“At Seventeen”

Posted on 21 February 2005 @ 22:26 in Janis Ian, Music


Ian soared to new heights in the 1970s with her trio of masterpiece albums: Stars, Between the Lines, and Aftertones. Stars included the hit song “Jesse”, which Roberta Flack made a pop standard. Between The Lines propelled Ian to superstardom with “At Seventeen”. The single sold more than a million copies, and Ian was nominated for a then-unprecedented five Grammy awards, winning two (including Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female). Aftertones proved to be one of the most critically acclaimed albums of its day, garnering Ian her first Japanese hit, “Love Is Blind”, which stayed at #1 for an astonishing six months.

“At Seventeen” was a spot on description of the pain of loneliness and (dare I say it) ugliness, of not having dates on a Saturday evening, and of being marginalised simply one did not conform to society’s standards of beauty. And because it was written and sung by a woman, it was assumed such pain was unique to the plain girls of her generation and all following generations, too. But such pain is not felt by females only, but believe it or not, by males, too. Just as good-looking boys will not cast a second look at plain Janes, likewise pretty girls do not wish to go out with plain Joes. Does it still happen today?

Take a look at the lyrics and tell me if it doesn’t aptly describe the pain and loneliness of not being good-looking as defined by society.

At Seventeen
(Janis Ian)

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

So 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 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
When dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me

We all play the game, and when we dare
We cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
That call and say – come on, dance with me
And murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me, at seventeen

Bio excerpt, picture and lyrics from Official Janis Ian Web Site

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