‘Little Queenie’ is a 1959 release by the late Chuck Berry that includes several of his trademarks, including an oft-imitated opening guitar riff, some rip-snorting solos and a reference to an underage girl.
Could anybody get away with a line like “she’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen” these days? Happily, I think the answer is no.
Did Paul McCartney have that line in mind when he wrote “well, she was just seventeen, you know what I mean?” He was certainly aware of this song, as The Beatles made it a staple of their raucous early shows in Liverpool and Hamburg.
Here’s a very rough clip of The Beatles performing Little Queenie in Hamburg. Sounds like a good time.
When I saw her comin down the aisle
I got the wiggles in my knees
When she looked at me and sweetly smiled
There she is again
Standing over by the record machine
Lookin’ like a model on the cover of a magazine
She’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen
Meanwhile I was thinking …
Well if she’s in the mood
No need to break it
I got the chance, and I oughta take it
If she’ll dance, then we can make it
Come on queenie, let’s shake it
Go, go, go, little queenie
Go, go, go, little queenie
Go, go, go, little queenie
Tell me, who’s the queen
Standing over by the record machine
Lookin’ like a model on the cover of a magazine
She’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen
Meanwhile, I was still thinkin’ …
If it’s a slow song, we’ll omit it
If it’s a rocker, that’ll get it
And if it’s good, she’ll admit it
C’mon queenie, let’s get with it
Go, go, go, little queenie
Go, go, go, little queenie
Go, go, go, little queenie
In some defense of Berry, the Beatles and the many others who wrote lyrics about underaged girls, music then was very much targeted to teens with the voice of the singer essentially representing a teen voice. So, these lines become far less creepy or inappropriate if one considers the singer to be playing the role of a fellow teenager expressing interest or attraction to a young girl.