At Seventeen Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[C]I learned the truth at seventeen
That [Dm]love was meant for beauty [G]queens
And high school girls with
clear- skinned smiles
[C]Who married young and then retired

[Verse 2]
[C]
[G]The [C]valentines I never knew
[Dm]The Friday night charades of youth
[G]Were spent on one more bea[C]utiful

[Verse 3]
At seventeen I learned the truth
[C]
And [Eb]those of us with
ravaged [Dm]faces
Lacking in the so[G]cial graces
[Cm]Desperately re[Fm]mained at home
In[Cm]venting [Fm]lovers on the phone

[Verse 4]
Who [Ab]called to say,
"Come [G]dance with [Cm]me"
And murmured [Fm]vague obscenit[Ab]ies[Dm]
It isn't all it seems
At sev[G]enteen

[Verse 5]
A [C]brown eyed girl in hand- me- downs
[Dm]Whose name I never could prono[G]unce
Said, "Pity, please,
the ones [C]who serve

[Verse 6]
They only get what they deserve"
[C]
[G]And the ric[C]h- relationed
hometown queen
[Dm]Marries into what she needs
With [G]a guarantee of company
And [C]haven for the elderly

[Verse 7]
[C]
[Eb]Remember those who win the game
[Dm]Lose the love they sought
[G]to gain
[Cm]In debentures [Fm]of quality
And [Cm]dubious [Fm]integrity
[Ab]Their small-

[Verse 8]
town eyes will [G]gape at you
In [Cm]dull [Fm]surprise when
payment [Ab]due[Dm]
Exceeds accounts received
At sev[G]enteen

[Interlude 1]
[G][C][Dm][G][C]
[Eb][Dm][G][Cm]
[Fm][Cm][Fm][Ab][G][Cm][Fm]
[Dm][G][C]

[Verse 9]
To [C]those of us who knew the pain
Of [Dm]valentines that never [G]came
And those whose names
were never [C]called

[Verse 10]
When choosing sides for basketball
[C]
It was long ago and far [G]away[C]
[Dm]The world was younger than today[G]
When dreams were all they gave for free
[C]To ugly duckling girls like me

[Verse 11]
We all [Eb]play the game, and when we dare
To [Dm]cheat ourselves at [G]solitaire
In[Cm]venting lovers [Ab]on th[Bbsus4]e phone[Ab]
[Fm]Repent[Cm]ing other live[Fm]s unknown

[Verse 12]
[Ab]They call and say,
[G]"Come dance with me"
[Cm]And murmur v[Fm]ague o[Dm]bscenities
At ugly girls like me
[G]At seventeen

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