As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
I like most of Billy Idol's music, but my brother had a best of CD and a few years ago was the first time I ever heard Sweet 16. I desired to share the meaning of this song and what the inspiration was, as it is a remarkable song and inspired from something which no one would have guessed.
In his 2015 autobiography, Dancing With Myself, Idol had this to say about “Sweet Sixteen”:
“Sweet Sixteen” is a heartfelt lament with a story behind it. While making Rebel Yell, I read an article about the Coral Castle in Florida, built by a man from Latvia named Edward Leedskalnin. Ed was left standing at the altar by his bride-to-be, so he split Europe for America and, after contracting tuberculosis, made his way down to the warmer climes of Homestead, Florida. It was then he that began constructing an impressive monument made out of massive limestone slabs. A nine-ton slab standing on its side acts as a revolving gate that moves with just a touch of the finger. A giant moon is a functioning rocking chair, also carved from stone. The story goes that Ed supposedly levitated the blocks into place, since no one seemed to help him do it. A truck would arrive with a slab and he would ask the driver to walk away, and when the driver returned, the slab was on the ground with no one else around. This man, with only a fourth-grade education, worked alone at night by lantern light, and stood just five feet tall, weighing only a hundred pounds. He would take people on a tour of the Coral Castle for ten and twenty-five cents, and when someone asked him why he had built it, he would simply say, “It’s for my Sweet Sixteen,” referring to his lost bride-to-be who had so heartlessly left him. It was a coral memorial to her. “Sweet Sixteen” is mine for Perri.
Perri would be the person Idol shared his early years with.
Idol has never married, but had a long-term relationship with English singer, dancer and former Hot Gossip member Perri Lister. They have a son, Willem Wolf Broad, who was born in Los Angeles in 1988
[Intro]
I'll do anything
For my sweet sixteen
And I'll do anything
For little runaway child
[Verse 1]
Gave my heart an engagement ring
She took everything
Everything I gave her
Oh, sweet sixteen
Built a moon
For a rocking chair
I never guessed it would
Rock her far from here
Oh, oh, oh, oh
[Pre-Chorus]
Someone's built a candy castle
For my sweet sixteen
Someone's built a candy brain
And filled it in
[Chorus]
Well, I'll do anything
For my sweet sixteen
Oh, I'll do anything
For little runaway child
[Verse 2]
Well, memories will burn you
Memories grow older as people can
They just get colder
Like sweet sixteen
Oh, I see it's clear
Baby, that you are
All through here
Oh, oh, oh, oh
[Pre-Chorus]
Someone's built a candy castle
For my sweet sixteen
Someone's built a candy house
To house her in
Oh oh, someone's built a candy castle
For my sweet sixteen
Someone's built a candy brain
And filled it in
[Chorus]
And I do anything
For my sweet sixteen
Oh, I do anything
For little runaway girl
[Bridge]
Yeah, sad and lonely and blue
Yeah, gettin' over you
How, how do you think it feels
Yeah, to get up in the morning, get over you
Up in the morning, get over you
Wipe away the tears, get over you, get over, get over
[Chorus]
My sweet sixteen
Oh, runaway child
Oh, sweet sixteen
Little runaway girl
[Verse 3]
Gave my heart an engagement ring
She left everything
Everything I gave her
Oh, sweet sixteen
Built a moon
For a rocking chair
I never guessed it would
Rock her far from here
Oh, oh, oh
[Pre-Chorus]
Someone's built a candy castle
For my sweet sixteen
Someone's built a candy house
To house her in
Oh, someone's built a candy castle
For my sweet sixteen
Someone's built a candy house
To house her in
[Chorus]
And I'll do anything
For my sweet sixteen
Oh, I'll do anything
For this little runaway child
Do anything
For sweet sixteen
I'll do anything
For little runaway girl
Little runaway girl
Oh, sweet sixteen
Oh, sweet sixteen
Oh
Now you know the background on this song.
Nuff Said
agtG
