Come a Little Bit Closer

"Come a Little Bit Closer" is a song by the 1960s rock and roll band Jay and the Americans. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 21, 1964, making it the band's highest-charting single.^[1] It also peaked at number 4 on the Cashbox chart and at number 1 on RPM's singles chart, whilst in Australia it peaked at 37 on the Kent Music Report. The song was their first top 5 recording in two years, since 1962's "She Cried".^[2] On the New Zealand Lever Hit Parade it peaked at #4.^[3]

B-side"Goodbye Boys, Goodbye"

Released1964

GenreRock, pop

Length2:49

Quick facts Single by Jay and the Americans, from the album ...

"Come a Little Bit Closer"
Single by Jay and the Americans
from the album Come a Little Bit Closer
B-side	"Goodbye Boys, Goodbye"
Released	1964
Genre	Rock, pop
Length	2:49
Label	United Artists
Songwriters	Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Wes Farrell
Producer	Artie Ripp
Jay and the Americans singles chronology
"Come Dance with Me" (1963) "Come a Little Bit Closer" (1964) "Let's Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key)" (1964)

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It was written by songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, as well as Wes Farrell, and became Boyce and Hart's first top 10 hit.^[4] The lyrics present a romance narrative: The narrator, an unnamed American, is visiting a café in Mexico, where a woman (also unnamed) flirts with him. He is aware that she is the girlfriend of a violent outlaw named José, but is so smitten that he cannot resist dancing with and even kissing her. Even after he hears the band mention that José is coming, he lingers with her. However, once José arrives, the narrator flees in terror. As he leaves, he overhears the woman say to José the same words she used to entice him, suggesting that she was only flirting with the narrator in order to spice up her relationship with José. The music uses a Latin rhythm to compliment the story's setting.

Jay and the Americans also recorded a Spanish version of the song.^[5]

A cover version by American country music artists Johnny Duncan and Janie Fricke was released in 1977 and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in January 1978.^[6]