I'll take care of you
You are sixteen going on seventeen
Baby it's time to think
You better beware be canny and careful
Baby you're on the brink
You are sixteen going on seventeen
Fellows will fall in line
Eager young lads and rogues and cads
Will offer you food and wine
Totally unprepared are you
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared are you
Of things beyond your ken
So you need someone older and wiser
Telling you what to do
I am seventeen going on eighteen
I'll take care of you
I am sixteen going on seventeen
I know that I'm naive
Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet
And willingly I believe
I am sixteen going on seventeen
Innocent as a rose
Bachelor dandies drinkers of brandies
What do I know of those
Totally unprepared am I
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared am I
Of things beyond my ken
I need someone older and wiser
Telling me what to do
You are seventeen going on eighteen
I'll depend on you
When you are sixteen going on seventeen
Waiting for life to start
Somebody kind who touches your mind
Will suddenly touch your heart
When that happens after it happens
Nothing is quite the same
Somehow you know you'll jump up and go
If ever he calls your name
And gone are your old ideas of life
The old ideas grow dim
Lo and behold you're someone's wife
And you belong to him
Now you may think this kind of adventure
Never may come to you
But darling sixteen going on seventeen
Wait a year
Or two
