What are the first songs that pop in your head when you think of sweet sixteen songs? For many, it’s a chance to commemorate the passage of time. For others, it might be a girl band that you loved when you were 16 and still love now.
Or maybe a song from an R&B artist from the nineties or early 2000s? Regardless of what your thoughts are, these songs represent a life-changing moment for many people and sweet sixteen is just about thirteen weeks away. Now is as good a time as any to consider what your favorite songs for this milestone birthday have been over the years.
Here are the Top sweet sixteen songs
1. Let’s Do the Time Warp Again – The Beatles
The Beatles’ third album is basically the blueprint for rock music. With its edgy sounds and dark lyrics, it’s the sound of revolution. The song is a funky, jazzy take on old-school American R&B, with innovative chords and syncopation.
It’s also a commentary about the current state of youth culture, giving teens a glimpse of what their lives were to come (and what they can still do to avoid that fate).
2. Sixteen Candles
The longest-running number one song for a female artist was never a big hit in my household, but it became really popular when I went to college in the early 1980s. In fact, I recall that one of my sorority sisters had the whole thing memorized.
The first line of the chorus is “16 candles burning and your birthday cake is ready” so it’s not hard to see why it caught on with young women looking forward to their sweet sixteen parties.
Expert Tip: However, the song is not just about the event itself. It’s also about the girl going through her teenage years before that party, feeling isolated, alone, and different from her peers. It’s a song of hope and optimism that captures the melodramatic world of teenage life well.
And it’s been covered extensively over the years, with millions of teens toasting their sweet sixteen parties with its lyrics over a decade later.
3. Starlight – The Beatles (1968)
After being named the “fifth Beatle” George Harrison became particularly associated with the “more popular” songs from the band’s career. This was one of them. It’s a simple tune about the starry night about how the moon is shining brightly and dreaming of a life in the night where everything seems better than it does here on Earth. But at least you can move your head to this song in your car and contemplate life well beyond age 16.
4. Sweet Sixteen – Paul Revere & the Raiders
This song is a little more obscure than the Beatles’ hits, it’s not one that I recall hearing in my house growing up. It was pretty popular when I was an incoming freshman at USF and I’ve always liked it. It’s a story about a girl who turns 16 and gets her first social security card, can vote, and becomes eligible for the draft.
“Sweet sixteen” is a celebration of the girl (and her family) in the lead-up to this event and what her life will be like afterward. “You’ll never know” is the chorus, which gives the song a sense of looming doom, this girl’s life is about to change forever.
5. Sweet 16 – Prince and The Revolution
This song was pretty big at the time, but it’s been all but forgotten now. It reappeared on the charts in 2005 in a remixed form but again fell into obscurity. It’s not a great tune by today’s standards, but it captures the essence of being 16.
Prince is singing about someone getting ready for her party, picking out her dress, and dancing with her boyfriend. It’s an older teen’s life, as seen through the eyes of an older brother.
6. Girl You Know It’s True – Milli Vanilli
This song is more for fun than for serious reflection. It’s a little corny, the band, who seemed to be on the cutting edge of new rock music, was singing about a girl who was “just a baby when they cut her umbilical cord.”
The lyrics were funny, though. The singer said that she looked like Shirley Temple and had “hands that just wouldn’t stop” and perhaps an obsession with playing tennis. The song was a nice, fun pop tune that many teens heard when they were 16.
7. What You Got – Meghan Trainor
This song is a pleasant, upbeat tune about doing your best to be happy and spreading the word. It’s more of a pop song than a reflection on what being a teenager is all about, but it’s still pretty good for an upbeat number about being sixteen. There are some nice guitar riffs and solid percussion under the singer’s lyrics that are really catchy.
This isn’t a song that I remember hearing at my 16th birthday party, but it was one that I heard constantly in my car around that time.
8. Wanna Be a Ballerina / Ticket to Ride – Donna Lewis
This song is for little girls who want to be ballerinas, but are too afraid to admit it. It’s a sweet, happy song about the little girl and what she wants to do with her life. The title is from the line “I want to be a ballerina and when you hear the rest of it (“Ticket to ride/To the top of the ladder/Pm gonna climb”), it sounds a lot like that aspiration.
9. 16 Going on 17 – musical Oklahoma
In musical Oklahoma, a song is sung about a girl who “must be sixteen going on seventeen.” The lyrics are cute. She’s blushing at innocent things, worrying about if she looks pretty in her dress and has just “got to have some lovin”.
Expert Tip: It’s a little bit of an older, more innocent perspective than the songs you hear on the radio today with heavily sexualized lyrics. This song is from another era. with innocence and naivete in its place.
10. Wild Horses – The Rolling Stones
This is one of the Stones’ most popular songs and has been covered by many other artists, including Blondie who released a reggae version in 1978, which was the first reggae single to reach the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Rolling Stones covered it because they were trying to capture a good, up-tempo feel for their early tunes.
They accomplished that goal and turned “Wild Horses” into a favorite teen party tune.
11. Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
This song is one of the best on this list and has been covered by other artists over the last 40 years, including Jimi Hendrix in 1970 and Beck in 1999. It’s got a lot of force behind it, the singer singing he thinks that there’s going to be trouble starting “tomorrow” because of the moon.
But even the girl who is his lover won’t be able to get through the night with him. It’s a nihilistic, cynical, and scary tune that perfectly captures teen angst in uncertain times.
12. 16 – Avril Lavigne
“16” is an upbeat song about a young girl who’s not sure about her life but doesn’t want to regret anything. It was a very catchy tune with a good guitar riff and some pop elements that came together well.
The song has been covered by artists since it was released in 2011, including a jazz version by Janine Jansen, who interpreted it as a love song to her 16-year-old daughter.
13. We Like to Party – Venga Boys
This popular dance-oriented song sets the tone for what the song is about. It’s about a life of having fun and enjoying everything that comes with it. It’s one of those songs with a simple message, but a memorable chorus, which works every time you hear it.
“We like fun, we like to party, we’re all on the same page, we’re all cool/We like to party! We like socializing! We’re going hard!”
14. I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) – Real Life
This song is a love song to distance, as the singer goes on an adventure to get away from his love. Distance is a metaphor for being alone in one’s own thoughts and not having anyone to care about. He travels around the world, but can only handle being away from her for so long.
Expert Tip: It’s an interesting song that never quite makes you feel good about all of life’s pleasures, but it’s still a fun tune regardless.
15. Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
“Good Vibrations” was written by Brian Wilson to evoke an oceanic feeling, and is one of the best songs ever written about the joys of being 16. It’s a simple tune with complex lyrics. The song is about having positive vibrations and being in love, which together make for a great life.
The singer doesn’t worry so much about money or politics, he just wants to find love and enjoy all that goes with it.
16. Come Clean – Lifehouse
This song is a reflection on the hypocrisy of life when it comes to admitting your mistakes. The singer admits that he took some drugs, but feels that he’s still going to be considered “clean.” He knows it’s not right, but he’s going to continue trying to pass by without people knowing about his secret.
There are many ideas and concepts in this song, and it has been covered by other artists for years.
17. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses
This song is about a woman who is sweet, but dangerous. It’s a great anti-establishment tune that captures the quintessential teen frustration of not being able to do what you want to do. The lyrics are simple: “I used to love her, but I had to kill her, because she started messing with another guy.
Why Sweet Sixteen Songs are popular?
Sweet Sixteen has been popular largely because they have many of the essential aspects of a good coming-of-age song. They are sung in the first-person perspective, describing life as things that appear at that age and the struggles that go with it.
The most important thing is to express the persona and emotions of a 16-year-old on a level that will be accessible to all listeners to make them care about what the subject is feeling.
They also include references to the many cliches and stereotypes that are typical of high school and coming of age. such as the prom and graduation. They tend to include a similar range of emotional expressions, such as playful innocence and the impact of sexual pheromones (although this is very rare in pop songs).
Often they discuss the confusion that can arise from adolescents’ inability to understand adolescents emotions when listening to their words. Sweet sixteen is a significant milestone in a girl’s life. Grown men are often the ones who sing to her, depicting what they would like her to know about life and love.
Some of these songs would have been sung by her mother and father when she was growing up. The songwriters themselves, whether male or female, have become somewhat of role models for a girl’s future hopes, loves, and dreams.
Conclusion
In spite of the fact that music and lyrics are often looked down upon as frivolous or a waste of time since the dawn of civilization, it has endured as the most common form of communication for all teenagers.
For those who have the ultimate goal of reaching adulthood, music can be a guide to help young people understand themselves, their culture, and their own identity. It can be used to form a bond between adolescents and adults as well.
The 16th birthday itself has been a major milestone in a young person’s life for centuries. Songs about sweet 16s have been written for as long as there has been music. The themes and expressions of this form of poetry are used to entertain, educate and enlighten others.
It is a way for people to learn from one another, and allow others to experience the joys, sorrows, trials, and tribulations of growing up.