I learned the truth at seventeen 我学到的道理，在17

That love was meant for beauty queens 这爱是命中注定的选美皇后

And high school girls with clear skinned smiles 而高中女生有明确的皮肤微笑

Who married young and then retired 谁娶了年轻，然后退役

The valentines I never knew 我从来不知道的情人节礼物

The Friday night charades of youth 青春的周五晚上哑谜

Were spent on those more beautiful 都用在那些更美丽

At seventeen I learned the truth 在17我知道的真相

   

And those of us with ravaged faces 而我们这些肆虐的面孔

Lacking in the social graces 缺乏的社交礼仪

Desperately remained at home 拼命留在家里

Inventing lovers on the phone 在电话发明爱好者

Who called to say "Come, dance with me" 谁打来电话说：“来吧，与我共舞”

And murmured vague obscenities 喃喃含糊猥亵

It isn't all it seems at seventeen 这还不是全部，似乎在17

   

A brown-eyed girl in hand me downs 一个棕色眼睛的女孩在手我起伏

Whose name I never could pronounce 他的名字我永远无法发音

Said "Pity please the ones who serve 说： “请怜悯谁服务的人

They only get what they deserve" 他们只得到他们应得的“

The rich relationed hometown queen 富relationed故乡女王

Marries into what she needs 结婚到她需要什么

A guarantee of company 公司的担保

And haven for the elderly 而天堂老人

   

Remember those who win the game 还记得那些谁赢下比赛

And lose the love they sought to gain 而失去他们试图赢得爱情

In debentures of quality 在品质债券

And dubious integrity 和可疑的完整性

Their small town eyes will gape at you 他们的小镇眼睛会目瞪口呆的你

In dull surprise when payments due 在沉闷的惊喜，当应付款项

Exceed accounts received 超过账款

At seventeen 在17

   

To those of us who knew the pain 为了我们这些谁知道痛

Of valentines that never came 情人节，从来没有传出

And those whose names were never called 而那些名字从未被称为

When choosing sides for basketball 当选择了篮球边

It was long ago and far away 那是很久以前遥远

The world was younger than today 世界上年轻的比今天

And dreams were all they gave for free 和梦想都是他们给的自由

To ugly duckling girls like me 以丑小鸭的女孩像我一样

   

We all play the game and when we dare 我们都玩游戏，当我们敢于

To cheat ourselves at solitaire 骗自己接龙

Inventing lovers on the phone 在电话发明爱好者

Repeating other lives unknown 重复其他生命未知

Who call to say "Come dance with me" 谁打电话说：“来吧与我共舞”

And murmur vague obscenities 和杂音模糊猥亵

At ugly girls like me, at seventeen 在丑陋的女孩像我一样，在17