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{ts: 10}
{cs: 7}
{t: At Seventeen}
{st: 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]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 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, [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 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]