I want to see if I can do this from memory: I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens And high school girls with clear skinned smiles Who married young and then retired The valentines I never knew The Friday night charades of youth Were spent on one more beautiful At seventeen I learned the truth
And those of us with ravaged faces Lacking in the social graces Desparately remained at home Inventing lovers on the phone Who call and say 'Come dance with me' And murmur vague obscenities It isn't all it seems At seventeen A brown-eyed girl in hand-me-downs Whose name I never could pronounce Said 'Pity please the ones who serve They only get what they deserve' And the rich relationed hometown queen Marries in to what she needs With a guarantee of quality And haven for the elderly Remember those who win the game Lose the love they sought to gain In debentures of quality And dubious integrity The small town eyes will gape at you In dull surprise when payment due Exceeds accounts received At seventeen To those of us who knew the pain Of valentines that never came And those whose names were never called When choosing sides for basketball It was long ago and far away The world was younger than today And dreams were all they gave for free To ugly duckling girls like me We all play the game and when we dare Cheat ourselves at solitaire Inventing lovers on the phone Repenting other lives unknown They call and say 'Come dance with me' And murmur vague obscenities At ugly girls like me At seventeen "At Seventeen" is one of the most amazing > lyrics ever written: > >> > *Any* lines at random from this song are as brilliant and poignant as these. > The feelings this song inspired in me and every other geek of either sex, > when it came out in '75 (I think), are hard to describe -- my god, there's > someone who not only knows how I felt at that age (I was 19 when the song > came out), but who puts it so eloquently, and makes a hit of it -- what > triumph! I know I was in college when this song came out and I felt very much the same way you did, Walt. I was probably about 20 so around '75 would be right. I felt somewhat vindicated by the success of this song. It really felt good to hear someone express it so beautifully. Mark E in Seattle who never attended a prom or a high school reunion
