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Big Star - Thirteen
(Big Star)
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 - ooh
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 now it's okay
And I'll shake you - ooh
Won't you tell me what you're thinking of
And would you be an outlaw for my love
If it's so then let me know
If it's "no", well, I can go
I won't make you - ooh
A song harkening back to the naïvete and mixed innocence of budding pubescence. It is track four on Big Star’s debut album "#1 Record". The song has been covered by Elliott Smith, Wilco, and Garbage, amongst many others. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked this song #396 out of it’s Top 500 Songs Of All Time, calling it “one of rock’s most beautiful celebrations of adolescence.” It is featured in the 2016 movie "Handsome Devil". Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom writes in his AllMusic review of the song, "There are few songs that capture the aching innocence of adolescence as well" and calls it a "perfect melancholy ballad". The song encompasses folk and pop characteristics with its use of simple lyrics and the acoustic guitar. The song was originally featured on the 1972 album "#1 Record". It was released as a single by Big Star with “Watch the Sunrise” as the B-Side, on Ardent Records, but was mislabeled as “Don’t Lie to Me”. "Thirteen" was featured in the finale of "That '70s Show". The song was covered by Grace VanderWaal and Graham Verchere in the 2020 movie "Stargirl" on Disney+ with a Grace Vanderwaal only performance appearing as a bonus on the soundtrack.
