Run Baby Run

Album: More Please! (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Caspar Babypants is Chris Ballew, best known as lead singer of the band Presidents Of The United States Of America. In 2009, he started the Caspar project to make music for kids and families. "Run Baby Run" is his most popular Caspar song, a huge hit with toddlers. The song is extremely simple, just repeating a few basic lines like:

    Run baby run
    Jump baby jump
    Spin baby spin
  • In a Songfacts interview with Chris Ballew, he told the "Run Baby Run" story: "When my son was little, my first wife made this song up to keep him happy in the car. If he was fussy she would sing, 'run, baby, run, run run.' He would immediately be happy and that was very dramatic and noticeable.

    That was in 1998, '99. It wasn't until almost a decade later that I really settled into making music for families, and I absolutely remembered the power of the tool that the song became - it because a useful thing. So the overarching purpose of me making music for families was to expand on that idea of making songs that weren't just funny and clever, but also parents would love them, kids would love them, and they would be useful to alleviate stress for families.

    It was a very intense, hard, writing process for that project. It was just revision after revision after revision to make something that sounds like it took me five minutes to make. But 'Run Baby Run' was an obvious song for me to go ahead and record for real."
  • This is a great live song for Caspar Babypants because he can customize the lyrics and take suggestions from the crowd. He'll often throw in the line, "poop baby poop," which gets a good laugh. He usually plays the song last because he can adjust it to hit his off time.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top Proverb

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.

Boy Bands

Boy BandsFact or Fiction

From NKOTB to 1D, how well do you know your boy bands?

Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks

Ron and Russell Mael of SparksSongwriter Interviews

The men of Sparks on their album Hippopotamus, and how Morrissey handled it when they suggested he lighten up.

George Harrison

George HarrisonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul Station

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul StationSongwriter Interviews

Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.