This song really hits in the feels. It's so loaded with emotion. I hope the 'popular' girls who put her down all those years ago ate a lot of humble pie when they saw what Janis achieved.
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. th-cam.com/video/VMUz2TNMvL0/w-d-xo.html
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 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.
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.
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.
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! 👍
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.
This song still moves me so much! I am 73 and remember feeling this way sometimes when I was young. Love you Janice Ian! I hope you are having a good life.
Janis always there for you. Im 70yrs young looks never mattered to me. I wanted personalality! Hippie times shalow are smart!! It was a easy time to be in the now! Today well you tell me? Love you Janis always beautiful and voice!!! Peace Out and Love MMLZZZ
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. :-(
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....
I can be critical with people that are singing way past when they just do not sound as good. Janis Ian is still good. I love this song. So much feeling and brings me back into time. Thank You Janis it feels good to reminisce the old days. It feels so good. I am 71 and it brings me back into the times that were beautiful for me. Thank you.
I hadn't read far enough, but I just posted above about that same thing, though without an excellent line to suggest like yours. I was thinking a whole sequel song of new verses, "At Seventy." You only beat me to this idea by three years! 😋 I just found this page today. This video is astonishing.
Janis !! That song is so beautiful. I rediscovered it recently and can’t seem to get enough of it. I send my Love and prayers to you my dear. God Bless You. / Steve
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 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 can't sing along first, because I can never remember all of the incredibly eloquent lyrics to it, and secondly, similarly to you, if I try, I can't stay on key and ball my eyes out at the same time ...and I was never even a seventeen year old girl.
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!
This is my new favorite video on TH-cam. [Three weeks later, and I agree with myself. This is an incomparable experience, watching Janis sit across a coffee table and sing this song so effortlessly and so iconically. Neither the song nor Janis have ever stopped becoming more and more beautiful and dignified.]
You are so awesome. Beautiful woman. Im sister sent me this video. Shes 71 , I get a lump in my throat every time I hear this . Your souch a special lady . Id fly anywhere to look in your eyes . And Thankyou for such a beautiful song .
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.
the lyrics, the music and the artist singing it blended so well. This song was a staple on radio during my HS in late 70s back in Manila. Pity those boys and girls who were not so popular in campus...Thank you, Janis.
At Seventeen instantly takes me back to my teens in high school whenever I hear it. A timeless masterpiece, indeed, as one viewer commented. The 70s was full of timeless masterpieces, which is why it was the absolute best decade ever for popular music. Janis Ian is an absolute treasure. Such a gifted songwriter and enchanting performer. Would love to meet her someday and tell her that personally…
Janis, I first listened to At Seventeen in college at Purdue in the 70’s. I loved it then, and it has served as my guiding light throughout my life. I am now 70, with children and grandchildren. Your song has helped guide me throughout their lives and mine. I can’t think of a more beautiful person than you… and I hope that my family ends up as beautiful as you are. Thank you for everything that you are. ❤
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.
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.
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.
Real music..... thank you Janis
This song really hits in the feels. It's so loaded with emotion. I hope the 'popular' girls who put her down all those years ago ate a lot of humble pie when they saw what Janis achieved.
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.
th-cam.com/video/VMUz2TNMvL0/w-d-xo.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.
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! 💞💗💞
Can we just take a moment to admire the beautiful voicing on the guitar in this?
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.
Her amazing, profound lyrics are still powerful and her voice as lovely as ever. Way to go Janis. We have not forgotten you.
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.
One of my all time favorites! She is beautiful…. At 70! 😊
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…
Janis Ian... as beautiful now as you always were. You light up memories ❤
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
Simply beautiful in every way.
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 !!!!!!
Holy-smoke, what a beautiful performance. ❤
I can't describe my love for this sweet angel. Thank You Janis Ian (a living legend).
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! 👍
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.
This song still moves me so much! I am 73 and remember feeling this way sometimes when I was young. Love you Janice Ian! I hope you are having a good life.
Ditto!! ❤️
Like a clock ticking that has never lost time. That was just a pure masterpiece. Thank you Janis.
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....
It still gets to me and I am 67..powerful and brilliant..Thanks Janis.
Still pulls my heartstrings. 😢
Unreal...Still Brings a tear to my eye. Nailing it. OMG I can so still relate for my daughter. Thank you for your song.
If you understand this song, then you know the pain of being alone.
I’m 58 now. And only have a couple friends. Yes. I can relate Enough said
Janis always there for you. Im 70yrs young looks never mattered to me. I wanted personalality! Hippie times shalow are smart!! It was a easy time to be in the now! Today well you tell me? Love you Janis always beautiful and voice!!! Peace Out and Love MMLZZZ
Like butter. So smooth and beautiful. Janis is a treasure, and that song might be the best song of that decade.
A beautiful song sang by a Beautiful Lady , So True of my Youth ....
Have loved this for decades!!!! A very favorite!!!! Thank you so much!!!!
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. :-(
You forgot to add another song, Operator by Jim Croce.
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.
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.
I can be critical with people that are singing way past when they just do not sound as good. Janis Ian is still good. I love this song. So much feeling and brings me back into time. Thank You Janis it feels good to reminisce the old days. It feels so good. I am 71 and it brings me back into the times that were beautiful for me. Thank you.
A stunning song in 76...and still is today. Beautiful lyrics. Thank you Janis.
Respect to Ms.IAN. song has such great resolve.ONWARD ON THE JOURNEY
Still. Unexpected tears. A great song is a jewel of our existence.
A great creation borne of sadness. Thank you
Quite the Masterpiece. A unique Kodak moment captured in our lives.
Never tired of this song or performance. You haven't lost a gram of beauty in voice or presence, Janis...
She still has a beautiful voice. Thank you for share you beautiful music. Blessings. ❤️❤️🙏🙏
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!
I hadn't read far enough, but I just posted above about that same thing, though without an excellent line to suggest like yours. I was thinking a whole sequel song of new verses, "At Seventy." You only beat me to this idea by three years! 😋 I just found this page today. This video is astonishing.
Takes me right back to when I was 17...with tears in my eyes.
Janis !! That song is so beautiful. I rediscovered it recently and can’t seem to get enough of it. I send my Love and prayers to you my dear. God Bless You. / Steve
Great Song and its amazing after all these years from this huge hit , she still performs it perfectly 👍👍😊
Just brilliant " a song that will go on for ever " touches your soul" God Bless Janis Ian
I really love this song,i was 12 yrs old then in 1976.very beautiful music created by janis ian!!
I'm 61 and you are part of the soundtrack of my life. Thank you ❤
Wow! I remember when this came out. She's the same fantastic singer-songwriter and guitarist. Wonderful! And she is 69!
Always loved this song...still sounds great..blessings to you Janis Ian
wonderful
Exceptional musicianship! Stunning raw power and vocal mastery! Clear as a bell at 70! Immortal lyrics.
Just like the original. What a beautiful song! Thanks so much!
Same voice, same feeling it takes us through. So hauntingly beautiful all those years. Thank you, Janis Ian. Greetings from Brazil.
Still has that beautiful voice,love your music Janis 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👍✌️🫡🫶🏼🫵🏽👵🏼
I love listening to this song. It brings back many good memories when I just a teenager. 👍👍👍
How real can it get! Fantastic how someone can transport true feelings!
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 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 can't sing along first, because I can never remember all of the incredibly eloquent lyrics to it, and secondly, similarly to you, if I try, I can't stay on key and ball my eyes out at the same time ...and I was never even a seventeen year old girl.
What a beautiful song thank you so much Janice remarkable❤💜💥🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯
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!
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 .
This is my new favorite video on TH-cam.
[Three weeks later, and I agree with myself. This is an incomparable experience, watching Janis sit across a coffee table and sing this song so effortlessly and so iconically. Neither the song nor Janis have ever stopped becoming more and more beautiful and dignified.]
You are so awesome. Beautiful woman. Im sister sent me this video. Shes 71 , I get a lump in my throat every time I hear this . Your souch a special lady . Id fly anywhere to look in your eyes . And Thankyou for such a beautiful song .
So grateful that I got to see this brilliant artist live. And, of course, she played this song!
At 17......we still had iconic songs like this
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.
She’s amazing! As great as ever!! Thank you Janis Ian!!
the lyrics, the music and the artist singing it blended so well. This song was a staple on radio during my HS in late 70s back in Manila. Pity those boys and girls who were not so popular in campus...Thank you, Janis.
Love this song. She plays such a beautiful and mesmerizing guitar.
Absolutely wonderful. Masterpiece of a song
Absolutely one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Thank you SOOO much !!!
At Seventeen instantly takes me back to my teens in high school whenever I hear it. A timeless masterpiece, indeed, as one viewer commented. The 70s was full of timeless masterpieces, which is why it was the absolute best decade ever for popular music. Janis Ian is an absolute treasure. Such a gifted songwriter and enchanting performer. Would love to meet her someday and tell her that personally…
Janis, I first listened to At Seventeen in college at Purdue in the 70’s. I loved it then, and it has served as my guiding light throughout my life. I am now 70, with children and grandchildren. Your song has helped guide me throughout their lives and mine. I can’t think of a more beautiful person than you… and I hope that my family ends up as beautiful as you are. Thank you for everything that you are. ❤
Thank you Janis I still get goosebumps today, thankk you for sharing your gifts with this crzzzzy world.
Thanks for this 🥰 beautiful x
What a beautiful song... Puts a lump in my throat every time I listen to it...
One of the great gems NEVER played enough! Every youngster should hear this.
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
Thank you. The song, your voice, and you are just as beautiful as when I was 17 in 1976.
Beautiful song by a poet for our times.
Thank you for singing good songs with a beautiful voice for a long time
Love you and your music and still have your records and cds from the 70s!!!
Magical 💕 you were never average Janis. What you have gifted civilization will be heard and felt forever.
Still brings a tear...
Beautiful voice, You still got it..timeless classic will stand test time forever...thank you..from my heart to yours...
At 70. Still sings like an angel.
I wonder if she's ever considered writing some new verses to the same magical melody, and creating a sequel called "At Seventy."
My 15 year old self is now a 63 year old self. This song was my Anthem
this song and your wonderful voice have been delightfully haunting my brain since 1976. Thank you for all you endured to bring your music to us all!
What a fantastic song to so perfectly capture the trauma of growing up feeling unpopular. Absolutely timeless. Well done Janis!
Such a young eyes. One of the most beautiful songs ever.
I certainly do remember Janis. Lovely voice❤️
My sister Marta loved this song.
I miss her. Beautiful song.
Thanks Janis - this acoustic version just made me howl - such agony wrapped in a sublime accompaniment......very moving!
Every time I hear this wonderful song, I love it even more!!!!!
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.
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.
Absolutely beautifull and so emotional, unforgetable. Chris 70 y h.
This song has always pulled on my heartstrings. And that amazing voice sounds as good as it did years ago.