Thirteen (song)


"Thirteen" is a song by the American rock band Big Star. Rolling Stone describes it "one of rock's most beautiful celebrations of adolescence", and rated it #406 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. It was written by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell.
Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom writes in his AllMusic review of the song, "There are few songs that capture the aching innocence of adolescence as well" and calls it a "perfect melancholy ballad". The song encompasses folk and pop characteristics with its use of simple lyrics and the acoustic guitar.
The song was originally featured on the 1972 album #1 Record. It was released as a single by Big Star with “Watch the Sunrise” as the B-Side, on Ardent Records, but was mislabeled as “Don’t Lie to Me”.
"Thirteen" was featured in the finale of That '70s Show. The song was covered by Grace VanderWaal and Graham Verchere in the 2020 movie Stargirl on Disney+ with a Grace Vanderwaal only performance appearing as a bonus on the soundtrack.

Covers

"Thirteen" has been covered by several notable musicians. They include:
ArtistAlbum
Beach SlangQuiet Slang
Evan DandoLive at the Brattle Theatre
Daryll-AnnStay single
DeusSister Dew
GarbageVersion 2.0 , "Push It" single
Albert Hammond Jr.Cool For School: For the Benefit of The Lunchbox Fund
Happy FlowersLasterday I Was Been Bad
Håkan HellströmNåt gammalt, nåt nytt, nåt lånat, nåt blått
Katell KeinegAt The Mermaid Parade
Kind of Like SpittingThe Thrill of the Hunt
Mary Lou LordLive City Sounds
MagnapopMagnapop
Rose MelbergSeptember
The MenzingersCovers EP
Obadiah ParkerThe Tip Jar
Elliott SmithNew Moon
WilcoBig Star, Small World
Kathryn WilliamsRelations
Textor & RenzThe Days of Never Coming Back and Never Getting Nowhere
Yeah Yeah YeahsSpotify Singles
Joshua Radin10 Years of Mom+Pop
Grace VanderWaalStargirl Soundtrack

When asked if there was a Big Star cover he was especially fond of, lead singer Alex Chilton mentioned Garbage's version of this song.