…AT SEVENTEEN… by Janis Ian
——————………….
from ‘Between the Lines’ (1975)
Verse 1:
I
learned the truth at seventeen,
That
love was meant for beauty queens.
And
high school girls with clear skinned smiles,
Who
married young and then retired.
The
Valentines I never knew,
The
friday nights charades of youth.
Were
spent on one more beautiful;
At
seventeen, I learned the truth.
Chorus 1:
And
those of us with ravaged faces,
Lacking in the
social graces,
Desperatly re-
mained at home,
Inventing lovers
on the phone.
Who
called and say; “Come
dance with me”,
And
murmured vague ob-
scenities.
It isn’t all it seems, at
seventeen.
Verse 2:
A
brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs,
Who’s
name I never could pronounce,
Said; “
pity please, the ones who serve,
They
only get what they deserve.
The
rich relationed home-town queen,
Marries into what she needs.
A
guarantee of company,
And
haven for the elderly”.
Chorus 2:
Re-
member those who win the game,
Lose the love they
sought to gain.
In
debentures of
quality,
And
dubious in-
tegrity.
Their
small town eyes will
gape at you;
In
dull surprise, when
payment due;
Exceeds accounts received, at
seventeen.
Verse 3:
To
those of us who know the pain,
Of
valentines that never came.
And
those whose name were never called,
When
choosing side at basketball.
It
was long ago and far away,
The
world was younger than today.
And
dreams were all they gave for free,
To
ugly duckling girls like me.
Chorus 3:
We all
play the game and when we dare,
To
cheat ourselves at
solitaire.
In-
venting lovers
on the phone,
Re-
penting other
lives unknown.
That
call and say; “Come
dance with me”,
And
murmur vague ob-
scenities,
Dm7 G7 C, Cmaj7
At ugly girls like me; at seventeen.
CHORD DIAGRAMS:
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Tabbed by Joel from cLuMsY, Bristol, England, 2004
(clumsyband@hotmail.com)
