At Seventeen

Infobox Single
Name = At Seventeen


Caption =
Artist = Janis Ian
from Album = Between the Lines
A-side =
B-side =
Released = 1975
Format = Vinyl
Recorded =
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:41
Label = Columbia Records
Writer =
Producer =
Certification =
Chart position =
Last single =
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"At Seventeen" is a 1975 song by Janis Ian, appearing on "Between the Lines", her seventh studio album. Ian's most successful single, the song is a bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the maturity of adulthood.

"At Seventeen" peaked at #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and at #3 on the Pop Singles chart in 1975cite web| url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3ifwxq85ldde~T31 | title =Between the Lines > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles | publisher = Allmusic | accessdate = 2008-05-11 ] . It also won a Grammy award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1976cite news | url = http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_janis_ians_seventeen/ | title = Janis Ian's "At Seventeen" | last = Eskow | first = Gary | work = Mix | date = June 1, 2005 | accessdate = 2008-05-11 ] and was nominated for "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year". Also well-received by critics, the song won the 1975 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, beating out the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton-John and Helen Reddy. Ian performed "At Seventeen" as a musical guest on the very first episode of "Saturday Night Live" in October 1975.cite web| url = http://www.tv.com/saturday-night-live/show/365/episode.html | title = Saturday Night Live Episode Guide | publisher = TV.com ]

The song's parent album, "Between the Lines," also hit #1 and earned a platinum certification for sales of one million copies. Another measure of her success is anecdotal – on Valentine's Day 1977, Ian received 461 Valentine cards, having indicated in the lyrics to "At Seventeen" that she never received any as a teenager.cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Rock Stars |first=Dafydd |last=Rees |coauthors=Luke Crampton |year=1996 |publisher=Dk Pub |isbn=0789412632]

"At Seventeen" can also be heard playing in the background in one scene in the 2004 movie "Mean Girls". The movie, which features a character named "Janis Ian", addresses the topic of teenage cruelty and alienation. "At Seventeen" is also mentioned in Jeffrey Eugenides's 1993 novel "The Virgin Suicides", where the song is used by four girls imprisoned in their own home and essentially cut off from normal adolescent experiences to communicate with the narrator and his friends.

The song, as performed by Tara MacLeancite web | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133046/soundtrack | title = Soundtracks for Teaching Mrs. Tingle | publisher = imdb.com] is used in the soundtrack of the 1999 film "Teaching Mrs. Tingle".cite web | url = http://www.janisian.com/ephemera.html | title = Janis Ian Career Highlights | publisher = janisian.com, Rude Girl Publishing | accessdate = 2008-05-11 ]

In 2008, "At Seventeen" was selected to receive the Grammy Hall of Fame Award. [ [http://www.jivemagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17889 Jive Magazine] ]

Covers

Canadian singer Jann Arden covered the song as the second single from her 2007 album "Uncover Me".

atire

In 1993, Ian went on The Howard Stern Show to do a self-parody of the song that took comedic aim at Jerry Seinfeld and his relationship with then girlfriend and lingerie designer Shoshanna Lonstein.

Notes

External links

* [http://janisian.com/lyrics/At%20Seventeen.pdf At Seventeen] lyrics, janisian.com