I love this... always have... those were some good days back then.

Unforgettable!

Wow...who can forget the "growing pains" of being teenaged and imperfect? This is for all the "ugly ducklings", the "looked over", the ones who didn't quite "fit in", who've since become self-accepting beautiful swans, and that is most of us. We just didn't know that at seventeen.

Beautifully haunting. I identified with this song back in junior high. I never thought that my life would have unfolded in such a way as to cause me to still be able to identify with this song 35 years later.

yes ... yes.. at seventeen ...

this is sad, but a beautiful song, my fav now *tears*
thanks for uploading

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 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
The rich-relationed home-town 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 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
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

Enjoyed listening to this in high school Thanks for sharing!

i bought this on vinyl years ago and it relates to so many people in so many ways.

nice song huh