More on “Somebody’s Baby”
If you grew up in the 1980s as a teenager, Fast Times at Ridgemont High was an important movie (both comedy and human drama), and this song by Jackson Browne was central to it. The song is basically about romantic affection, and I think it is used when the main character in the film has her first fling with a man. I actually wrote a poem that used some of the song’s lyrics a few years back but discarded it. “Cutting-room floor”; haha.
It came to mind because there is a long arts article about another Jackson Browne song in The Wall Street Journal recently. The song is called “Doctor My Eyes,” and it is interesting because your eyes can actually physically hurt from stress or metaphorically from what you have seen or experienced.
Here are the lyrics of the former song:
Well just look at that girl with the lights coming up in her eyes
She’s got to be somebody’s baby
She must be somebody’s baby
All the guys on the corner stand back and let her walk on by
She’s got to be somebody’s baby
She must be somebody’s baby
She’s got to be somebody’s baby ’cause she’s so fine
She’s probably somebody’s only light, gonna shine tonight
Yeah, she’s probably somebody’s baby alright
I heard her talking with a friend when she thought nobody else was around
She said she’s got to be somebody’s baby
She must be somebody’s baby
‘Cause when the cars and the signs and the streetlights light up the town
She’s got to be somebody’s baby
She must be somebody’s baby
She’s got to be somebody’s baby ’cause she’s so fine
She’s gonna be somebody’s only light, gonna shine tonight
Yeah, she’s gonna be somebody’s baby tonight
I try to shut my eyes but I can’t get her out of my sight
I know I’m gonna know her, I gotta get over my fright
Well I’m just gonna walk up to her, I’m gonna talk to her tonight
She’s gonna be somebody’s only light, gonna shine tonight
Yeah, she’s gonna be somebody’s baby tonight
She’s gonna be somebody’s only light, gonna shine tonight
Yeah, she’s gonna be somebody’s baby tonight
Well just look at that girl with the lights coming up in her eyes
Songwriters: Kortchmar Daniel, Browne Jackson