Released 5 October 1992 Genre Britpop | Format 12" vinyl, CD single Label Gift | |
Recorded July–August 1992, Island Records Fallout Shelter, London and Protocol Studios, London Writer(s) Jarvis Cocker, Russell Senior, Steve Mackey, Nick Banks and Candida Doyle | ||
"Babies" is a song and single by British rock group Pulp. It was released as a single for Gift Records in 1992, and was later remixed for the Sisters EP in 1994. The remixed version is featured on the His 'n' Hers album and the original single mix on the Intro – The Gift Recordings and Hits compilations. The song failed to chart in 1992, but became a Top 20 hit when re-released in 1994, peaking at #19 on the UK Singles Chart.
Contents
In 2005, Freaky Trigger placed it at number 84 in their list of "The Top 100 Songs of All Time".
Song
Babies follows a simple "teen angst" story-song. The song's protagonist, a teenage boy, spends platonic afternoons in a female friend's room listening to her older sister and the boys she takes to her room and, presumably, has sex with but this is not enough for him and he hides in the elder sister's wardrobe and watches her with David, who works in a local garage. Unable to tell the younger sister, who appears to be the real object of his affections, for fear she will tell her mother the song's narrator listens outside as she proposes sex to a boy named Neve (The song's chorus is a proposal of sex: "I wanna take you home, I wanna give you children...".) Finally he comes "home" to the disappointment that the elder sister has moved out, presumably in an act of nostalgia he re-enters the wardrobe but falls asleep and is found by the elder sister and the two have sex, only to be caught by the younger sister, culminating in the boy making the pathetic, but seemingly genuine, excuse: "I only went with her cos she looks like you."
Jarvis Cocker discussed the song with Will Hodgkinson in the 2009 Sky Arts Jarvis Cocker: Songbook. Cocker described the genesis for the song being when Pulp's drummer Nick Banks played a few mistaken chords on the guitar, leading to some interesting sounds that Cocker then worked into a song.
The Stanhope Road referred to in the song, is located in the Intake area of Sheffield, four miles south-east of the city centre. 53°21′19.8″N 1°24′46.8″W
Video(s)
The video features the band playing (including an improvised dance from Jarvis Cocker) interspersed with clips of two sisters fooling around on a bed as well as using text to preempt certain things i.e. 'Chorus' or 'Punch Line' before Jarvis sings "I only went with her cos she looks like you" it is currently available on the Hits DVD, and was previously included on the Sorted for Films and Vids VHS. Island Records had the band make another video to promote the Sisters EP, extracts from which have been used in the stage backdrops for Pulp's 2011/2012 reunion gigs.
Track listings
All songs written and composed by Jarvis Cocker, Russell Senior, Steve Mackey, Nick Banks and Candida Doyle.
- "Babies" – 4:07
- "Styloroc (Nites of Suburbia)" – 3:13
- "Sheffield: Sex City" – 8:34
- "Babies" – 4:07
- "Styloroc (Nites of Suburbia)" – 3:13
- "Sheffield: Sex City" – 8:34
- "Sheffield: Sex City" (instrumental) – 8:33