Interprete the lyrics to At Seventeen.

Posted by Noelle Montes on Sunday, May 5, 2024

The remember those who win the game........part confuses me.

"At Seventeen"

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 Desperately remained at home Inventing lovers on the phone Who called to say come dance with me And murmured 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" The rich relationed hometown queen Marries into what she needs With a guarantee of company 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 Their small town eyes will gape at you In dull surprise when payment due Exceeds accounts received At seventeen

To those of us who know 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 To cheat ourselves at solitaire Inventing lovers on the phone Repenting other lives unknown That call and say, come dance with me And murmur vague obscenities At ugly girls like me At seventeen

by Anonymousreply 24May 8, 2018 5:59 AM

I always thought it to mean that those in the community who play along with the social mores manage to fit in to that society, but at a price. There is no real love or quality of life for them, just appearances of acceptability. Or maybe I'm totally off.

by Anonymousreply 1May 6, 2018 12:19 PM

Forgot to add ... what a great song. I was just becoming a teen when it was a hit, going through puberty, and could totally relate to it even as a boy. The sadness underlying it.

by Anonymousreply 2May 6, 2018 12:19 PM

What R1 says.

And I also absolutely fucking love this song. Not that it betters the original but really like Celine Dion's cover, and especially how she purrs the final 'and murmured vague obscenities'.

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by Anonymousreply 3May 6, 2018 12:30 PM

Could be the Incel anthem.

by Anonymousreply 4May 6, 2018 12:32 PM

Probably the darkest song ever written.

by Anonymousreply 5May 6, 2018 12:40 PM

70's child here. Thanks Op. One of the 3 best song ever. Oh be thanked Op. You are loved. What R1 said. The price to pay exceeds the gain.

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by Anonymousreply 6May 6, 2018 12:45 PM

If you like nasal voices, OP.

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by Anonymousreply 7May 6, 2018 12:51 PM

I have always loved the line "Their small town eyes will gape at you In dull surprise when payment due exceeds accounts received." Genius.

by Anonymousreply 9May 6, 2018 1:34 PM

Janis Ian is a national treasure.

by Anonymousreply 10May 6, 2018 2:04 PM

Thanks for the reminder, OP. Her yrics are great and her interpretation was even better.

Not to drag this down, but this post sent me down a rabbit hole. First, I was thrilled she still sounds fantastic.

But here's a disturbing entry from Wiki:

"At age 16, Ian met comedian Bill Cosbybackstage at a Smothers Brothers show where she was promoting Society's Child. Since Ian was underage, she was accompanied by a chaperone while touring. After her set, she had been sleeping with her head on her chaperone's lap (an older female family friend). According to Ian in a 2015 interview, she was told by her then manager that Cosby had interpreted their interaction as "lesbian" and as a result "had made it his business" to warn other television shows that Ian wasn't "suitable family entertainment" and "shouldn't be on television" because of her sexuality, thus attempting to blacklist her.[6][7][8] Although Ian would later come out as lesbian, she states that at the time of the encounter with Cosby she had only been kissed once, in broad daylight at summer camp."

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by Anonymousreply 12May 6, 2018 3:29 PM

R3 J'adore Dion's rendition too.

by Anonymousreply 13May 6, 2018 4:24 PM

R 12 Thank you for posting the video I know her song had a huge impact in the US I did not know it would touch so many people in other countries. Wonderful song and artist.

by Anonymousreply 14May 6, 2018 4:42 PM

Pity please the ones who serve! They only get what they deserve!

by Anonymousreply 15May 6, 2018 4:44 PM

So disappointed to learn that she is a lesbian. I can never listen to that song again.

by Anonymousreply 16May 6, 2018 4:48 PM

Janis cried all the way to the bank!

by Anonymousreply 17May 6, 2018 5:18 PM

What the hell is not understand about the lyrics? Their meaning is poetic and clear. Does anyone have an IQ here anymore?

by Anonymousreply 18May 6, 2018 5:33 PM

Wow R18!!! You just smashed a record here. Where are you posting from ? Lituania ?

by Anonymousreply 19May 6, 2018 5:38 PM

This song always makes me think of the episode of The Simpsons with Johnny Cash as a coyote.

by Anonymousreply 21May 6, 2018 5:50 PM

In R12 s video she mentions that this song was a hit another countries. Are there versions of this song in other languages by local artists such as French, Japanese or German?

by Anonymousreply 22May 6, 2018 6:21 PM

"Their small town eyes will gape at you In dull surprise when payment due Exceeds accounts received"

The pretty girls ended up preggers.

by Anonymousreply 23May 6, 2018 6:28 PM

Well, now we know why the boys didn't call her...

by Anonymousreply 24May 8, 2018 5:59 AM

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