Hey Little Girl, by Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley and Vicki Malkin in the film Harum Scarum
Elvis Presley and Vicki Malkin performing “Hey Little Girl” in the film Harum Scarum – from YouTube

The 1965 American musical comedy film Harum Scarum, released in the United Kingdom as Harem Holiday, starred Elvis Presley. Full of orientalist clichés, it looks like a spoof of the Arabic adventure genre.

Between February 24 and 26, 1965, Elvis recorded eleven songs for the soundtrack, which was released as a LP album on November 1965. Of these songs, nine were used in the film, the remaining two being bonus tracks. Track 7 on the album, the song “Hey Little Girl” written by Joy Byers, corresponds to a scene in the film where Elvis is singing and dancing with the 9 years old actress Vicki Malkin, who plays the role of Sari.

Here is a remastered video of the scene and the song from YouTube:

An extended video of the scene with Vicki Malkin can be seen on cda.pl.

Here are the lyrics from Genius:

Hey Little Girl

Hey, little girl, you sure look cute to me
Come up a little closer so I can see
Hold it, baby, now stay right where you are
Hey, little girl, you oughta be a movie star, alright

Hey, little girl, come on and dance with me
You’re about the cutest thing I ever did see
Hey, little girl, I’d like to take you home
Come on, come on, come on, I want you for my very own
All right now

Hey, little girl, you better hang on tight
A-won’t you swing it to the left, and shake it to the right?
Hey, little girl, you know you’re looking fine
Get ready, honey, let’s go just-a one more time
All right now

Huh!
All right, all right, all right
Huh!

It has been said that Elvis was embarrassed by this scene of the film, and probably also by the lyrics of the song. Indeed, he is never smiling in the video. On the other hand, little Vicki Malkin looks absolutely delighted dancing with him.

Elvis Presley and Vicki Malkin in the film Harum Scarum
Elvis Presley and Vicki Malkin performing “Hey Little Girl” in the film Harum Scarum – from cda.pl

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