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TL;DR:

  • Ringo Starr’s “You’re Sixteen” came out when the former Beatle was 33 years old.
  • The tune’s lyrics are terrible and it sounds terrible.
  • The track still became a top 10 hit in the United States and the United Kingdom.
"You're Sixteen" singer Ringo Starr in a suit
Ringo Starr | John Pratt / Stringer

Ringo Starr‘s “You’re Sixteen” is one of his most famous classic rock songs. Despite this, it’s also awful in more ways than one. The tune still became a massive hit.

Ringo Starr’s ‘You’re Sixteen’ is questionable like The Beatles’ ‘I Saw Her Standing There’

There’s nothing wrong with writing love songs about teenagers as long as you yourself are a teenager. Even then, you should not sing romantic lyrics about anyone too much younger than yourself. Ringo broke all these rules when he performed “You’re Sixteen” when he was 33.

The lyrics of the song are just gross. The age gap is bad enough, but making it the entire focus of the song is just disgusting. “You’re Sixteen” is one of many classic rock songs that has not aged very well, and should not have become a hit in the first place. The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” has the same problem, as it sexualizes a teenage girl as well. However, Paul McCartney was considerably younger when he performed “I Saw Her Standing There” than Ringo was when he performed “You’re Sixteen.”

Ringo Starr did not seem to put much work into the beat of the tune

Even if “You’re Sixteen” was about something good, it would still be a terrible song. The beat is atrocious. It sounds like a zombie attempt to recreate the late 1950s/early 1960s sound that The Beatles swept away. The original version of the song by Johnny Burnette sounds so much better. The faux-kazoo solo Paul added is an earsore. It sounds like a goofy sound effect from Sesame Street.

Unlike most pop songs, “You’re Sixteen” doesn’t even make it to the 3-minute mark. Of course, there are some great songs that are very short, like a lot of the early Elvis Presley canon. In the case of “You’re Sixteen,” it feels like the tune is so short because Ringo and his team were worried it might overstay its welcome if it went on for the length of a normal song.

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How ‘You’re Sixteen’ performed in the United States and the United Kingdom

“You’re Sixteen” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week. It was Ringo’s final song to do so. The tune lasted on the chart for a total of 15 weeks. The track appeared on the album Ringo, which became one of the most famous albums of the former Beatle’s career. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 37 weeks.

According to The Official Charts Company, “You’re Sixteen” reached No. 4 in the United Kingdom and stayed on the chart for 10 weeks. On the other hand, Ringo hit No. 7 in the U.K. and lasted on the chart for 20 weeks.

“You’re Sixteen” is disgusting and it’s good that it’s fading from radio.

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