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At Seventeen

Janis Ian
Version1
90

Chords in this song

Strum
D-DU-UDU
------------------.............
 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  nights 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 re-mained  at home,  inventing lovers on  the phone.
 Who called  and say; "come dance  with me",
 And murmured  vague ob-scenities.
 It isn't all it seems, at seventeen.
 A brown  eyed girl in hand-me-downs,
 Who's name  I never could pronounce,
 Said; "pity  please, the ones who serve,
 They only  get what they deserve.
 The rich  relationed home-town queen,  marries into what she needs.
 A guarantee  of company, and haven  for the elderly".
 Re-member  those who win the game,  lose the love they sought  to gain.
 In debentures  of quality,  and dubious  in-tegrity.
 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 name were never called,
 When choosing  side at 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.
 In-venting  lovers on  the phone, re-penting  other lives  unknown.
 That call  and say; "Come dance  with me",
 And murmur  vague ob-scenities,
 At ugly girls like me; at seventeen.
 CHORD DIAGRAMS:
 
 
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Readable chord sheet for At Seventeen by Janis Ian

------------------.............

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.

And [Eb]those of us with ravaged faces,[Dm] lacking in the [G7]social graces,
[Cm7] Desperately 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.

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".

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.

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, 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] At ugly girls like me; at [G7]seventeen. [C]    [Cmaj7]

CHORD DIAGRAMS:

   [C]       [Dm]      [G7]      [Eb]      [Dm7]     [Cm7]     [Fm7]     [Ab]     [Cmaj7]

 [E][A][D][G][B][E]  [E][A][D][G][B][E]  [E][A][D][G][B][E]  [E][A][D][G][B][E]  [E][A][D][G][B][E]  [E][A][D][G][B][E]  [E][A][D][G][B][E]  [E][A][D][G][B][E]  [E][A][D][G][B][E]
 x32010  xx0231  323000  x68886  x57565  x35343  131111  466544  x32000

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