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

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Todd Rundgren

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.

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."

Yacht Rock!

Yacht Rock!Song Writing

A scholarly analysis of yacht rock favorites ("Steal Away," "Baker Street"...) with a member of the leading YR cover band.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A Timeline

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A TimelineSong Writing

Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.