Run Baby Run

Album: More Please! (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Caspar Babypants is Chris Ballew, best known as lead singer of the band Presidents Of The United States Of America. In 2009, he started the Caspar project to make music for kids and families. "Run Baby Run" is his most popular Caspar song, a huge hit with toddlers. The song is extremely simple, just repeating a few basic lines like:

    Run baby run
    Jump baby jump
    Spin baby spin
  • In a Songfacts interview with Chris Ballew, he told the "Run Baby Run" story: "When my son was little, my first wife made this song up to keep him happy in the car. If he was fussy she would sing, 'run, baby, run, run run.' He would immediately be happy and that was very dramatic and noticeable.

    That was in 1998, '99. It wasn't until almost a decade later that I really settled into making music for families, and I absolutely remembered the power of the tool that the song became - it because a useful thing. So the overarching purpose of me making music for families was to expand on that idea of making songs that weren't just funny and clever, but also parents would love them, kids would love them, and they would be useful to alleviate stress for families.

    It was a very intense, hard, writing process for that project. It was just revision after revision after revision to make something that sounds like it took me five minutes to make. But 'Run Baby Run' was an obvious song for me to go ahead and record for real."
  • This is a great live song for Caspar Babypants because he can customize the lyrics and take suggestions from the crowd. He'll often throw in the line, "poop baby poop," which gets a good laugh. He usually plays the song last because he can adjust it to hit his off time.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Graduation Songs

Graduation SongsFact or Fiction

Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?

Gary Brooker of Procol Harum

Gary Brooker of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer and pianist for Procol Harum, Gary talks about finding the musical ideas to match the words.

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")Song Writing

Nick made some of the biggest videos on MTV, including "The Final Countdown," "Heaven" and "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)."

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Matt Sorum

Matt SorumSongwriter Interviews

When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."