Jailbait!
A few weeks ago, I started compiling a list of rock & roll songs that glorified the attributes and/or temptations of underage girls. My list encompasses the entire history of rock music, reaching back to the 1930's. I ended up making a 24-track mix that follows a more or less chronological exploration of the subject, and also provides a fascinating summation of popular music styles and developments. For example, most of the songs I found recorded before 1970 were fairly unabashed in regards to the speaker's/singer's feelings about "little girls." There is little, if any, guilt expressed in the lyrics or the music of the songs; in fact, these earlier songs seem to take the older man's attraction to the girl as a matter of course. The only question in these songs seems to be how or if the man will land his prize, a task largely left to the listener's imagination, due to (presumably) the broadcasting standards of the day.
After about 1970, however, the tone of most of the songs seems to shift, and though the glorification of the underage girl doesn't change much, the singer's conscience begins to be heard as well. Probably the best example of this trend can be heard in Al Green's "Take Me to the River" (later covered by Talking Heads) in which the singer feels the need for spiritual cleansing as a result of his lust for a 16-year-old. You can definitely trace the development of statutory rape laws in these songs, if only through the increasingly tormented and/or guilty feelings expressed by the singer.
As a whole, most of the lyrics to these songs seem to be delivered with a wink and a leer, despite the individual tone of the song itself. The gendered aspects of rock music have been discussed and debated for years, but the lust for young girls has proven itself to be an enduring subject for rock songs throughout the history of the genre, along with cars and drinking, to name just a few.
Anyway, here's the track list for my jailbait mix:
1. Motorhead: "Jailbait" (to get the party started, as it were)
2. Walter Davis: "Sweet Sixteen" (circa 1930s)
3. B.B. King: "Sweet Sixteen"
4. Muddy Waters: "Good Morning Little School Girl"
5. Chuck Berry: "Sweet Little Sixteen"
6. Sam Cooke: "Only Sixteen"
7. Johnny Burnette: "You're Sixteen"
8. The Crests: "16 Candles"
9. The Students: "I'm So Young" (not strictly a jailbait song, as the singer is, himself, underage)
10. Tony Bellus: "Robbin' the Cradle"
11. The Coasters: "Young Blood"
12. Chuck Berry: "Little Queenie" (Berry has a number of songs on this subject)
13. Elvis Presley: "Little Sister"
14. The Beatles: "I Saw Her Standing There"
(featuring the memorable lyric: "Well, she was just seventeen/You know what I mean")
15. The Union Gap: "Young Girl"
(marking the point in my mix where the singer's guilt is expressed)
16. Talking Heads: "Take Me to the River"
17. The Police: "Don't Stand So Close to Me"
18. Stray Cats: "(She's) Sexy & 17"
19. Spinal Tap: "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" (a brilliant parody of the subject)
20. Liz Phair: "Rock Me" (one of the few jailbait songs sung by a woman)
21. The Runaways: "Cherry Bomb"
22. Lynyrd Skynyrd: "What's Your Name"
23. The Replacements: "Sixteen Blue"
(also not strictly a jailbait song; the singer empathizes with the girl's lack of experience)
24. Steely Dan: "Hey Nineteen" (also not strictly jailbait, but the singer is middle-aged)
Other songs I thought of that I didn't put on the mix:
AC/DC: "Love at First Feel"
Billy Idol: "Cradle of Love"
Oingo Boingo: "Little Girls"
Rolling Stones: "Stray Cat Blues"
Kiss: "Christine Sixteen"
I'd love to hear from anyone who can think of other songs like these.
After about 1970, however, the tone of most of the songs seems to shift, and though the glorification of the underage girl doesn't change much, the singer's conscience begins to be heard as well. Probably the best example of this trend can be heard in Al Green's "Take Me to the River" (later covered by Talking Heads) in which the singer feels the need for spiritual cleansing as a result of his lust for a 16-year-old. You can definitely trace the development of statutory rape laws in these songs, if only through the increasingly tormented and/or guilty feelings expressed by the singer.
As a whole, most of the lyrics to these songs seem to be delivered with a wink and a leer, despite the individual tone of the song itself. The gendered aspects of rock music have been discussed and debated for years, but the lust for young girls has proven itself to be an enduring subject for rock songs throughout the history of the genre, along with cars and drinking, to name just a few.
Anyway, here's the track list for my jailbait mix:
1. Motorhead: "Jailbait" (to get the party started, as it were)
2. Walter Davis: "Sweet Sixteen" (circa 1930s)
3. B.B. King: "Sweet Sixteen"
4. Muddy Waters: "Good Morning Little School Girl"
5. Chuck Berry: "Sweet Little Sixteen"
6. Sam Cooke: "Only Sixteen"
7. Johnny Burnette: "You're Sixteen"
8. The Crests: "16 Candles"
9. The Students: "I'm So Young" (not strictly a jailbait song, as the singer is, himself, underage)
10. Tony Bellus: "Robbin' the Cradle"
11. The Coasters: "Young Blood"
12. Chuck Berry: "Little Queenie" (Berry has a number of songs on this subject)
13. Elvis Presley: "Little Sister"
14. The Beatles: "I Saw Her Standing There"
(featuring the memorable lyric: "Well, she was just seventeen/You know what I mean")
15. The Union Gap: "Young Girl"
(marking the point in my mix where the singer's guilt is expressed)
16. Talking Heads: "Take Me to the River"
17. The Police: "Don't Stand So Close to Me"
18. Stray Cats: "(She's) Sexy & 17"
19. Spinal Tap: "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" (a brilliant parody of the subject)
20. Liz Phair: "Rock Me" (one of the few jailbait songs sung by a woman)
21. The Runaways: "Cherry Bomb"
22. Lynyrd Skynyrd: "What's Your Name"
23. The Replacements: "Sixteen Blue"
(also not strictly a jailbait song; the singer empathizes with the girl's lack of experience)
24. Steely Dan: "Hey Nineteen" (also not strictly jailbait, but the singer is middle-aged)
Other songs I thought of that I didn't put on the mix:
AC/DC: "Love at First Feel"
Billy Idol: "Cradle of Love"
Oingo Boingo: "Little Girls"
Rolling Stones: "Stray Cat Blues"
Kiss: "Christine Sixteen"
I'd love to hear from anyone who can think of other songs like these.
posted by Chazzbot at 10:29 PM
7 Comments:
I can't believe Christine Sixteen (1976) didn't make the original list!
Remember the spoken part in the song when Simmons says, "I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of school that day, I knew, I knew--I've got to have you! I've got to have you [read: I've got to boink you.]"
Also, from that song, this: "She's been around, but she's young and clean. Got to have her. Can't live without her, whoa no!"
The other interesting bit about Christine Sixteen that I will add here is that it was written at the same time Gene Simmons discovered a new band called Van Halen. He wrote the song the week before he flew to LA to produce their first album. After their debut hit the market, he invited the band into his studio to record Christine Sixteen for the Love Gun album.
The other song I will mention is also by KISS (surprise), one dubbed "Goin' Blind" wherein the singer (again Simmons---again, surprise) confesses: "I'm ninety-three and you're sixteen... and I think I'm goin' blind." The song, as you may have guessed, discusses a sexual relationship between a 93 year old and a 16 year old. Creeeepy.
Check this out. Simmons on “Goin’ Blind” (recorded Summer 1974):
“I wrote Goin Blind with Stevel Coronel. Steve’s professed love for Mountain resulted in a chord pattern that sounded vaguely reminiscent of “Theme from an Imaginary Western” by Mountain, which was and continues to be one of my favorite songs…
“Goin Blind, lyrically, came from an older song I had written called “Little Lady,” a mythical story about a lady who came from the seas. [A line in the song goes, ‘Little Lady from the Land Beneath the Sea.’]
“But,” Simmons continues “with Kiss, lyrics tended to be more sexual so the song became a song about an older guy and a very young girl. In particular, while I was singing the song, Paul [Stanley] ran into the recording booth and said, ‘you should stick in I’m ninety-three and you’re sixteen.’ I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? What does that mean?’ He goes, ‘I don’t know, but it sounds cool.’ And there it sits today: I’m ninety-three and you’re sixteen.
As I was reading your list, I kept thinking about the recent Fountains of Wayne song "Stacey's Mom," which takes the concept of jailbait and turns it on its head: underage boy lusts after older woman. I wonder if there's any social commentary on this one?
Oh that's a good one. Van Halen touched on that in 1984 on their 1984 album, in fact, with their rib-tickling diddy: Hot for Teacher.
I brough my pencil, now gimme somethin' to write on, man!
You could also stick Faith No More's "Edge Of The World" (from The Real Thing) on your list. Although the song doesn't specifically mention the ages of the singer and his lover, it does contain lines such as "Hey, little girl/would you like some candy?" and "It's not the point/that I'm forty years older," and finally, "I'll do anything/for the little girlies." Plus, it's got an extra-swanky melody.
Great list. Here's a couple more:
1. Bobby Vee: "Come Back When You Grow Up"
2. ABBA: "Dancing Queen"
( "... young and sweet, only seventeen... ")
3. Sound of Music: "Sixteen Going on Seventeen"
(Not strictly jailbait as the singer is seventeen)
As a bit of a twist
4. Simon & Garfunkle: "Mrs. Robinson"
And finally, to counterbalance the tone of the compilation
5. Snow: "Legal" :)
Oh, and how could I forget:
6. Depeche Mode: "Little 15"
Winger : Seventeen
Motley Crue: All in the name of...
Deadsy : Itsy Bitsy Titsy Girl
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