"Young Girl" is a

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million-selling Gold-certified single that was written, composed, and produced by

Jerry Fuller Jerry Fuller (born November 19, 1938) is an American songwriter, singer and record producer. Biography Jerry Fuller was born in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, to a musical family. He and his brother Bill performed as a duo in their home state ...

and performed by

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (initially credited as The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett) was an American pop rock group active in the late 1960s. The group, formed by Gary Puckett, Gary "Mutha" Withem, Dwight Bement, Kerry Chater and Paul Wheat ...

with instrumental backing by members of " The Wrecking Crew." It was released in 1968. People also say that it is a song about making the best time out of a broken heart. The song hit No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks, stuck behind "

(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. Th ...

" by

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

for the first week and "

Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

" by

Bobby Goldsboro Robert Charles Goldsboro (born January 18, 1941) is an American pop and country singer and songwriter. He had a string of pop and country hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature No. 1 hit "Honey", which sold over 1 million copies in ...

for the remaining two. It also hit No. 1 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and the US ''

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'' listing. It reached No. 34 on the US Easy Listening. It reached No. 2 in South Africa. In the UK, "Young Girl" was re-released in 1974 as part of a

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

series entitled "Hall of Fame Hits", and enjoyed a second UK chart run, peaking at No. 6.

Lyrics

The song is sung from the point of view of a man who has become distressed upon finding out that the girl he is with, contrary to the first impression she had made upon him, is actually younger than the legal

age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...

. He is asking her to leave before things go any further: "Get out of here / before I have the time / to change my mind / 'cause I'm afraid we'll go too far."

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Gary Puckett & The Union Gap songs 1968 singles 1974 singles Gary Puckett & The Union Gap songs Gary Lewis & the Playboys songs Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Columbia Records singles Sexuality and age in fiction Songs about teenagers 1968 songs Songs written by Jerry Fuller Song recordings produced by Jerry Fuller