Go Away, Little Girl – Steve Lawrence | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#1); 1962
Story Behind The Song By Harris Sterling
By the early 1960s, Gerry Goffin and Carole King had established themselves as one of the leading songwriting teams of the Brill Building era. Writing for a wide range of artists, the pair consistently delivered chart success. Among their early compositions was Go Away, Little Girl.
The song was first recorded by Bobby Vee in 1961, but it was Steve Lawrence’s 1962 version that reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving him his only solo chart-topper.
Arranged by Don Costa, the recording favors orchestration and controlled phrasing over driving rhythm. Lawrence’s smooth vocal style underscores the song’s central tension.
The lyric tells of a man tempted by a younger woman but urging her to leave because he believes the relationship would be wrong. Rather than celebrating romance, the song focuses on restraint and responsibility.
Go Away, Little Girl later returned to #1 in 1971 when Donny Osmond recorded it, making it one of the few songs to top the chart with two different artists in separate decades.
This content was created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Harris Sterling. © 2026 Harris Sterling. All rights reserved.
Produced by:
Don Costa
Lyrics Written by:
Gerry Goffin
Carole King
Awards:
No major Grammy Awards were awarded for the original 1962 release. The song is recognized as one of the early #1 hits written by the Goffin and King songwriting team.
Harris Sterling
Independent music label executive Harris Sterling has worked in the music industry for most of his career.
As Executive Vice President for independent music label Madacy Entertainment, he led the strategic marketing and business development for the label, negotiating agreements with the major record labels to release custom music compilations under license with major brands, such as Ford Motor Company, Crayola, Care Bears and Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Harris also led Madacy’s strategy for the licensing of its entire music catalogue to Apple for their launch of the IPOD.
In 2011, Harris co-founded Starting Five Media, a company that specializes in recording and licensing custom renditions of popular songs as well as clearing the rights to the music composition for use by their clients in media projects.
Harris has negotiated publishing and master recording rights for many Top 40 songs for use in various media projects, TV Commercials and more.