Janis Ian - At Seventeen 17 + Lyrics

I learned the truth at seventeen,
That love was meant for beauty queens.
In high school, girls with clear-skin smiles,
Who married young and then retired.

The valentines I never knew.
The Friday night charades of youth,
Were spent on one more beautiful.
At seventeen I learned the truth.

And those of us with ravaged faces,
Lacking in the social graces,
Desperately remained at home,
Inventing lovers on the phone.
Who called to say come dance with me.
And murmured vague obscenities.
It isn't all it seems,
At seventeen.

A brown-eyed girl in hand-me-downs.
Whose name I never could pronounce,
Said, "Pity, please, the ones who serve,
They only get what they deserve."

And the rich-relationed, hometown queen,
Marries into what she needs.
With a guarantee of company,
And haven for the elderly.

Remember those who win the game,
Lose the love they sought to gain.
In debentures [3] of quality,
And dubious integrity.
The small-town eyes will gape at you,
In dull surprise, when payment due,
Exceeds accounts received.
[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/7Nx ]
At seventeen.

[Instrumental break.]

To those of us who knew the pain,
Of valentines that never came.
And those whose names were never called,
When choosing sides for 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.

We all play the game and when we dare,
To cheat ourselves at solitaire.
Inventing lovers on the phone,
Repenting other lives unknown,
That call and say, come dance with me,
An' murmur vague obscenities,
At ugly girls like me,
At seventeen.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Janis
• Ian
• At
• Seventeen
• 17
• Lyrics

[HippieNiecey]

Thanks so much for bring back such wonderful moments in my life with this song. I loved this song back in the day even though I was just a tiny tot. Still sounds as good today as it did back then.

[1990cell]

@56clure well im a guy but yeah even sometimes we feel like that too most guys wont admitt it tho

[Steptoe58]

@1990cell You're so right, that feeling i recognized also as a boy at seventeen. Nowadays at fiftythree i sometimes look back with a little smile and a little tear. But thinks worked out. I married my first love which i met at thirteen.

[prettydistracting]

but evendently... looking at her beautiful face and prosperus carrer. things got a bit better after 17...

[rjeffery1950]

Brilliant lyrics,which girls of that age think of themselves,then suddenly find someone who loves them for life-I did-and I,m now 61!I Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,and beauty does,nt count for everything girls,it,s what,s inside the guy,s see,and love the most.

[HelenSnow1980]

This is so true. I found the truth out not long before 17.

[oranged5380]

As much as I hate to say it, Janis Ian is so right, though I got there a year before her.

[56clure]

@1990cell I did,...didn't you at times?

[1990cell]

wow you can feel how she felt at 17

[brownies4you]

@DaVooz Thank you very much

[DaVooz]

(Babylon:) Debentures - Long term fixed interest loans to companies;

(Babylon) Debentures - A debenture is a loan secured on specific assets owned by a company and is repaid if a company runs into difficulties. They usually have a fixed rate of interest and a fixed maturity date and are often issued by companies with sizeable fixed assets, such as hotel groups and breweries.