From Fiona Apple to Stevie Wonder: Five classic songs that were written by under-16s
Kurt Cobain once proclaimed, “The duty of youth is to challenge corruption”. The younger generation has always been the most misunderstood—even today, with copious amounts of data providing insights into what makes them tick, the mystery surrounding youth will always be intact. In the music industry, youth is generally a celebrated trait that impresses when coupled with the talent to create compelling songs and the fear that comes with early exposure to fame.
Throughout music history, many of the greatest acts of all time have started from an incredibly young age. Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles, Kate Bush, Stevie Wonder, Charli XCX, and many more all started out in their teens, proving that, for some, destiny wastes no time plucking talent out of a heady and prolific mix, while for others, timing and sheer artistic excellence has no chance in the face of public indifference.
However, for many, including Billie Eilish, who released her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? at age 17, growing up in the spotlight wasn’t all that easy. There are enough challenges to grapple with when finding your way in the world, but constantly being in the public eye enhances these difficulties and opens up a world brimming with potential scrutiny.
Nonetheless, being young, free, and incredibly talented can come with endless benefits, like being championed and celebrated for something not everybody has. Many acts that started out in their teens often look back with fondness, thankful that their stars aligned and they were given such a unique opportunity to shine without facing months or even years of tirelessly trying to “make it”. Of course, maintaining relevance after a breakthrough yields its challenges, but working hard on something for a long time before gaining anything close to substantial success can be discouraging.
Aside from the varying experiences, one aspect shines through it all: the enduring notion that youth culture, for everything it’s worth, is both the backdrop and the foundation of contemporary culture. It’s difficult to compare anything to the energetic and enthusiastic nature of growing up in your early teenage years, and the music created hand-in-hand with such a fleeting, inexplicable phenomenon often hinges on a certain vitality only created in a specific time and place.
Here are some of the most notable achievements from some of our most celebrated alternative early teenage pariahs.
Five songs written by teenagers:
‘Never Is A Promise’ – Fiona Apple
At 15, most of us become so wrapped up in the melodramatics of our own spaces that creating art out of it seems far out of reach. However, at the same age, a certain Fiona Apple was already one of the most gifted songwriters in music, the pain of high school heartbreak no match for her cut-throat lyricism.
Aside from being one of Tidal‘s standout tracks, ‘Never Is A Promise’ is deeply intimate, inspired by a boy who wronged her by showing interest in another girl. Her warning against him using words like “never” in sentences like “I’ll never leave you” allowed her to therapeutically explore the confusing, frustrating, and angering experience of being involved with someone who doesn’t stick to their word, showing that from early on, her ability to channel female-specific experiences into her writing and combine vulnerability with strength was one of her defining qualities.
‘Here Comes Your Man’ – Pixies
When Frank Black wrote ‘Here Comes Your Man’, the prospect of any forthcoming Pixies success was far out of sight. After buying his own guitar at age 11, he got to work writing songs almost immediately, the innocence of not yet hearing the edgy scrapes of Iggy Pop or Violent Femmes resulting in lighter expressions of youthful imagination, untethered by the punk influences that would later shape his style.
‘Here Comes Your Man’ was written by Black when he was around 14, and while it evidently contrasts with Pixies’ later sharper sounds, it reflects the nature of Black’s youthful romanticism as he dreams about existing in the space between adventure and danger, and the magic that can be yielded in between. It’s bouncy, lighthearted, and intellectually written, an early signifier of Black’s destined path to success.
‘Stay’ – Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs
There are many reasons why Maurice Williams was one of the greatest creative minds ever to exist, beyond just his work in soul and R&B spaces. Williams wasn’t a master of the craft solely because of his efficiency when creating timeless tunes; he also knew how to combine simplicity with emotional depth. Many of his compositions centred around universal themes and feelings, like love, heartache, and joy, but the melodies were often incredibly concise yet memorable.
‘Stay’ might have once been considered one of the shortest hits ever made, but Williams wrote the song when he was just 15 years old after trying to convince a date to stay a little longer before she had to leave to go home. Despite its brevity, ‘Stay’ catapulted Maurice Williams to fame, showcasing him as one of the world’s youngest prodigies, inspiring many others to come, including The Four Seasons and Jackson Browne.
‘The Man With the Child in His Eyes’ – Kate Bush
Through the modern standards of youth and its fickle nature, ‘The Man With the Child in His Eyes’ could be quite difficult to contend with. At 13 years old, Kate Bush became privy to the fact that inside all of the older men she came across was a younger boy, a juvenile nature that they always managed to hold on to. Although it was partially inspired by her first boyfriend, Steve Backnell, it also tapped into something much more ideological and Bush’s ability to transform general ponderings into art.
In 1978, Bush explained that the song came together fairly naturally when she approached her piano. “The piano just started speaking to me,” she said, adding, “It was a theory that I had had for a while that I just observed in most of the men that I know: the fact that they just are little boys inside and how wonderful it is that they manage to retain this magic.” The overwhelming nature of its lyrics also proves that, even in her teens, Bush was always switched on to the feelings that consumed her.
‘Uptight’ – Stevie Wonder
When an 11-year-old Stevie Wonder auditioned for Motown in 1961, the potential was one of the most exciting things in the business. Despite his age, Wonder already had a palpable soul in his voice and gifted wordplay, the kind that rarely entered the studio at that moment in time. Just three years later, to prove his transition from a youthful persona to one with more credibility, he wrote ‘Uptight (Everything’s Alright’.
The track marked a significant milestone in his career, providing insight into his growth and development as a serious artist while proving the timelessness of his talent. As his first major hit, the song also led to many other unpredictable successes, including its re-emergence in the 1970s within the northern soul scene and sparking a life-long love affair Wonder enjoyed with songwriting.
