At Seventeen Janis Ian
...AT SEVENTEEN... by Janis Ian
------------------.............
*from 'Between the Lines' (1975)*
Verse 1:
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.
Chorus 1:
And [Eb]those of us with ravaged faces,
[Dm] Lacking in the [G7]social graces,
[Cm7] Desperatly 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-[F7]scenities.
[Dm7] It isn't all it seems, at [G7]seventeen.
Verse 2:
A [C]brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs,
Who's [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".
Chorus 2:
Re-[Eb]member those who win the game,
[Dm] 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 [Fm7]payment due;
[Dm7] Exceeds accounts received, at [G7]seventeen.
Verse 3:
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.
Chorus 3:
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 G7 C, Cmaj7
At ugly girls like me; at seventeen.
CHORD DIAGRAMS:
---------------
[C] [Dm] [G7] [Eb] [Dm7]
[EADGBE]x32010 [EADGBE]xx0231 [EADGBE]323000 [EADGBE]6654xx [EADGBE]xx0211
[Cm7] [Fm7] [Ab] [Cmaj7]
[EADGBE]x35343 [EADGBE]131111 [EADGBE]466544 [EADGBE]x32000
Tabbed by Joel from cLuMsY, Bristol, England, 2004
(clumsyband@hotmail.com)
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