollywood. Joplin listened to the track and was scheduled to record her vocal the next day, but that night she was found dead from a drug overdose at the Landmark Hotel. The instrumental track was left on the album as a tribute to Janis.
  • Pearl was released three months after Joplin died. It was her most commercially successful album, going to #1 in the US. It only reached #50 in the UK. "Pearl" was one of Joplin's nicknames.
  • This song was written by Nick Gravenites, who also wrote the 1969 Joplin songs "As Good As You've Been to This World" and "Work Me, Lord."
  • Paul Butterfield, who included the song on his 1973 album Better Days, was the first to record a version with lyrics. The song is about someone who is so lonely and tormented, he feels like he's buried alive.
  • Love, Janis is a book by Janis Joplin's younger sister Laura Joplin, a biography of Janis. Quite a chunk of the book's content is letters from Janis. Since she couldn't be here to sing this track (which you can tell would have been a knock-down-drag-out hit), we'll share this Jack Nicholson anecdote: Backstage at an Elton John concert, Nicholson was there complaining to Janis' manager Albert Grossman about his not having released Janis from her schedule for her to appear in the film Five Easy Pieces. Janis would have played Helena, had the deal gone through. Janis came to her manager's defense: "My managers are terrific. Whatever they wanted to do, they had a reason." Laura notes that one of Janis' defining traits was loyalty.

Comments: 4

  • Wayne from Rhode IslandHave you ever seen Nick Gravesites perform this awesome sing he wrote? Still plays around Sonoma county
  • Linc from Beaumont, TxThis sounds like a rock interlude that allows the singers to take a break when they perform! If it were a live performance there would be gogo dancers I'm sure!
  • Clare from Dallas, Txit's kind of depressing. there is somthing missing and we all know what it is.
  • Justin from Albany, Nyactually i like this song a lot, its pretty good although it has no lyrics. Its funny though i couldnt see janis ever having lyrics to a song like this... don't ask me
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.