but I am pretty sure he is using his ringed middle finger this morning when he hears about this.

And it was written by the Sherman brothers. Still, since Johnny was 26 and the brothers were in their 30's, it's creepy anyway even though it was clearly written from the POV of a young boy.

That would be all, but it makes me think, among Beatles tracks alone (Ringo's wasn't a Lennon/McCartney song):

Hello, Little Girl

I Saw Her Standing There ("She was just 17 / You know what I mean?" )

The list could go on.

You could try to excuse some of those Beatles' lyrics on the basis they were barely out of their teens themselves (I'm not getting into some of Lennon's mid-period songs, which could be beyond dark and/or ambiguous in terms of sexual politics at times), writing for a teen market, but they've raised an eyebrow or two of mine, and they're not something I'd ever considering performing myself in a pub or whatever.

Let's not get into Ted Nugent's oeuvre, among many others.

Quite what this has to do with mall-stalking and all the rest of the Moore allegations, I've no idea. Excellent beat-back from the anchor.

Was written by McCartney when he was just 20 and was based off of an old English Folk song, Seventeen Come Sunday.

It was written for a very young audience (They Beatles audience at the time were teens to people in their early 20's).

L-

But it's the "You know what I mean?" (quite likely a throwaway line, for the rhyme) that gives me pause on that one. (Erm, what do you mean?! Oh, never mind. I'll just never sing it myself.)

There's a whole genre of paeans to young female beauty among the folk/trad canon (e.g. "When You Were Sweet Sixteen" - though the implication there is that both were of similar age).

But that's a pop song during a period when they churning them out by the dozen, and doesn't warrant close scrutiny! Nor does the Starr cover, with its context (Ringo loved his oldies).

I certainly wouldn't cite it in defense of an obsession with specifically young women! What next? Gary Glitter? - "Oh, the kids loved him back."

She was just Seventeen/Never been a Beauty Queen...

Lennon thought that sort of sucked and gave a throw away line in the recording studio which was what they recorded.

Ringo and Lennon both recorded albums in the 70's of music from their youth, mostly because they were reminiscing about when playing rock and roll music was just fun. It was just nostalgia to them.

And I think there is a huge difference between people who sing to/about a teenage audience about teenage things, than people who actively try and prey on them like Gary Glitter and Roy Moore.

L-

There quite possibly was a leer behind the "know what I mean?" The Beatles were teen focuses for all the (sometimes confused) feelings about sexuality and love that go along with that age.

Like I said, it's a doggerel song lyric and doesn't bear close scrutiny (though the rest of the song talks about dancing and falling in love and is actually nothing but respectful).

In terms of Glitter, I was thinking of lyrics like "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" (and later in the song, "Do you wanna touch me there?" - not much left to the imagination, really). Since Glitter was no youth even in 1973, given the average age of his audience, it was dodgy even before his record with young women was made public (and shamefully widely known before then - the UK's Top of the Pops show ended up being a hotbed).

Whatever, this is an interesting discussion to me, but we're veering off topic quite a bit, and the anchor's reaction to this ridiculous excuse for Moore's behavior above was spontaneous and great.

Hello, Little Girl was written long before they were famous and when they were early or mid teenagers. I saw her standing there was released when Paul McCartney was 20 years old - so he was at most 3 years older than the girl referenced. (In fact, Jane Asher who was shortly after this to become his girlfriend was three years younger.) In addition, the lyrics themselves were such that an innocent 13 year old (as I was) would not find either the least bit intimidating or threatening. (Far different than what was on the radio when my daughters were in their preteen years!) I do get why you would not feel comfortable singing either.

If you want an early years song that IS a problem - Run for your life - might be a better choice, even though age is not mentioned.

"I'm not getting into some of Lennon's mid-period songs, which could be beyond dark and/or ambiguous in terms of sexual politics at times"

Norwegian Wood's a fantastic song on many levels, and I do play and sing that one sometimes, but as an experiment in narrative and revenge (in one interpretation - Lennon was a master of ambiguity later on) and stretching beyond the simple love songs that were so mainstream, it's well dark - as are many folks songs, to the degree of describing actual murder for jealousy or whatever.

All you say is true and interesting, but I've unintentionally sidetracked us bit from the OP - one wonders what next they'll come up with in their flailing desperate defenses was my main point, if I had one.

I hope they always get as much instant "you can't be serious/what sort of idiots do you take us for?" pushback as this anchor dished out!

In the UK, it's been 16 for heterosexual relationships since 1885, when it was raised from 13.

Two people associated with Disney... My guess is it was written with a Teenager audience in mind.

The Breitbart person has a rather sick mind.

L-

"Young Girl, get out of my mind; my love for you is way out of line..."

Guy then tried to say that it's harder to raise boys because they might be accused of things.

"Go Away Little Girl".

Instead, he made sexual advances with a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD girl.

FFS, this line of defense should be the death knell of his campaign. Instead, the incessant brainwashing of rural Americans has cast this vote in doubt.