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At Seventeen
Janis Ian
Text File
AT SEVENTEEN - Janis Ian
Intro: [Em7/C � C � Em/C - C]
I [C7]learned the truth at seventeen
That [Dm] love was meant for beauty queens
and [G7] high school girls with clear skinned smiles
who [C7] married young and then retired
The [C7]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
in- [Cm7] venting lovers on the [Fm7] phone
Who [Ab] called and say "come [G7] dance with me"
and [Cm7] murmured vague ob- [Fm7] scenities
It [Dm7] isn't all it seems
at [G7] seventeen
A [C7] brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs,
whose [Dm] name I never could pronounce
said [G7] "Pity, please, the ones who serve,
[C7] they only get what they deserve.
The [C7] 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,
[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
Ex- [Dm7] ceeds accounts received
at [G7] seventeen
To [C7] those of us who know the pain
of [Dm] valentines that never came,
and [G7] those whose name were never called
when [C7] choosing side at basketball
It was [C7] 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 [Dm] cheat ourselves at 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
at [Dm7] ugly girls like me,
at [G7] seventeen
chords:
Em7/C x32030
Eb x11343
Cm7/A x35343
Fm7 131241
Ab x66544
Dm7 xx0211
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