At Seventeen
Janis Ian • Key:
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OLGA Archive
At Seventeen
Janis Ian
I
C
learned the truth at seventeen_ That
Dm
love was meant for beauty queens
and
G7
high school girls with clear skinned smiles who
C
married young and then retired
The
C
valentines I never knew, the
Dm
friday nights, charades of youth
were
G7
spent on one more beautiful_ At
C
seventeen I learned the truth
And
Eb
those of us with ravaged faces,
Dm
lacking in the
G7
social graces
Cm7
Desp'ratly re
Fm7
mained at home
Cm7
inventing lovers
Fm7
on the phone
Who
Ab
called and say "come
G7
dance with me" and
Cm7
murmured vague ob
Fm7
scenities
Dm7
It isn't all it seems at
G7
seventeen
A
C
brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs, whose
Dm
name I never could pronounce said
"
G7
Pity, please, the ones who serve, they
C
only get what they deserve.
The
C
rich relationed home-town queen
Dm
marries into what she needs
A
G7
guarantee of company and
C
haven for the elderly"
Re
Eb
member those who win the game,
Dm7
lose the love they
G7
sought to gain
In
Cm7
debentures of
Fm7
quality and
Cm7
dubious in
Fm7
tegrity_
Their
Ab
small town eyes will
G7
gape at you in
Cm7
dull surprise when
F7
payment due
Dm7
exceeds accounts received at
G7
seventeen
To
C
those of us who know the pain of
Dm
valentines that never came,
and
G7
those whose name were never called when
C
choosing side at basketball
It
C
was long ago and far away_ The
Dm
world was younger than today
and
G7
dreams were all they gave for free to
C
ugly duckling girls like me
We all
Eb
play the game and when we dare to
Dm7
cheat ourselves at
G7
solitaire
In
Cm7
venting lovers
Fm7
on the phone, re
Cm7
penting other
Fm7
lives unknown
that
Ab
call and say "Come
G7
dance with me", and
Cm7
murmur vague ob
Fm7
scenities
Dm7
at ugly girls like me, at
G7
seventeen
C
Cmaj7
Speed