I absolutely LOVE this song! I’m 52 now and I remember hearing it many times. I have the words memorized still! You are Beautiful now and I’m sure you were at 17! 💞💗💞
This song is so true. At 78 I still remember the pain of not having dates and being unpopular. Please be kind to everyone. Her voice is wonderful! Thank you for this song.
It seems for most of us that we only realize how unimportant looks are as we mature with age. Like you, Rosemarie, I too was never "the handsome one"....just "the ugly duckling" with no redeeming qualities. At 71, none of that matters now. I simply live as a hedonist, in the pursuit of simple joys and pleasures with NO preconceived conceptions....living "in the moment".
@@breannaanderson8706 - I saw Janis in 1976 when she was promoting her album "Between The Lines". The whole album is great btw. Very mellowing. It's amazing how Janis has aged. Young or old, Janis is a beautiful woman. She has SO MUCH PASSION in her music.....touches me to my very soul. The link is for one of her live performances of "At Seventeen" back in 1976. I wish you all the very best in your performance next week. ua-cam.com/video/VMUz2TNMvL0/v-deo.html
This woman. This voice. Still stops me dead in my tracks and I have no choice but to listen thru to the very last chord. Soothes the soul. Timeless and brilliant.
Wow absolutely fantastic . . . you could barely tell any change in her voice from the original recording from the 70’s, looks like Janis has looked after herself and still has her youthful voice. God Bless you Janis.
70 now and I loved this song for many years. No dates in HS, no prom, shy with no confidence, I played sports though and got a full ride on a basketball scholarship. In the end all turned out good, 10 grand kids, retired many years ago, and now enjoy the music of our era.
Along with Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle", this is one of the most powerful songs ever written - absolutely brilliant and honest lyrics. Thank you mom for turning me on to this artist and song. I miss you terribly. :-(
This song pretty much stops me whenever I hear it, not often these days but some radio stations still play it. And I was in high school when this song was on the charts. And I appreciated that this song reveals the heartbreaking realities of many teenage girls. And I did know that pain about basketball--although my thing was bikes and motorcycles, not ball sports, it was sickening to wait and wait in junior high to be selected, for like forever.
She's still got it! Takes me back to listening to this when I was a college student, probably age 18 and understanding/feeling every word. The pain may go away for the most part as we grow and learn to love ourselves, but there's always a fragment that remains...and helps us remain sensitive to the pain in others.
I've loved you since childhood Miss Janis. You were on my bucket list but I've been isolated from human contact due to a contagious disease for the past decade. Thank you for your beautiful music. It keeps me alive.
You still have it girl🥰 At 67 I'm still singing and loving this song as much as I did at 17. Those "beauty queens" of high school are the same stilllll. I'd rather be me than them any day...humble and kind🤗
This song is so hauntingly beautiful. When I watch her playing this song on her guitar and singing it, I imagine how she probably had the same expressions on her face as she was composing it so many decades ago. The intensity in her eyes says it all. There aren’t many singers who can show this same type of emotion while singing a song that they wrote so long ago. Simply beautiful!!
This song was so evocative to me when I was a kid so intrigued by growing older. Listening to Janis Ian sing it now -- her voice still so moving -- is a treasure.
Mad respect!! "I had to move back into my mom's house because I was broke and I couldn't make any money on the road. I was sitting at the kitchen table with a guitar one day, and I was reading a New York Times article about a debutante, and the opening line was 'I learned the truth at 18.' I was playing that little samba figure, and that line struck me for some reason. The whole article was about how she learned being a debutante didn't mean that much. I changed it to 17 because 18 didn't scan." Janis Ian. This was nominated for five Grammy Awards, the most any female artist had ever been nominated for at the time. It won for Best Female Pop Vocal. Still blows my mind that for the first 6 months that she performed the song, she closed her eyes because she feared she would be ridiculed because of the personal nature of the lyrics....
If the youngsters aren't familiar with this song, those becoming therapists, school counsellors, teachers or anyone who works with young people should be required to listen to this a few times.
I'm 62 years old now.....this was my anthem at 17. What's that saying? The more things change, the more they stay the same (a Widow for 10 years this Christmas morning and I'm a stranger in the social circles again).
My heart goes out to you. It's like you were reading my mind. I am also 62 and a widow for almost 12yrs. I don't fit in anywhere. Socially (not that there is any "social" these days) I always feel like the 3rd wheel or I'm on the outside looking in. Not sure I even want to be out there again, it seems like too much work.
I am lucky as I was able to see and hear her do this live on two occasions. Teenage angst, with so many dimensions, without obscenities or screaming. On my top 5 list of best songs ever.
Gods, the opening of this song takes me back to my teens and the heartbreak of this song. So beautifully done and so poignant. Leaves me a mess of ugly crying and spilled wine. Love you so much, Janis.
Such a poignant ballad, still relevant all these years later. Every time I hear it, I'm filled with the same angst, the same melancholia from those teenage years - She is still amazing!
This song captivated me from the very first time I heard it as a preteen. I find it impossibly and heartbreakingly beautiful, one of the best songs I have ever heard in my life. My throat catches every time I try to sing along.
I remember the first time I heard this song ! As a boy I knew that I was supposed to be strong and not let things affect me but, Every word brought up things that happened to me and it still brings back memories that should not have happened to me or anyone else! TY Janis for pouring out your heart and making me feel it was reaching out to mine!
These lyrics so perfectly capture that painful awareness we go thru in high school when we realize the prizes of life are not for us all, but only for a select lucky few, who by pure chance, are born with the gifts of looks and social skills. But they also exactly point out the fate of those who win at this game, lose in the long run..."Remember those who win the game, lose the love they sought to gain, in debentures of quality....and dubious integrity". How insanely true that is. I always walked away from those years realizing that those who win...lose. And the trophies they held in their hands turn to rust.
So great that she kept it simple and didn't try to jazz it up as some might. She sounds great and I love the fingernail percussion on the strings. Lyrically, for me, this is one of the greatest songs ever written. Phenomenal.
A chilling song. I was 14 when I first heard it at high school. It made me stop and think. And afterwards I remembered to say hi sincerely to the non beauty queens. And to ask them to dance when the time was right. Some at first suspected a trick. Then as we slowly all became friends it was me who became so much richer. And high school became a much nicer experience. Surrounded by people that hugged you and remembered your birthday. And those few who chose coolness above all else in the end just felt cold. So the song changed some people for the better. I am but one.
I grew up liking your song, "At 17," in the 70's. Now, I am 60, I still search and listen to your song, "At 17," once in a while ... with tears and a smile. I hope my comment finds you well and happy, Miss Ian.
My wife and I heard this song at a Dollar Tree and it brought back memories of the 70s for me. I'll be 60 soon but songs like this keeps me feeling young. Rock on Janis! 👍
This song resonated with me at the time. Looks were so important in youth and I was so hard on myself. Thank you, Janis, for reaching down into your honesty and sharing it with dignity and beauty!
Freaking amazing. This song throws me back hard to the late 80s when I was dating my former wife. She was a beautiful woman but came from a really rough home and emotional trauma. This song always brings me back to that bittersweet time in my life.
She’s still beautiful! The heartfelt lyrics and authentic, yet skewed, perception at seventeen are identifiable. Many of us look back and now see the inner beauty at that age. Most of us eventually learn that we were actually beautiful, just like the young women, and men, who are now seventeen.
Janice, I was one of those girls sitting at home not being invited to dances. I loved your music then as it spoke to my heart and still does. I taught myself to play guitar and became a singer and songwriter. I ended up marrying the boy across the street who was fairly average as I was but together we built a life of love and service to God. We also have a production company as he was also a musician. This song "At 17" has been coming into my mind and heart for about 2 weeks now. It's so wonderful to find you still playing it just as beautifully as you did when you were young and beautiful. Thank you for the music and thank you for this song that so became the badge of my girlfriends who were going through the same thing as I was. Yes, we talked on the phone imagining what love would be like if we had it.
What a legend... This song always leaves me speechless and in disbelief that she wrote the most beautiful, poetic, hauntingly perfect song to describe my teenage years. And this performance was just as perfect and moving as ever. I just don't know what to express other than my awe, my love, and my endless gratitude that this song finally told me I was not alone.
She still sounds just as good as she did in 1976.
i bet she never smoked :-) when you close your eyes...she is still 24 when she recorded this song... beautiful voice still.
Thank you!
so true
@@janisianchannel Janis you and this song is why I picked up a guitar.
I absolutely LOVE this song! I’m 52 now and I remember hearing it many times. I have the words memorized still! You are Beautiful now and I’m sure you were at 17! 💞💗💞
This song is so true. At 78 I still remember the pain of not having dates and being unpopular. Please be kind to everyone. Her voice is wonderful! Thank you for this song.
It seems for most of us that we only realize how unimportant looks are as we mature with age. Like you, Rosemarie, I too was never "the handsome one"....just "the ugly duckling" with no redeeming qualities. At 71, none of that matters now. I simply live as a hedonist, in the pursuit of simple joys and pleasures with NO preconceived conceptions....living "in the moment".
I'm singing this for my senior recital in one week and it touches my heart that this song has literally touched generations the way it has me
@@breannaanderson8706 - I saw Janis in 1976 when she was promoting her album "Between The Lines". The whole album is great btw. Very mellowing. It's amazing how Janis has aged. Young or old, Janis is a beautiful woman. She has SO MUCH PASSION in her music.....touches me to my very soul. The link is for one of her live performances of "At Seventeen" back in 1976. I wish you all the very best in your performance next week.
ua-cam.com/video/VMUz2TNMvL0/v-deo.html
@@lorenzos1666 thank you so much!
It's not just girls at 17. This old man feels the words of the song as though she was singing them about me.
This woman. This voice. Still stops me dead in my tracks and I have no choice but to listen thru to the very last chord. Soothes the soul. Timeless and brilliant.
Wow absolutely fantastic . . . you could barely tell any change in her voice from the original recording from the 70’s, looks like Janis has looked after herself and still has her youthful voice. God Bless you Janis.
Wow! Just Wow! That voice, the phrasing. Janis Ian, take me back to those days.
@@stevemelancon6207 Yes, she sounds astonishing, but isn't the point of the song that it's not about how she looks?
Beautiful stunning
70 now and I loved this song for many years. No dates in HS, no prom, shy with no confidence, I played sports though and got a full ride on a basketball scholarship. In the end all turned out good, 10 grand kids, retired many years ago, and now enjoy the music of our era.
Her amazing, profound lyrics are still powerful and her voice as lovely as ever. Way to go Janis. We have not forgotten you.
Flawless. Gorgeous. Still one of the best songs I’ve ever heard in my long life.
Even though released 45 years ago, this song is true today as was yesterday. A timeless masterpiece!
I can't explain it but as soon as she hits that first note I tear up and I can't stop, the melody is so beautiful it touches my soul
Love you Janice
You tear up because it touches your soul. It hits you where you live - or where you’ve lived…
Still pulls my heartstrings. 😢
I think you need to add a verse: True beauty over time sustains, the integrity which still remains, In one so beautiful as she, at seventy.
Beautiful addition!❤
Perfect...💞
Anautistictherapist- That's BEAUTIFUL!.. I may steal that, but if I ever play it publicly, I'll give YOU the credit for the last verse!
THAT IS SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!
My candidate for one of the most honest sad songs on earth. The cruelty and unfairness of this world exposed for all in a pop song.
30 years later, I still cry when listening to those poignant words! Hauntingly beautiful song😔
@@jordanabeaulieu2530
I was 17 when this was popular and I thought it was written for me....
I see a down vote, that's beyond my comprehension for both this song and how great she still sounds!
Some people sadly want to be noticed in any they can. They mean nothing.
@Fv N Can't believe that anyone could vote this beautiful performance down
Australians..
Right? She sounds fantastic!!
It was probably some cheerleader chick that did it.
Along with Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle", this is one of the most powerful songs ever written - absolutely brilliant and honest lyrics. Thank you mom for turning me on to this artist and song. I miss you terribly. :-(
One of my all time favorites! She is beautiful…. At 70! 😊
If you understand this song, then you know the pain of being alone.
Still. Unexpected tears. A great song is a jewel of our existence.
This song pretty much stops me whenever I hear it, not often these days but some radio stations still play it. And I was in high school when this song was on the charts. And I appreciated that this song reveals the heartbreaking realities of many teenage girls. And I did know that pain about basketball--although my thing was bikes and motorcycles, not ball sports, it was sickening to wait and wait in junior high to be selected, for like forever.
It also reveals what teenage boys feel as well
Amazing , still a haunting version after all this time . The only difference I see is her eyes no longer seem sad but wiser . Great to see her again .
Never tired of this song or performance. You haven't lost a gram of beauty in voice or presence, Janis...
She's still got it! Takes me back to listening to this when I was a college student, probably age 18 and understanding/feeling every word. The pain may go away for the most part as we grow and learn to love ourselves, but there's always a fragment that remains...and helps us remain sensitive to the pain in others.
Takes me right back to when I was 17...with tears in my eyes.
At 17......we still had iconic songs like this
I've loved you since childhood Miss Janis. You were on my bucket list but I've been isolated from human contact due to a contagious disease for the past decade. Thank you for your beautiful music. It keeps me alive.
Wow! I remember when this came out. She's the same fantastic singer-songwriter and guitarist. Wonderful! And she is 69!
You still have it girl🥰
At 67 I'm still singing and loving this song as much as I did at 17. Those "beauty queens" of high school are the same stilllll. I'd rather be me than them any day...humble and kind🤗
I certainly do remember Janis. Lovely voice❤️
Wow. That voice. So good.
This song is so hauntingly beautiful. When I watch her playing this song on her guitar and singing it, I imagine how she probably had the same expressions on her face as she was composing it so many decades ago. The intensity in her eyes says it all. There aren’t many singers who can show this same type of emotion while singing a song that they wrote so long ago. Simply beautiful!!
This song was so evocative to me when I was a kid so intrigued by growing older. Listening to Janis Ian sing it now -- her voice still so moving -- is a treasure.
This song has always pulled on my heartstrings. And that amazing voice sounds as good as it did years ago.
Mad respect!!
"I had to move back into my mom's house because I was broke and I couldn't make any money on the road. I was sitting at the kitchen table with a guitar one day, and I was reading a New York Times article about a debutante, and the opening line was 'I learned the truth at 18.' I was playing that little samba figure, and that line struck me for some reason. The whole article was about how she learned being a debutante didn't mean that much. I changed it to 17 because 18 didn't scan." Janis Ian.
This was nominated for five Grammy Awards, the most any female artist had ever been nominated for at the time. It won for Best Female Pop Vocal.
Still blows my mind that for the first 6 months that she performed the song, she closed her eyes because she feared she would be ridiculed because of the personal nature of the lyrics....
Heavy.
If the youngsters aren't familiar with this song, those becoming therapists, school counsellors, teachers or anyone who works with young people should be required to listen to this a few times.
I'm 62 years old now.....this was my anthem at 17. What's that saying? The more things change, the more they stay the same (a Widow for 10 years this Christmas morning and I'm a stranger in the social circles again).
My heart goes out to you. It's like you were reading my mind. I am also 62 and a widow for almost 12yrs. I don't fit in anywhere. Socially (not that there is any "social" these days) I always feel like the 3rd wheel or I'm on the outside looking in. Not sure I even want to be out there again, it seems like too much work.
You and me both
You are still and always worthy of love. I hope you find what you are looking for!
Real music..... thank you Janis
If this song isn’t an evergreen I dunno what is...
It's like she kept her voice in stasis for all these years-amazing.
I am lucky as I was able to see and hear her do this live on two occasions. Teenage angst, with so many dimensions, without obscenities or screaming. On my top 5 list of best songs ever.
It sounds like someone is playing the record! Amazing voice!
I can still "feel" this song all these years later! 😔
Gods, the opening of this song takes me back to my teens and the heartbreak of this song. So beautifully done and so poignant. Leaves me a mess of ugly crying and spilled wine. Love you so much, Janis.
I'm 61 and you are part of the soundtrack of my life. Thank you ❤
Beautiful song by a poet for our times.
CD quality voice! What a treasure !💕
Timeless ❤❤❤
My 15 year old self is now a 63 year old self. This song was my Anthem
I still love that song. Sang it every time it’s played, even now. She looks great too. Thanks for just letting her sing.
Such a poignant ballad, still relevant all these years later. Every time I hear it, I'm filled with the same angst, the same melancholia from those teenage years - She is still amazing!
Exceptional musicianship! Stunning raw power and vocal mastery! Clear as a bell at 70! Immortal lyrics.
This song captivated me from the very first time I heard it as a preteen. I find it impossibly and heartbreakingly beautiful, one of the best songs I have ever heard in my life. My throat catches every time I try to sing along.
A unique masterpiece, very insightful and clever; musically and lyrically. Love her gorgeous guitar. Thanks Janis!
Yup ..😊that's what I noticed too..beautiful voice..
I remember the first time I heard this song ! As a boy I knew that I was supposed to be strong and not let things affect me but, Every word brought up things that happened to me and it still brings back memories that should not have happened to me or anyone else! TY Janis for pouring out your heart and making me feel it was reaching out to mine!
Like a clock ticking that has never lost time. That was just a pure masterpiece. Thank you Janis.
Like butter. So smooth and beautiful. Janis is a treasure, and that song might be the best song of that decade.
Brilliant voice and even better guitar playing.
I was too young to hear this when it came out, wow, awesome!
this song deserves a million views..true talent .amazing guitar beautiful voice
These lyrics so perfectly capture that painful awareness we go thru in high school when we realize the prizes of life are not for us all, but only for a select lucky few, who by pure chance, are born with the gifts of looks and social skills. But they also exactly point out the fate of those who win at this game, lose in the long run..."Remember those who win the game, lose the love they sought to gain, in debentures of quality....and dubious integrity". How insanely true that is. I always walked away from those years realizing that those who win...lose. And the trophies they held in their hands turn to rust.
Thank you for singing good songs with a beautiful voice for a long time
So great that she kept it simple and didn't try to jazz it up as some might. She sounds great and I love the fingernail percussion on the strings. Lyrically, for me, this is one of the greatest songs ever written. Phenomenal.
A chilling song. I was 14 when I first heard it at high school. It made me stop and think. And afterwards I remembered to say hi sincerely to the non beauty queens. And to ask them to dance when the time was right.
Some at first suspected a trick. Then as we slowly all became friends it was me who became so much richer. And high school became a much nicer experience. Surrounded by people that hugged you and remembered your birthday.
And those few who chose coolness above all else in the end just felt cold.
So the song changed some people for the better. I am but one.
Yes - she sounds the same as when she sang it years ago. One of the best all time songs ever. Thanks Janis!
Magical 💕 you were never average Janis. What you have gifted civilization will be heard and felt forever.
I grew up liking your song, "At 17," in the 70's.
Now, I am 60, I still search and listen to your song, "At 17," once in a while ... with tears and a smile.
I hope my comment finds you well and happy, Miss Ian.
Our Nashville gem, a well of talent that goes so deep and wide and soulful.
My wife and I heard this song at a Dollar Tree and it brought back memories of the 70s for me. I'll be 60 soon but songs like this keeps me feeling young. Rock on Janis! 👍
This song is timeless. At Seventeen is as relevant now as it was in the 70's. Lifetime fan.
It still rings true. As does this performance in 2020. A masterpiece.
This song resonated with me at the time. Looks were so important in youth and I was so hard on myself. Thank you, Janis, for reaching down into your honesty and sharing it with dignity and beauty!
She sounds amazing and beautiful, reminds me of the 70’s. Love you Janise 💗 more plz
So grateful that I got to see this brilliant artist live. And, of course, she played this song!
OMG I did NOT expect her voice to sound as good as it did 45 years ago, so beautiful.
Very rare a voice can stay as consistent and pure over many years as this fantastic ladies has done. Much respect.x
Freaking amazing. This song throws me back hard to the late 80s when I was dating my former wife. She was a beautiful woman but came from a really rough home and emotional trauma. This song always brings me back to that bittersweet time in my life.
She’s flawless redoing her own song. It really couldn’t be rendered in any other way.
My sister Marta loved this song.
I miss her. Beautiful song.
WOWWW
Still Has the exact MAGIC.
I began crying from first line just as in the original.
POWERFUL Musician🏆
Fantastic! And those lyrics, those lyrics.
A stunning song in 76...and still is today. Beautiful lyrics. Thank you Janis.
Janis! Thank you. At seventeen I knew your songs and I still listen to all the records. I`m 63 now and counting hehe. God bless you.
Have always loved her. It came out at a time when I could really identify with this song. What an amazing voice and song!
Still a great voice
She’s still beautiful! The heartfelt lyrics and authentic, yet skewed, perception at seventeen are identifiable. Many of us look back and now see the inner beauty at that age. Most of us eventually learn that we were actually beautiful, just like the young women, and men, who are now seventeen.
This performance goes deep into her soul. 💗🙏
I bought Between The Lines many years ago. Over time I lost it BUT about two weeks ago I bought the vinyl album again. Beautiful!!
Love the guitarcases in the back ❤️
One of the great gems NEVER played enough! Every youngster should hear this.
Wow I listened d to the entire thing - never do that on UA-cam - bravo 👏
The power of art. People often say to each other, "I understand how you feel," but you only know others feel as you do when it's captured like this.
Quite the Masterpiece. A unique Kodak moment captured in our lives.
It still gets to me and I am 67..powerful and brilliant..Thanks Janis.
Beautiful ❤
The lyrics, the melody, the chords, the voice...perfect, just a perfect song.
Janice, I was one of those girls sitting at home not being invited to dances. I loved your music then as it spoke to my heart and still does. I taught myself to play guitar and became a singer and songwriter. I ended up marrying the boy across the street who was fairly average as I was but together we built a life of love and service to God. We also have a production company as he was also a musician. This song "At 17" has been coming into my mind and heart for about 2 weeks now. It's so wonderful to find you still playing it just as beautifully as you did when you were young and beautiful. Thank you for the music and thank you for this song that so became the badge of my girlfriends who were going through the same thing as I was. Yes, we talked on the phone imagining what love would be like if we had it.
How is it possible that she sounds even more amazing???? 😍
What a fantastic song to so perfectly capture the trauma of growing up feeling unpopular. Absolutely timeless. Well done Janis!
What a legend... This song always leaves me speechless and in disbelief that she wrote the most beautiful, poetic, hauntingly perfect song to describe my teenage years. And this performance was just as perfect and moving as ever. I just don't know what to express other than my awe, my love, and my endless gratitude that this song finally told me I was not alone.
An absolute classic! Wonderful to see her playing it just as well as she ever did.
i was in High School when i hear thie romantic song maybe in 1974 and now this song its an HIMNO , THanks Janis Ian.. you are the BEST !!!!!!
THIS is even better than when she and I were young. Janis put in to words what so many of us felt.
Yes. She's still as lovely as she was then. And what girl couldn't relate to this, at 17? Musical poetry. Beautiful! 💔💖❤