It is a midtempo, doo-wop-influenced pop ballad that garnered comparisons to Mars's "It Will Rain" and Lana Del Rey's music.

Commercially, "Young Girls" charted in some countries, along with the released of its parent album, such as South Korea, where it reached number one, United Kingdom and Canada.

"[2] Mars stated that he felt like "an old blues man" when writing the song, and wanted to re-create the sentiment when some young girls were giving him the "runaround".

[1] A demo of the song, only featuring the vocals and an acoustic guitar, was exclusively released as bonus track on the Target edition of the album, on December 11, 2012.

[6][9] "Young Girls" was first performed on Saturday Night Live and was released as the first promotional single taken from Unorthodox Jukebox, on November 6, 2012, on iTunes.

[11] However, a week later, while performing "When I Was Your Man" on the third-season finale of The Voice, he announced that the track played would be the second official single from the album.

[17][18][19] The "pop anthem" is also influenced by a groove from Mars's debut studio album, noticeable on the backing vocals,[20] and it contains elements of "the shaded earnestness" found in "It Will Rain".

[19] The music progresses with a "thumping martial beat" on the percussion of the "heavy drums", reminding "Phil Spector –esque tom-toms", and they "counterpoint to the ascendant melody" with "bits of electro" fading in the background.

[22][23][24][25] The chorus would fit in a "60's girl group" due to the join forces of Mars's "retro crooner sensibilities with modern sonic flourishes".

[22] Carl Williot of Idolator noted that the "delicate but dynamic production" on "Young Girls" is reminiscent of Lana Del Rey.

[21] It begins with the singer "dumbly" trying to get noticed by "these bright-eyed honeys",[23] since he can't help to fall for their "dubious charms", despite "recognizing [the] sin while indulging in it".

[20][26] The song's lyrics are in the same vein as Gary Puckett & The Union Gap's "Young Girl" and The Knack's "My Sharona" as pointed out by HitFix's Melinda Newman.

After its premiere during Mars's performance on Saturday Night Live, it became available as a studio version with Chris Martins of Spin labeling it an "epic studio-recorded glory".

On a more thorough review, Idolator's Carl Williott found the production "dynamic" comparing it to compositions by Lana Del Rey and while "the pre-chorus could be from a 60's girl group", the "percussion and electro flitting in the background" is what makes pop music nowadays.

[10][22] HitFix's critic Melinda Newman gave the track a B− rating, praising the melody and Mars's vocal delivery, writing "he makes it all sound so sweet, and as if he really is tortured by these young girls", but ultimately calling the lyrics "a little skeevy".

[24] On mixed review, Andy Gill of The Independent, while describing Mars's "impassioned shame" on the lyrics called the track "enjoyable".

[23] The lyrics have not gone undecided for PopMatters' Matt Cibula who named them a "classic lament" and added "is as widescreen and wide-open as things get these days".

[20] On the other hand, Paste's Ryan Reed criticized Mars's for playing safe on "Young Girls", unlike most of the other tracks on the album.

[53] It was also covered by Chris Jamison and Jonathan Wyndham during their Battle Round in the seventh season of The Voice and was made available for purchase on October 13, 2014.