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Babies

A boy, a wardrobe and two chords: the 1992 single that was remixed for His 'n' Hers.
Pulp, from His 'n' Hers (1992)

Written by
Jarvis Cocker, Russell Senior, Steve Mackey, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle
Released
1992
Length
4:04
Album
His 'n' Hers

It was first released as a Gift single on 5 October 1992, recorded over 20 to 24 July that year at Island's Fallout Shelter in London with Ed Buller producing, and it did not chart. During a tea break Nick Banks picked up Cocker's guitar and played two chords, one of which he could not name. About twenty minutes later, he recalled, they had the whole song. Cocker called it the first proper pop song the band had written. It tells of a boy who hides in his friend's sister's wardrobe to spy on her. Cocker described it as a fairly poppy song with slightly iffy subject matter.

A remixed version went on His 'n' Hers, and the song was re-released as the lead track of The Sisters EP, which reached number 19 in the UK, then the band's highest charting release. Your Sister's Clothes, on the same EP, is a sequel. In the Guardian, Ben Hewitt called the song an awkward kind of Bildungsroman. Two videos were made, the first directed by Cocker.

More songs by Pulp

Common People, Disco 2000, Mis-Shapes, Help the Aged, This Is Hardcore

Sources

  1. Babies (song), Wikipedia
  2. His 'n' Hers, Wikipedia
  3. Pulp: Different Class (Sunday Review), Pitchfork (2016-07-03)