Somebody's Baby

Album: Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack (1982)
Charted: 7
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  • Lyrics currently unavailable Writer/s: Danny Kortchmar, Jackson Browne
    Publisher: Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Comments: 14

  • Rich from NjOne of my favorite songs. Loved Jennifer Jason Leigh and Phoebe Cates and the rest of the cast. Also I frequently play the Jackson Brown video performing the song with great musicians like Russ Kunkle the drummer
  • E from Los Angeles, CaI don't know why but this tune makes me smile. Reminds me of cruising on a warm summer night with friends looking for cute girls.
  • Arran from Austin, TxThe only problem I have with this song is the line about the cars and the street lights goes absolutely nowhere and sounds like an unfinished thought.
  • Fan from OhioThis song is a absolute masterpiece. It perfectly fits the mood of the movie, the time it was released and what the culture was like in the early 80s. It was so unlike the type of music that Jackson Browne was recording that he didn’t include it on his album. If you watch the live performance on YouTube that was recorded for a TV show, you can see him even laughing during the song. The look on his face reminds me of someone who might be slightly embarrassed. That's just my opinion, I wish someone would ask him about it.

    However, it’s ironic that today in 2021 it’s still his most played record on the radio on classic hits stations, even played more than Running on Empty which also got a big push in Forrest Gump. If you asked him if he would believe that to be the case in 1982 I bet he would laugh at that notion.

    No doubt, very few songs capture the spirit of the moment in such a profound way. This song will be played for generations to come.
  • Bill from JupiterAmy Heckerling was the director of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
  • Brent from Denair, CaFast Times... an absolute Cult Classic. Everytime I hear this song and any others from the movie, I immediately go back in time to early college years and just laughing my arse off!
  • Denver from Colunbia City, InFast Times is a cult classic and KICKS BUTT. This song is awesome and fits the scene very well.
  • Brian from Boston, MaFast Times At Ridgemont High is a great movie.I always liked this song.
  • Gorchen from Philadephia, BotswanaThis song definitely moved my psyche from an equilibrium state to hester prynne type mentality. The predicate is a guidline to all things quasi-sex.
  • Eric from Philadelphia, PaThere's another way the lyrics express psychological movement: in the use of the predicate "shine." Initially it's attributed to the object of desire; the narrator assumes she'll be "shining" (as a lover) tonight -- for someone else, since he's thinking of her as the one with something to offer. As he begins to realize she's alone, he shifts to singing, "Gonna shine tonight, make her mine tonight." In other words, now he's thinking of himself as the one with something to offer, who will "shine" as a seducer and lover.

    After seeing the movie again, I'm mystified by Barry's reference to gratuitous nudity. Jennifer Jason Leigh's only nude scenes are sex scenes, integral to the story. There's nothing gratuitous about them. The song accompanies her in other scenes as well.
  • Eric from Philadelphia, Pa, PaMy interpretation of the lyrics is more positive. I think there's a clear movement from his acceptance of the conventional wisdom of "the guys on the corner" that she must be taken, to recognizing she may not be, precisely because of that common assumption which is actually a cover for the fear of rejection. In fact the beginning of the second verse sounds like she's complaining to her friend that she wants a lover but doesn't have one.

    The fact that, by developing the strength to overcome his initial pessimism, he is moving toward doing what is needed to fulfill them both, gives this song a very moral feeling for me.
  • Barry from New York, NcThis song is on the "Fast Times" soundtrack every time Jennifer Janet Leigh takes off her clothes. Somehow, I don't see an easy fit between gratuitous movie nudity and Jackson Browne music.
  • Liz from Smallville, KsI love this song.
  • Brian from Richmond , VaWhat a great song!!I love the lyrics to this song and it was perfectly used in the movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High."

    I think every guy can relate to this song. I definitely associate this song with the 1980s and adolescence.
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