"Sixteen Going on Seventeen" is a

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. T ...

from the 1959

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...

musical ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

''.

Background

The lyrics of the song state that Liesl is a young girl at the beginning of her womanhood, and that she can depend on Rolf for guidance, because he is a good year older. Since the comparative maturity of the two characters is the opposite of that expressed in the song, this is an example of lyrical irony. A reprise of "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" is also sung by Maria and Liesl when the Captain and Maria came back from their honeymoon and Rolf has rejected Liesl. In the stage version, there is an introduction to the reprise for Maria to sing. This quatrain was originally written as the verse intro to

Climb Ev'ry Mountain "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music.'' It is sung at the close of the first act by the Mother Abbess. It is themed as an inspirational piece, to encourage people to take every s ...

but reassigned to the Sixteen Going on Seventeen reprise later on. It was cut from the film version of ''

'', but included on reissues of the soundtrack recording. In the motion picture version, the song was filmed in and around a

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th c ...

which is still visited by hundreds of tourists each day doing "Sound of Music" tours around

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

though the gazebo interiors were filmed in Hollywood. Charmian Carr was actually 21 years old when the song was filmed.

State Farm remix

State Farm Insurance released an advertisement campaign, featuring a remix of the show tune as a rock song. It was produced by the audio production firm ''Modern Music''.

In popular culture

This song was used twice on '' Family Guy.'' The song is heard in the episode "

Family Gay "Family Gay" is the eighth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series '' Family Guy''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 8, 2009. In the episode, Peter becomes temporarily gay afte ...

" and Lois sings the song to her daughter Meg in the episode " Peter's Two Dads," trying to guess how old she is. The song was reimagined by Dawn French and

Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...

in an episode of their sketch show ''

French and Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is a ...

'' where, as one of several sketches based on the movie, the two sit in the gazebo singing the lyrics "I am French/And you are Saunders". The song was used as the outro music for "

Tea Leaves Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

," a fifth-season episode of the US television series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

''. The song was used in the 1996 British film '' Beautiful Thing''. On the second night they share a bed, Jamie kisses Ste for the first time, and the song is heard playing at the end of the scene. The song continues playing through to the following scenes. On May 4, 2000,

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus ( ; born January 13, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and producer who worked on the comedy television series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1982–1985), ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), ''The New Adventures ...

was a guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'', ending her visit on the show by performing a rendition of the song with fellow '' Seinfeld'' co-star, Jerry Seinfeld himself. A movie in 2004,

13 Going on 30 ''13 Going on 30'' (released as ''Suddenly 30'' in some countries) is a 2004 American fantasy romantic comedy film written by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith, directed by Gary Winick, and starring Jennifer Garner. It follows a 13-year-old girl in ...

, is named after this, and also includes a parody.

Seohyun Seo Ju-hyun (; born June 28, 1991), known professionally as Seohyun, is a South Korean singer, actress and songwriter. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-TTS) in August 2007, which ...

of Korean pop group Girls' Generation did a cover of it for their "Into the New World tour". It was later put on the tour album. It is a part of the play in ''

The Pacifier ''The Pacifier'' is a 2005 American family action comedy film directed by Adam Shankman, written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant and stars Vin Diesel. After a failed rescue mission, Navy SEAL Shane Wolfe is assigned as babysitter to th ...

'' (starring

Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Diesel began auditio ...

). The song is used by WGR 550 in Buffalo leading into discussions about the Bills playoff drought. The "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" scene is featured on ''

The Orville ''The Orville'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Seth MacFarlane, who also stars as series protagonist Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union's line of exploratory space vessels in the 25th century. ...

'' episode "If the Stars Should Appear" when Klyden asks to see something to make him happy in addition to eating

rocky road ice cream Rocky road ice cream is a chocolate flavored ice cream. Though there are variations from the original flavor, it traditionally comprises chocolate ice cream, nuts, and whole or diced marshmallows. History According to one source, the flavor ...

as "depression food" following an argument with Bortus.

Laibach Laibach () is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with the industrial, martial, and neo-classical genres. Formed in the mining town of Trbovlje (at the time in Yugoslavia) in 1980, Laibach represents the musical wing of the Neue ...

did a cover of the song for their "The Sound of Music" album, which was inspired by their 2015 tour in North Korea.

References

{{Authority control 1959 songs Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Songs from The Sound of Music Vocal duets