The title song was written not by
John Williams but by
Don Costa, with lyrics by
Aaron Schröder and
Wally Gold. The song "Because They're Young" was released by
Duane Eddy and became one of the rare all-instrumental hits of the era, going to #4 on the American charts in the summer of 1960. The combination of
Duane Eddy's "twang" guitar style and string orchestration was a different one for Eddy and it ironically became the biggest hit of his career. His version of the title song was not the version used in the movie; an anonymous orchestra played the instrumental version over the opening credits, and
James Darren sang the vocal version. Duane Eddy and the Rebels performed "Shazam" in the movie. Darren didn't hit it big as a singer until a year and a half after this movie came out, when he hit the top 10 with "Goodbye Cruel World."
