Big Star – Thirteen

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Send "Thirteen" Ringtone to Cell

Won't you let me walk you home from school
Won't you let me meet you at the pool
Maybe Friday I can
Get tickets for the dance
And I'll take you

Won't you tell your dad, get off my back
Tell him what we said 'bout 'Paint It Black'
Rock 'n Roll is here to stay
Come inside where it's okay
And I'll shake you

Won't you tell me what you're thinking of
Would you be an outlaw for my love
If it's so, well, let me know
If it's no, well, I can go
I won't make you

Send "Thirteen" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by aniota

Track duration: 02:34

"Thirteen" as written by Alex Chilton, Christopher Bell

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Thirteen song meanings
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31 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:That '70s Show. <3
    This is one of my favorite songs of all time.
    Flag thekidsarealrightx407on June 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Not that it should have anything to do with the understanding and/or enjoyment of this particular song, but in Chilton's solo work, there are several references to young girls. Por ejemplo:

    songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858802210/

    Just saying.

    Anyway, this is a lovely little song.
    Flag artsluton February 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:where is their any hint of humbert humbert type shit in the lyrics ?

    it's a song about innocent, albeit melodramatic teenage love, and that's it.
    Flag TheNipperon December 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I wrote a song for my friend called Thirteen when she was thirteen and in love with this guy who was leaving our school a few days later. She's fourteen now, and still in love, but she has never seen the guy again. I hadn't heard this song yet - mine was named after the Teenage Fanclub album which I also love. And the Teenage Fanclub album's named after this, so when I heard about this song I had to listen to it. It's lovely.
    Flag Strangleron March 25, 2009   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:man, just as i suspected

    big star are a bunch of fucking pedophiles. fucking gross. though i will admit that there are some smokin hot 13 year olds out there, a bunch of washed up old pop failures that nobody remembers hardly deserve any. like...fucking seriously...big star? hell, i don't even think sarah fucking palin listens to them. that proves how hard they fail. i hope anyone who actually doesn't think this song is about pedophilia, let alone enjoys the song gets run over by a truck full of AIDS. jesus fucking christ almighty.
    Flagged ashowofhandson October 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It sure is about young love. You can see How Big Star influenced so many, "Night Swimming" from REM would have to be an example.
    I have to say though, I love this ORIGINAL Big Star version, Elliot Smith's is great, but the harmonies on this are pretty dang good.
    Flagged pjkdogon September 29, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:This probably won't add a lot to the discussion but if the "Paint It Black" mention is a reference to the Rolling Stones song then Chilton couldn't have written it when he was 13--at least not that line--because he was born in 1950 and that song came out in 1966.
    Flag dbarker02on September 02, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:well...i just hope to weep.
    Flag sunradioon August 28, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think poeple who think this song is perverse isn't way off. True, when I first heard it, I thought it was a beautiful song about innocent love. However, in the society we live today, it's easy to assume everything is perverted. Someone can take this song and think it's about an older man trying to get with a younger girl. Maybe he is suffering from some sort of mental disorder. That's why he actually thinks he can go to a dance with her and that all she has to say is "Get off my back, dad!" I have met older guys who are completely delusional and have no sense of how society works. It's possible. However, I really thought this song was just about innocent love and I'm SO HAPPY from reading these entries from you guys, that it's about that and not some perverted insane type of thing. THANK YOU!
    Flag VenomousShallBeon May 15, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:no one really addresses the "Paint it Black" reference. "Paint it Black" is a song about a guy whose girlfriend dies and how that sends him into a deep depression. the line "tell him what we said bout 'Paint it Black'" confounded me for a while, but i think i get it now. i can imagine the two adolescents getting really melodramatic about their love and the boy saying that he'd react the same way if the girl died, and that that's how much they mean to each other. while conveying this to the dad via the song might not be the best choice, it shows how simple and naive they are, and it also reemphasizes that they are as in love with music and rock and roll as they are with each other. so amazing.
    Flag moodyzeppelin12on January 19, 2008   Link
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