Janice Ian - At Seventeen

[irock]

What a sad, sad song.  It's about growing up as an unattractive kid.  A 1974 number one hit for a couple weeks or so (if I remember correctly) here in America and also popular in Europe.

The lyrics can just rip your heart out.  To wit:

At Seventeen - Janice 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
Married into what she needs
A guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly

Remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
Indebentures 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

[Pet Shop Boy]

Flat out beautiful. Very honest and understated. This is what real pain sounds like, not excessive wailing.

[stevie nice]

My dad was a big Janis Ian fan, in fact we saw her once walking not too far from where he lived on 23rd and 2nd avenue in Manhattan (he said it was common to see her shopping around there, it was only time I saw her.)

You may be only one other than me Irock who knows this song, "Society's Child." Are you familiar with it? She was about 14-15 when she sang it, and it was about an interracial relationship. It was a top 20 hit in spite of radio's reluctance to play it, FWIH.

My dad picked up her debut album with the painting of her on the front and was rewarded with a copy of Richie Havens' "Mixed Bag." LOL! Still have that and the following copy he bought. I think he has all her stuff; he was also a big fan of the faintly similar Dory Previn.

[stevie nice]

It peaked at #3 in 1975.

[Luckie Starchild]

Miki Howard belted out a nice cover of this -- produced by the Goo Goo Golls.

[mst3k]

Heartrendingly beautiful song.

stevienice said:

You may be only one other than me Irock who knows this song, "Society's Child."

I know it too, of course. :)

[stevie nice]

mst3k1 said:

Heartrendingly beautiful song.

stevienice said:

You may be only one other than me Irock who knows this song, "Society's Child."

I know it too, of course. :)

I'm impressed, but not really surprised; you know your stuff. I didn't mean to slight you, I just figured it was a song that the over 40 bunch would be more familiar with, and you got a while yet. ;)

[irock]

stevienice said:

My dad was a big Janis Ian fan, in fact we saw her once walking not too far from where he lived on 23rd and 2nd avenue in Manhattan (he said it was common to see her shopping around there, it was only time I saw her.)

You may be only one other than me Irock who knows this song, "Society's Child." Are you familiar with it?

I was going to give the song a listen before answering you, but then I realized I don't have it. Yes, I've heard it, but not too many times. The last time I heard it was about 5 years ago, on a radio station in Nashville. I remember hearing it on WZZQ back in the day, but the memory is much overshadowed by At Seventeen.

[areyoureadytojump]

A live performance:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEYepr0Zm1E

[Hervard]

This song's OK, but rather depressing.

BTW, not to nitpick, but her first name is spelled Janis

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Jann Arden did an alright cover. I'm not a huge fan of the song but it does have nice lyrics... well, an accurately descriptive portrayal within the lyrics.