You wait, little girl, on an empty stage    For fate to turn the light on    Your life little girl is an empty page    That men will want to write on       To write on       You are sixteen going on seventeen    Baby, it's time to think    Better beware and canny and careful    Baby, you're on the brink    You are sixteen going on seventeen    Fellows will fall in line    Eager young lads and roues and cads    Offer you food and wine    Totally unprepared are you to face a world of men    Timid and shy and scared are you    Of things beyond your ken    You'll need someone older and wiser    Telling you what to do,    I am seventeen going on eighteen    I'll take care of you!       I am sixteen going seventeen    I know that I'm naive    Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet    And willingly I believe    I am sixteen going seventeen    Innocent as a rose    Bachelor dandies, drinkers of brandies    What do I know of those?    Totally unprepared am I to face a world of men    Timid and shy and scared am I    Of things beyond my ken    I need someone older and wiser    Telling me what to do,    You are seventeen going on eighteen    I'll depend on you!