at seventeen

I learned the truth at seventeen
十七歲時我懂得了
That love was meant for beauty queens
愛情獨屬於佳人
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
笑容清澈的高中女孩
Who married young and then retired
早早嫁人等待凋零
The valentines I never knew
那些與我無緣的情人節
The Friday night charades of youth
上演著青春鬧劇的周五夜晚
Were spent on one more beautiful
都是漂亮女孩們的專場
At seventeen I learned the truth
十七歲時我懂得了

其貌不揚的我們
And those of us with ravaged faces
拙於社交
Lacking in the social graces
枯坐家中望穿秋水
Desperately remained at home
幻想會有情人來電
Inventing lovers on the phone
邀約自己共赴舞會
Who called to say, 'come dance with me'
還低語著曖昧的甜言蜜語
And murmur vague obscenities
這些都不存在於我的十七歲
It isnt all it seems at seventeen
身著舊衣的棕瞳女孩

她的名字我總是不會讀
A brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs
她說遺憾使人學會滿足
Whose name I never could pronounce said
她們得到的只是應得的
Pity, please, the ones who serve
那個攀附富豪的小鎮皇后
They only get what they deserve
嫁給了她所需求的
The rich-relationed home-town queen
一個長期伴侶和一處老來棲身之所
Marries into what she needs
記住那些贏得比賽
With a guarantee of company and haven for the elderly
卻輸掉所愛的人們

換得了優質的債券
Remember those who win the game
也失去了誠信
Lose the love they sought to gain
他們只將向你投以遲鈍而驚異的目光
In debentures of quality
十七歲時
And dubious integrity
空空如也
Their small town eyes will gape at you in
致感同身受的我們
Dull surprise when payment due
為了那些無緣的情人節
Exceeds accounts received at seventeen
還有打籃球選擇隊友時

默默無聞的人們
To those of us who knew the pain
已是陳年往事了
Of valentines that never came
那時的世界還年輕
And those whose names were never called
做夢是唯一可行的消遣
When choosing sides for basketball
對我們這些醜小鴨來說
It was long ago and far away
也曾鼓起勇氣瘋狂過
The world was younger than today
我們在孤獨中欺騙自己
And dreams were all they gave for free
幻想著情人的來電
To ugly duckling girls like me
替一些不知名的人感到遺憾

佯裝他們會遞來共赴舞會的邀約
We all play the game and when we dare
低語著曖昧的甜言蜜語
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
對著我們這些醜小鴨，在那年的十七歲
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