It seems to me that the fact that Jack makes a point of telling us that this girl is sixteen in the beginning of the song means that her age is relevent to their love in the sense that she is much younger than he. But he also mentions that she is "six feet tall in a crowd of teenagers comin' out of the zoo". The vibe I get is that she's noticeably different from the others in her age group, and that's why she grabs his attention from the beginning. His first intentions upon meeting her were probably to sweep her off her feet, use her and leave her, because she's naive and completely head over heels. But as he gets to know her, he begins to realize that he likes her a lot as a person, and he grows sick with guilt at the thought of what he was originally planning on doing. And though, maybe now, he could love her for her, he knows what he's doing is all wrong, and he decides to back down for her own good. And even though she'll probably be angry with him - "you'll probably call me a fool and say I'm doing exactly what a coward would do" - he knows that in the long run, it would be better for her to be upset with him for not doing anything than to break the heart of a young, innocent girl after making her believe that he could love her.
It seems to me that the fact that Jack makes a point of telling us that this girl is sixteen in the beginning of the song means that her age is relevent to their love in the sense that she is much younger than he. But he also mentions that she is "six feet tall in a crowd of teenagers comin' out of the zoo". The vibe I get is that she's noticeably different from the others in her age group, and that's why she grabs his attention from the beginning. His first intentions upon meeting her were probably to sweep her off her feet, use her and leave her, because she's naive and completely head over heels. But as he gets to know her, he begins to realize that he likes her a lot as a person, and he grows sick with guilt at the thought of what he was originally planning on doing. And though, maybe now, he could love her for her, he knows what he's doing is all wrong, and he decides to back down for her own good. And even though she'll probably be angry with him - "you'll probably call me a fool and say I'm doing exactly what a coward would do" - he knows that in the long run, it would be better for her to be upset with him for not doing anything than to break the heart of a young, innocent girl after making her believe that he could love her.
I agree with you!
I agree with you!