At Seventeen Tabulatur von Janis Ian

# Verse 1:

  C
I 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,
    Dm
The friday nights charades of youth.
     G7
Were spent on one more beautiful;
   C
At seventeen, I learned the truth.

# Chorus 1:

    D#
And those of us with ravaged faces,
Dm7             G7
 Lacking in the social graces,
Cm7            Fm7
 Desperatly re-mained at home,
Cm7               Fm7
 Inventing lovers on the phone.

    G#                    G7
Who called and say; "Come dance with me",
    Cm7               F7
And murmured vague ob-scenities.
Dm7                        G7
 It isn't all it seems, at seventeen.

Verse 2:

  C
A brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs,
      Dm
Who's name I never could pronounce,
       G7
Said; "pity please, the ones who serve,
     C
They only get what they deserve.

    C
The rich relationed home-town queen,
Dm
 Marries into what she needs.
  G7
A guarantee of company,
    C
And haven for the elderly".

Chorus 2:

   D#
Re-member those who win the game,
Dm7                 G7
 Lose the love they sought to gain.
   Cm7           Fm7
In debentures of quality,
    Cm7        Fm7
And dubious in-tegrity.

      G#                   G7
Their small town eyes will gape at you;
   Cm7                 Fm7
In dull surprise, when payment due;
Dm7                            G7
 Exceeds accounts received, at seventeen.

# Verse 3:

   C
To those of us who know the pain,
   Dm
Of valentines that never came.
    G7
And those whose name were never called,
     C
When choosing side at basketball.

   C
It was long ago and far away,
    Dm
The world was younger than today.
    G7
And dreams were all they gave for free,
   C
To ugly duckling girls like me.

# Chorus 3:

       D#
We all play the game and when we dare,
   Dm7                G7
To cheat ourselves at solitaire.
   Cm7            Fm7
In-venting lovers on the phone,
   Cm7           Fm7
Re-penting other lives unknown.

     G#                  G7
That call and say; "Come dance with me",
    Cm7             Fm7
And murmur vague ob-scenities,
Dm7                        G7         C, Cmaj7
 At ugly girls like me; at seventeen.