Album: Rough Mix (1977)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from Rough Mix, a collaborative album by The Who's guitarist Pete Townshend and The Faces' bassist Ronnie Lane. The LP peaked at #44 on the UK album chart and at #45 on the Billboard 200.
  • A number of famous musician colleagues appeared on the album, including one Eric Clapton, who co-penned this song with Lane and his then-wife, Kate Lambert.
  • This was written about Ronnie and Kate's babysitter, whom Lambert told Mojo magazine was "a wonderful old woman who seemed a thousand years old."
  • Here are some more songs inspired by babysitters:

    "The Babysitter's Here" by Dar Williams, (Inspired by Williams' cool babysitter, who had some issues, including a bad boyfriend.)

    "Diana" by Paul Anka. (Written by the 15-year-old Anka about his unrequited love for his sister's babysitter, who was 5 years older.)

    "Lullaby" by Nickelback (About an experience in Chad and Mike Kroeger's childhood when they found their babysitter crying her eyes out as her boyfriend had been killed in a motorcycle accident.)

    "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" by The Crystals. (Written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin after their babysitter Little Eva told them about her relationship with an abusive boyfriend who beat her almost on a regular basis. King and Goffin also wrote "The Loco-Motion" for Little Eva.)

    "You Love Me Anyway" by Sidewalk Prophets. (Inspired by an incident in singer Dave Frey's childhood when he accidentally killed his pet goldfish but told his babysitter that his friend was to blame.)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)Songwriter Interviews

Steve Cropper on the making of "In the Midnight Hour," the chicken-wire scene in The Blues Brothers, and his 2021 album, Fire It Up.

Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne

Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of WayneSongwriter Interviews

The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas songs.

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.

Steve Morse of Deep Purple

Steve Morse of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple's guitarist since 1994, Steve talks about writing songs with the band and how he puts his own spin on "Smoke On The Water."