Janis Ian - At seventeen

Intro: [C9/C/Cmaj7/C]

I [C] learned the truth at seventeen
[Dm] That love was meant for beauty queens
[G7] And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
[C] Who married young and then retired

[C] The valentines I never knew
the [Dm] friday night charades of youth
[G7] Were spent on one more beautiful
[C] At 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
[G7] said 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
[C] and 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
[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]