At Seventeen chords by Ian Janis

• Difficulty: Beginner 👶

Verse 1:

   A
I learned the truth at seventeen
     Bm
That love was meant for beauty queens
    E
And high school girls with clear-skinned smiles
    A
Who married young and then retired
    A
The valentines I never knew
    Bm
The Friday night charades of youth
     E
Were spent on one more beautiful
    A
At seventeen I learned the truth

Chorus:
     C
And those of us with ravaged faces
Bm              E
Lacking in the social graces
Am             Dm
Desperately remained at home
Am               Dm
Inventing lovers on the phone
    F                    E
Who called to say, "Come dance with me"
    Am                Dm
And murmured vague obscenities
   Bm
It isn't all it seems
   E
At seventeen


Verse 2:
   A
A brown-eyed girl in hand-me-downs
       Bm
Whose name I never could pronounce
       E
Said, "Pity, please, the ones who serve
      A
They only get what they deserve"
       A
And the rich-relationed hometown queen
Bm
Marries into what she needs
       E
With a guarantee of company
    A
And haven for the elderly


Chorus:
 C
Remember those who win the game
Dm                   E
Lose the love they sought to gain
  Am              Dm
In debentures of quality
   Am           Dm
And dubious integrity
      F                    E
Their small town eyes will gape at you
   Am                   Dm
In dull surprise when payment due
  Bm
Exceeds accounts received
    E
At seventeen


Verse 3:
    A
To those of us who knew the pain
   Bm
Of valentines that never came
    E
And those whose names were never called
     A
When choosing sides for basketball
      A
It was long ago and far away
    Bm
The world was younger than today
      E
When dreams were all they gave for free
    A
To ugly duckling girls like me

Chorus:
      C
We all play the game and when we dare
  Bm
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
     Am          Dm
Inventing lovers on the phone
    Am           Dm
Repenting other lives unknown
    F                    E
They call and say, "Come dance with me"
  Am               Dm
And murmur vague obscenities
    Bm
At ugly girls like me
      E
At seventeen