Janis Ian At Seventeen Lyrics

At Seventeen Lyrics

AT SEVENTEEN
Janis Ian


I learned the truth at seventeen
That
love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned
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.
The rich relationed hometown queen
Married into what she
needs
A guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly.
Remember those
who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
Indebentures of
quality
And dubious integrity.
Their small town eyes will gape at
you
in dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received
At
seventeen.
To those of us who know 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
and murmur vague
obscenities
At ugly girls like me
At seventeen.