Sixteen Songs with Sixteen in the Title

Part 7 of the Numbers Song Project jumps ten 'sweet' digits for October

Photo by Ali Pazani on Unsplash

Even before last month’s exploration of “six” songs, where many of you suggested songs with “sixth” and “sixteen” in the titles for the bonus playlist, I was planning on writing a “Sixteen/16” post.

There are perhaps more “sixteen” songs in the popular music canon than just about any other number, save maybe “one” and “two.” Don’t fact-check me on that.

Per my self-inflicted rules, I’m only choosing songs with “sixteen” written out, not numerically.

This was a tough list to narrow down. Without much deep searching, I had corralled more than 35 songs. The winning 16 tracks are mostly ones you’ve likely heard before, though probably not in a long time.

It hurt to leave out some of my favorites, such as The Avett Brothers’ “Sixteen in July” and Chip Taylor and John Prine’s “Sixteen Angels Dancing ‘Cross the Moon.” But that’s what happens when compiling these playlists.

Several of the songs, as you might imagine, are a bit dodgy, lyrically. Especially by today’s standards, but probably back in the 1960s and 1970s (when many of the tunes were released) as well. I’ll talk about this more below, but “You’re Sixteen” (by Johnny Burnette, but I include the Ringo version here), and “Sixteen Going on 17” from The Sound of Music would surely cause an uproar if released today. What do you think?

Speaking of songs about creepy older men lusting after sixteen-year-old girls, my next earworm post will be exploring in detail one tune in particular that returns over and over to torture me with its earwormy, histrionic melodies. It doesn’t have sixteen in the title, so it can’t be included here.

As always, I try and find alternate and live versions of the songs for the YouTube clips below. However, the Spotify playlist includes the originals.

Also as always, please leave your favorite “Sixteen” songs in the comments. You can choose the numerical “16” for your picks.

Let’s get to it!

1. Sixteen Tons — Tennessee Ernie Ford

I know very little about Tennessee Ernie Ford, and couldn’t name a single other song from him before making this list, but his was the first song that came to mind when I chose 16 as this month’s number.

It’s a brilliant song, so simple and earwormy. And TEF (I wonder if he was called that) has such a cool baritone! I can only guess that John Waters was inspired by his slicked-back hair/thin mustache appearance. I’m sure he’d say Vincent Price, but I think it’s Tennessee Ernie Ford.

I can’t believe I left this one off my “snapping and whistling” post and playlist.

Scorpions - Wind of Change

2. Sixteen Candles — The Crests

I was hoping to find a captivating rare live performance of The Crests, but all I could find were a couple of clips featuring vocalist Johnny Maestro and his band(s), decades later. Not good enough to replace the original here. Then I found this fun compilation of scenes from American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973), which featured “Sixteen Candles” among dozens of other classic songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s.

3. Sweet Little Sixteen — Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” had to make this list, as the number of covers and outright thefts of the song are too numerous to mention. Other than, of course, The Beach Boys’ “Surfin USA” which was not originally credited to Berry, even though it is a note-for-note copy of “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Berry was quickly credited on subsequent releases after legal action was made.

Berry’s Newport Jazz Festival performance (in the doc Jazz on a Summer's Day) is the version most people know, but this later-era concert stood out to me.

4. Sixteen Reasons — Connie Stevens

I inherited three Connie Stevens records from my aunt when she moved into assisted living several years ago and became transfixed with her voice. I knew several of her songs but hadn’t connected the name to the tunes. I had known her for her acting, but not her singing. “Sixteen Reasons” was her biggest hit, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960.

Looking up her extensive filmography, I discovered this obscure gem: In the 1970s, Stevens started singing the "ACE is the Place" jingle on Ace Hardware TV commercials in Southern California. Having grown up in Southern California, I remember this jingle oh so well. Here’s a compilation of several of her ACE spots. With Suzanne Somers too!

5. Sixteen Going on Seventeen — Julie Andrews, Charmian Carr

There are literally dozens of hair metal songs about getting together with underage girls (they’ve been left off this list — well, except one), but it was a song from The Sound of Music that came to mind first, in that category. Sure, the lad is seventeen going on eighteen, and neither Charmian Carr nor Daniel Truhitte looked like teenagers in the film (Carr was 22 and Truhitte 21 during filming), but then again, this was Europe, not the far more immature U.S. Even so, I imagine a remake today might add a couple of years to their ages, especially if remade in the States.

6. Only Sixteen — Sam Cooke

A little background on this classic song I just learned during my obligatory two minutes of research:

"Only Sixteen" was inspired by the sixteenth birthday of Lou Rawls's stepsister, Eunice.^[3] It was originally intended for actor Steve Rowland, who often hung around the Keen studio. Rowland asked Cooke to write a song for him, and Cooke borrowed the bridge from an earlier song of his, "Little Things You Do".

It’s clear in the lyrics that the narrator is also 16 so it’s not nearly as creepy as the next song on the list.

7. You’re Sixteen — Ringo Starr

Most people think “You’re Sixteen” was a Ringo Starr original (or at least that he was the first to record it). It was, in fact, recorded first by American rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette, whose version peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 1960 and number 3 in the UK in 1961.

But Ringo Starr’s cover, from his 1974 Ringo album, reached number 1 on the US Hot 100. This is the version most people think of when the song is mentioned.

What I didn’t know until just now though, is that Robert and Richard Sherman (who wrote songs for dozens of Disney musicals, including, The Parent Trap (1961), Mary Poppins (1964), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and the animated films The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book”) wrote “You’re Sixteen.”

Unlike the Sam Cooke classic, nothing in the lyrics of “You’re Sixteen” indicates that the narrator is also sixteen. The language would imply not. Even in the late ’50s (I assume), no sixteen-year-old boy would say: “You come on like a dream/Peaches and cream/Lips like strawberry wine.” I want to give the Sherman brothers the benefit of the doubt, but this feels like a March/December romance. I know, times were different back then, but considering Ringo Starr was 33 when he recorded the song, it does qualify as marginally creepy.

For a song that’s more than marginally creepy, I bring to you….

8. Christine Sixteen — Kiss

Written and sung by Kiss’ bassist Gene Simmons, “Christine Sixteen,” from the band’s 1977 album Love Gun, reached 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Considered one of Kiss’ greatest hits, the song became notorious for its undeniably lecherous lyrics.

It probably goes without saying, but the song is about an older man who is infatuated with a 16-year-old girl named Christine. Rumor has it that Paul Stanley told Gene that he was working on a song called “Christine Sixteen.” Gene, loving the title, decided to beat him to it and write his own version. Simmons was and is known for copious amounts of assholery, so this isn’t surprising. What is surprising is how catchy a song it is! And since I tend to hear music first, drums second, and lyrics third, I’m able to (sort of) overlook the subject matter. At least he’s not hiding his gross intentions behind flowery metaphors.

What I learned just this week while researching the song, is that Eddie and Alex Van Halen played on the demo version of the song, which you can hear in the YouTube clip above. There’s nothing especially Van Haleny about their contribution, except maybe Eddie’s guitar solo, to my ears.

9. Sixteen — Iggy Pop

Ugh. I can’t say that Iggy Pop’s “lust for life” (in the form of 16-year-old girls) is any less problematic than Gene Simmons. As a big fan of The Stooges and much of Iggy Pop’s solo work, I struggle with this song in particular.

“Sixteen” is from his 1977 Lust For Life album — arguably Iggy’s most critically acclaimed and successful. He explores many taboo themes on the album, so one could read this obsession with a leather-booted teenage girl as one of his many expressions of lust. Perhaps the voice of a character, not necessarily Iggy himself.

I do know that Iggy acknowledges his bad behavior in his younger years and is less than enamored with how he’s acted. But I’ve found conflicting stories regarding this song and whether it’s the sexual fantasy of a 30-year-old man or perhaps told from the POV of a teenage boy.

Whatever the true background of the song, there’s no denying that it rocks with more energy than 99 percent of any other music ever made. The live 1982 concert clip above illustrates that ten-fold.

10. Sixteen Again — Buzzcocks

Buzzcocks are one of my favorite bands of all time. There’s something about their revved-up pop-punk mixed with smart, often hilarious lyrics and Pete Shelley’s unique, nasal singing style that hits all my buttons.

“Sixteen Again” is about wanting to go back to the days when life was simpler and the biggest time suck was planning where to go out with your friends. Shelley sings the song with a dollop of nostalgia, but also presents it as a warning to current sixteen-year-olds: look at me — you don’t want to end up like this.

11. Sweet Sixteen — Billy Idol

I’ve loved this Billy Idol song since I first heard it almost 40 years ago. From his 1986 album Whiplash Smile, “Sweet Sixteen” is ostensibly about Billy feeling sad to be so far away from his girlfriend, Perri Lister. If you look at the lyrics, though, they seem more dark and fatalistic.

Then I found an article at AmericanSongwriter.com that explained that the song was inspired by Billy learning about Edward Leedskalnin, a Latvian stonemason, who was engaged to marry his true love when she called the wedding off at the last minute because he was too poor. Leedskalnin later emigrated to Florida and spent the next 30 years building the Coral Castle as a testament to his lost love. He died before it was finished in the 1950s. “Sweet Sixteen” is largely about Leedskalnin’s lost love story.

You can go visit the Coral Castle in Homestead, Florida. They are closed for the next week due to Hurricane Milton, but are open 7-days a week, weather permitting.

The story of how Leedskalnin built the castle is fascinating. Click here to read a detailed account.

12. Sixteen Blue — The Replacements

Now we’ve come to perhaps my favorite song on the playlist. From my favorite album by The Replacements, Let it Be (a bold album title choice, and one I prefer to The Beatles’ classic), “Sixteen Blue” is a beautiful song that captures that tender, hormonal, exploring, confusing time most teenagers go through.

Every lyric is a gem, every line feels as relevant today as it did in the ‘80s. Here’s a standout verse:

Brag about things you don't understand
A girl and a woman, a boy and a man
Everything's sexually vague
Now you're wondering to yourself if you might be gay

Paul Westerberg’s vocals convey a feeling of understanding and empathy for kids’ struggles. “Your age is the hardest age,” he sings. “Everything drags and drags. One day, baby, maybe help you through. Sixteen blue.”

13. Sixteen — No Doubt

Listening to this banger from No Doubt’s fantastic major label debut Tragic Kingdom, brought me back to 1995, when “Just a Girl” and “Don’t Speak” were omnipresent radio staples. “Sixteen” was not as well-known, but in my opinion, just as essential.

Similar to The Replacements’ “Sixteen Blue,” “Sixteen” portrays a sympathetic view of teenage life, sharing how hard it is to navigate bodily changes, sexual feelings, powerlessness, and wanting to show the adults that you matter.

Now you're finally sixteen
And you're feelin' old
But they, they won't believe
That you got a soul
No, whoa, oh, no
'Cause you're only sixteen
And you're feeling real
But you, you can't seem to cop a feel

14. Sixteen — Le Tigre

I was familiar with some of Le Tigre’s music but had not heard their song “Sixteen” before compiling this playlist. I was taken in by the song’s groovy, dancy vibe and the fun keyboard blips and bleeps. It reminded me a bit of B52’s and Tom Tom Club.

Le Tigre was Kathleen Hanna’s follow-up band to the genre-defining Riot Grrrl band Bikini Kill. It was originally going to be a solo project called Julie Ruin, but it turned into Le Tigre instead. “Sixteen” is from their 3rd and final album, This Island, in 2004. It’s a fairly mellow track compared to the rest of the album, and according to what a poster says on SongMeanings.com (I left in spelling errors):

i saw le tigre yesterday and before this song Katleen said something along the lines of "if you havn't seen a friend for ages, or you have fallen out with someone over something stupid and you just wanna call them, but your afraid their just gonna yell at you. you should just call them. and that is what this song is called"

15. Sixteen — The Heavy

The Heavy’s sophomore album, The House the Dirt Built, was on ‘heavy’ rotation at my house in 2009. I couldn’t get enough of their contagious blend of soul, funk, blues, and fuzzy garage. I’m sure most of you have heard a song or two from it, most likely “How You Like Me Now,” or maybe “Short Change Hero.”

Sandwiched between these two hits was an equally meaty but lesser-known song called “Sixteen.” The groove is so thick on this track, my tongue got stuck to the roof of my mouth.

Sure, it borrows liberally from Screaming Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” but it emulates the classic tune in all the best ways.

16. Sixteen Saltines — Jack White

Another artist known for blending the blues, rock, garage, and funk is the one and only Jack White.

“Sixteen Saltines,” from White’s first solo album Blunderbuss (2012), is the most White Stripes-like song on the album. The simple 4-note guitar riff is an immediate earworm.

What the song is about is a bit unclear, but I think it’s about a teenage boy who has a crush on a girl who isn’t interested in him and he eats sixteen saltines as a bit of a security blanket for seeing the girl of his dreams with other boys. I dunno. That’s a general guess. But my love of the song is the sonics more than the lyrics. The way he uses space and opens it up then fills it again. It’s exciting to listen to.

Phew that was way more deep diving than I intended!

• Are any of these 16 “Sixteen” songs a favorite?

• What did I leave out that needs to be mentioned?

• Any suggestions for a future number to explore for a song playlist? I will get to 7, 8, 9, and 10 but I’m also thinking about a playlist of songs with “a thousand” and “a million.”