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I have had the most wonderful journey. I never thought that singing this song would introduce me to the most amazing lyric, melody and fascinating and talented lady. Learning about Janis Ian and taking time to know this song has been one of the most interesting things I've ever done and best learning experience I could have asked for. I am glad I jumped in, and a thanks to Brian for starting off my curiosity to do some research.

I wish I could sing it better, but seeing how long it took my wonderful friend Ben Willis to learn this guitar part and knowing the time he put into it just brought me to undertand the intricate beauty of this song. Thank you so much Ben Willis for this amazing track to sing to, it is more than I had hoped for.

A special thank you to my friend Danny for lining up the vocal.

So much work and I am sure I wasn't perfect in it, but the ride was worth taking!

I offer this song with great respect for this amazing lyric and artist that brought it to life.


AT SEVENTEEN (cover) on SoundClick


"AT SEVENTEEN"
By 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...

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...

Instrumental break

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, dance with me"
And murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me, at seventeen...

Wow! Tammy. You did a great job singing this classic. You enunciate the lyrics better than Janis Ian did. I remember when it came out. Janis Ian was marked a wundekind by the press. I loved the song but couldn't make out some of the lyrics. It's a beautiful song and you did it justice.

Dan,

Thank you so very much for the listen and your kind words, I am glad you liked it and I think the wonderful playing of Ben's gave it a bit of our own sound without being disrespectful to the original.

Tammy

Tam this is a perfect venue song for you, you nailed the melody and even gave it more of an up tempo while preserving the pain of the lyrics. Nicely done as always.~re

this was a time when poetry and lyrics walked hand in hand, brilliant word smithing and a lovely melody combined to tell a
bittersweet story for all. God, I miss those days. Now it's all pulp pop and inane communication...without much substance. This song is a great example of a perfect write.~~M

Agree with MFB ... A true classic and you guys did it justice. Beautiful cover. Well sung and well played.

Congrats.

Dave

GREAT JOB on a great song you two.
I like this song when It came out but now I really like it, I wasnt a songwriter then.

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

Nice job Tammy! Such a beautiful song-perfect fit for you. I enjoyed the acoustic guitar as well--wouldn't mind hearing the guitar solo boosted a tad. Such a classic song to sing and such great lyrics. Enjoy it very much.

steady-eddie.

Thanks folks. It was a learning experience for me as well. Some of the chords were new to me and real finger stretchers. It took awhile and a lot of practice to learn to change the chords and make it sound natural.

Thanks to Tammy for the idea to take on this song. I think we both benefited from it.

Bravo you two.
Vic

Nicely done you two!Mike

That sounds good!!!! Well done both of you.....that's a tricky song. I bet it was a lot of work.

Thanks Vic, Mike, and Colin. Cover songs can be the most difficult to play and sing, and as Tammy told me, the listener always has something to compare it to. I'm proud of us both (with more pride going toward Tammy) for rising to the challenge.

Janis is an amazing woman. And she's still making great music. She won several awards at the last JPF Awards and passed the JPF Songwriter of the Year baton over to Gretchen Peters. She played our JPF Bluebird Cafe Show along with other award winners Bob Malone, Erika Luckett, Melody Guy, Cheley Tackett, Chris Young and Kim McLean. She won the Grammy this year for best spoken word album beating Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Rachel Madow and Ellen Degeneris. (I think). She's hilarious and smart and got her first Grammy nomination when she was only 15 years old. What were YOU doing at 15?

Brian

Oh and I though you did a nice job with the vocals Tammy. The guitar work Ben I think could use some tweaks, but it was awfully nice of you to help her with it. = )

Way to go guys! This was a homerun! You sang it beautifully Tammy, and Ben did a great job on the git! Thoroughly enjoyed this listen!

Todd

Thanks Todd, and yes Brian you have the ear to find my flaws. I mean that in a good understanding "I know" way. I also played bass guitar on this song. Thanks for giving Tammy the credit that she deserves.

What a wonderful vocal! Took me back to the seventies for a moment. What made it special is the emotion you brought that this song demands. Very nice!

Tom W.

Tammy and Ben.... very, very nice!! Not much else to say!! :))) scotty

Thanks Tom and Richard. Tammy should be back shortly to answer comments.

Tammy,

I remember when this record was on the radio. I must say you do it better.

Jim

Tammy,

This is excellent - I enjoyed this more than the original - very well done.

Bob

Wow! The story of my life. That's the same thing I said when this came out! Oops! I just dated myself. Fine attempt at a classic and still one of my all time favs. Good to hear you're both still at it.

Ricki

Thanks Jim and Bob.

Ricki, this song was written just for you, you pretty little blossom.

Beautifully done guys.

Ben, what a wonderful job you've done here.
The perfect foundation laid down for Tammy's lovely vocals, which are hauntingly expressive.

Hats off to you both.

Great take on a nice song.

Very tough song to tackle. There is such a warmth in Janis's original vocal, along with angst, and longing--almost pleading at times.

I think at times, esp in the 2nd and 4th stanzas where your voice went up a bit, you captured the essence of the song. The verses were kinda so-so for me, esp the first. It felt like you had to do this justice and wanted so badly to get it right that the emotion got squeezed out of it a bit.

Overall, a good step for you. Playing was good but I could have done w/o the hihat...use nothing or a soft shaker. It took away from the song a little after a few listens.

Zeek

What a fine, fine collaboration, you two.

Donna

Thanks Nelson.

Hi Zeek, I'll let Tammy respond on the vocal.

The percussion was Midi, but everything else was live audio. I am limited on percussion sounds so I used a closed cymbal. I believe that the original recording used a closed cymbal but can't verify it. I also used a click track at 130 BPM which is the same tempo as the original and the cymbal followed that tempo. Maybe the way I mixed it wasn't up to par. I dunno.

Thank you Donna.

Very nice. You have the right voice to sing this, Tammy.

Kudos to Ben too. I never paid attention to the chords when this song came out but I listened closer this time. Man, that couldn't have been easy to play.

Scott

Thanks Scott. The verses are pretty easy, C, Dm, and G7. The chorus is the tricky part. How often do you play Cm7, Fm7, F7, Eb, Ab, Dm7 and dmaj7 all in a few measures. My hand, fingers, and wrist got a good workout. It took a lot of practice but I'm glad I did it.

A beautiful rendition, Tams.....you voice is really sounding pretty!!
-Tom

A difficult one for me to be impartial too as I remember the original with fondness and have been fortunate to have heard it performed in concert by Janis Ian.
But it works well, you won me over with that lovely chorus.
Best of luck to you both with it
Travis

YOUALL--

A very nice COVER--

Tammy is improving with every song--

I know how difficult it is to work through the internet, on colabs.

This one sounds great to me!

Mackie

thanks for posting this one.

This is lovely, just LOVELY, Tammy and Ben! -- Lisa

Thanks Travis, Mackie, and Lisa.

M,

I knew that a writer like yourself would appreciate this lyric and I have come to understand how difficult it is to create a song of this caliber, thank you for being so kind as to listen to my version.

Tammy

Dave,

Thank you so much for listening, I appreciate your kind words.

Tammy

Calvin,

I think if doing this song helps others revisit the original, that is a sweet reward, it is so wonderful, thanks for listening!

Tammy

Eddie,

So happy you could enjoy this, to sing a song I loved when I was a child comes with its own meanings to me, but am happy to give it a shot.

Tammy

Vic,

Glad you liked and listened!

Tammy

Mike,

Glad you enjoyed it!

Tammy

Colin,

I am happy that shining a light on this song has reminded everyone how clever and beautiful the lyric and music are, I knew I wasn't going to be perfect on it, but there was lots of learning and growing that I have gained from doing it.

Tammy

Brian,

I really appreciate your thoughts on this, thank you for stopping in and being supportive.

Tammy

Todd,

So happy this appealed to you!

Tammy

Tom,

Really appreciate your kind comments!

Tammy

Scotty,

Thanks for listening, glad you liked it!

Tammy

Jim,

Wow, thanks, we won't mention that to Janis...LOL!! Happy you liked it!

Tammy

Robert,

So very happy to see you my friend!!!

Thank you so much for seeking me out and giving me a listen!! Hope all is well your way!!

Very happy this sounded good to you!!

Tammy

Ricki,

So happy to see you and glad you gave this a listen, I do think it is a song worth doing and remembering for sure!

Tammy

Nelson,

Thank you for listening and for your kind comments my friend!

Tammy