at17

           




#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE----------------------------------#

# This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #

# song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #

#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------#



{ts: 10}

{cs: 7}

{t: At Seventeen}

{st: 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]