The song of the day today is “There Goes My Baby” by The Drifters. This melancholy ballad about a lost love laid the groundwork for much of the music produced in the second half of the 20th century.

Song Facts: 

• The Drifters were a doo-wop group that was originally formed in 1953. The group cycled through many members throughout the next decade, and one of the most successful configurations of the band included Ben E. King.
• “There Goes My Baby” was written by King, Lover Patterson, and George Treadwell for Atlantic Records.
• The B-side for this track was “Oh My Love.”
• Recorded and released in the span of 2 weeks, “There Goes My Baby” was featured on the album The Drifters’ Greatest Hits.
• Produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the song greatly relied on the string section and was a precursor to the soul music that would dominate the next decade. Legendary music producer Phil Spector was heavily influenced by the Leiber and Stoller production method.
• Rolling Stone Magazine ranked “There Goes My Baby” number 196 on its 2010 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
• Donna Summer released a cover of the song in 1984 on her album Cats Without Claws.

Lyrics:

(Musixmatch)

There goes my baby, movin’ on down the line

Wonder where, wonder where, wonder where she is bound?

I broke her heart and made her cry

Now I’m alone, so all alone

What can I do? What can I do?

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

(There goes my baby) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

(There goes my baby) Whoa-oh-oh-oh

(There she goes) Yeah! (There she goes)

I wanna know if she loved me

Did she really love me?

Was she just playing me for a fool?

I wonder why she left me

Why did she leave me so all alone

So all alone

I was gonna tell her that I loved her

And that I need her

Beside my side to be my guide

I wanna know where is my (doo-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo)

Where is my baby (doo-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo)?

I want my baby

I need my baby

Yeah, whoa-oh-oh

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh