How Lovely to Be a Woman (from "Bye Bye Birdie")

When you're a skinny child of fourteen

Wired with braces from ear to ear

You doubt that you could ever be appealing

Then hallelujah, you are fifteen

And the braces disappear

And your skin is smooth and clear

And you have that happy grown-up female feeling

How lovely to be a woman

The wait was well worthwhile

How lovely to wear mascara

And smile a woman's smile

How lovely to have a figure

That's round instead of flat

Whenever you hear boys whistle

You're what they're whistling at

It's wonderful to feel

The way a woman feels

It gives you such a glow

Just to know

You're wearing lipstick and heels

How lovely to be a woman

And have one job to do

To pick out a boy and train him

And then when you are through

You've made him the man you want him to be

Life's lovely when you're a woman like me

How wonderful to know

The things a woman knows

How marvelous to wait

For a date

In simply beautiful clothes

How lovely to be a woman

And change from boys to men

To go to a fancy nightclub

And stay out after ten

How lovely to be so grown-up and free

Life's lovely when you're a woman like me