At 17 Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[C]I learned the truth at seventeen,
[Dm]that love was meant for beauty queens
[C]And high [Dm]school girls [G]with clear—skinned smiles
[C]who married young and then [G]retired[C]
[G]The [C]valentines I never knew, [Dm]the Friday nights,
charades of youth
Were spent on one more [G]beautiful,
[C]at seventeen I learned the truth

[Verse 2]
[C]
And [Eb]those of us with ravaged faces,
[Dm]lacking in the social [G]graces
[Cm]Desperately re[F]mained at home in
[Cm]venting lover[F]s on the phone
[Ab]Who called and say "Come [G]dance with me"
and [Cm]murmured vague ob[F]scenities
[Dm]It isn't all it se[G]ems at seven[Ddim]teen
[G]

[Verse 3]
[C]
A brown—eyed girl in [Dm]hand—me—downs, whose
name I never could pronounce said
[G]"Pi[Dm]ty, please, the one[G]s who serve,
[C]they only get what they deserve
The rich relationed home—town queen
[Dm]marries into what she needs
A guarantee of [G]com[Dm]pany
[C]and haven for the elderly"

[Verse 4]
[C]
Re[Eb]member those who win the game,
[Dm]lose the love [G]they sought to gain
In [Cm]debentures of [F]quality [Cm]and
dubious [F]integrity
[Ab]Their small town eyes [G]will gape at you
in [Cm]dull surprise when pay[F]ment due
[Dm]Exceeds accounts recei[G]ved at
[Ddim]seventeen[Dm]

[Interlude 1]
[G][C][Dm][G]

[Verse 5]
To [C]those of us who know the pain [Dm]of
valentines [A]that [Dm]nev er came
And those whose names [G]were never
called [C]when choosing side at basketball
[G]It [C]was long ago and far away,
[Dm]the world was younger than today
And dream[C]s were a[Dm]ll they g[G]ave
for free [C]to ugly duckling girls like me

[Verse 6]
[Eb]We all play the game and when we dare
[Dm]to cheat ourselves at so[G]litaire
In[Cm]venting lover[F]s on the phone,
re[Cm]penting other [F]lives unknown
That [Ab]call and say "Come [G]dance with me",
and [Cm]murmur vague ob[F]scenities
[Dm]At ugly [Ddim]girls l[Dm]ike me, at [G]seventeen

[Outro 1]
[Dm][G][C]