This song also kicks off what you'll find is a running theme on this list. Most of the lyrics are standard "telling a girl she's sweet and beautiful" stuff, but at some point the songwriter makes sure to announce, "Just to be super clear, guys, what makes her special is specifically the fact that she's 16. Thank you."
3
Ringo Starr's "You're Sixteen" Is Oddly Terrifying
"You're Sixteen" was a US hit twice -- #8 for rockabilly singer Johnny Burnett in 1960 and #1 for future Shining Time Station star Ringo Starr in 1973. The lyrics seem almost wholesome if we assume the narrator character is also a teen, and that's surely how a lot of people understood it. But Burnett was in his late 20s when he recorded his version, while Starr was a very beardy 33.
More importantly, a closer examination of the lyrics finds that these sentiments are very much those of an older dude. An actual teenage boy, for instance, wouldn't keep adding "you're 16" to his list of things that make his girlfriend hot:
You're all ribbons and curls, ooh, what a girl
Eyes that sparkle and shine
You're 16, you're beautiful and you're mine
Teen boys don't generally fetishize the teenhood of their girlfriends; that's just the age they both are. ("Dude, and the best part? She's 16!" "Yeah bro, I know. She's in our class.") In that context, these lyrics are more like the notes you'd give to Hannibal Lector to help you catch Buffalo Bill. You're my pet ... You walked out my dreams and into my car.
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