"When You Were Sweet Sixteen" is a popular song. It was written by James Thornton. The song was published in 1898. Its chorus:
- I love you as I never lov'd before,
- Since first I met you on the village green.
- Come to me, e'er my dream of love is o'er.
- I love you as I lov'd you
- When you were sweet, when you were sweet sixteen.
The song was inspired by Thornton's wife, Bonnie, when she asked her husband if he still loved her. Thornton replied, "I love you like I did when you were sweet sixteen."
The original sheet music attributed Bonnie Thornton, Raymon Moore, Helene Mora, and others as having sung the song with "great success"; however, the song has been recorded by many artists. One of the best-known versions of the song was made by Al Jolson in 1929. In 1938, it occurred in the movie Little Miss Broadway with a short solo by Shirley Temple. In 1946 it appeared in the film The Jolson Story, where Al Jolson was his own voice-double for actor Larry Parks. The song was changed to a different format and became the version that most people remember. The song was then recorded by Perry Como in 1947 and was a hit.
Famous quotes containing the words sweet and/or sixteen:
“It takes twenty or so years before a mother can know with any certainty how effective her theories have been—and even then there are surprises. The daily newspapers raise the most frightening questions of all for a mother of sons: Could my once sweet babes ever become violent men? Are my sons really who I think they are?”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“The Reverend Samuel Peters ... exaggerated the Blue Laws, but they did include “Capital Lawes” providing a death penalty for any child over sixteen who was found guilty of cursing or striking his natural parents; a death penalty for an incorrigible son; a law forbidding smoking except in a room in a private house; another law declaring smoking illegal except on a journey five miles away from home,...”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)