Drifters – There Goes My Baby

Sometimes I need a 1950s song, and the Drifters are a group that can give it. Some songs are timeless and could have been released at any time. Some are tied to an era. This one is, and in the best possible way. This is a transport song, a song that transports you to a certain era even if you weren’t there. Well, at least to your version of the era. These songs have cool chord structures, and many are both depressing and uplifting at the same time.

There Goes My Baby was a turning point for the Drifters and for rhythm and blues music itself. Released in 1959, the song sounded unlike anything else on the radio. The group had already enjoyed success, but this record took them in a completely new direction. It blended R&B, pop, and orchestral music in a way that was almost unheard of at the time. Today it is considered one of the most influential records of the late 1950s.

The song was written by Ben E. King along with Lover Patterson and George Treadwell. Producer Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wanted to create something different from the standard R&B records of the day. The session featured strings and a Latin-flavored rhythm. Some people in the music business thought the record sounded strange and would never become a hit. Fortunately, they were wrong. You have the great Ben E. King’s lead vocal. His voice gave the song both power and its heartbreak.

The song became a major hit and helped reshape popular music. The song reached the Top 10 and opened the door for more ambitious productions in soul and pop music. Looking back, it is easy to hear how records from the 1960s were influenced by it. More than sixty years later, it still sounds fresh. Not bad for a song that many people thought was too unusual to succeed.

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100 and #2 on the Billboard R&B Charts in 1959.

I’ve only done this once, but sometimes I run across amateurs doing a cover of a song. Rarely do I stop and think, oh I must post this. She is far from perfect in this, but she knows what the song is about. This is really a simple version, but she finds the essence of this song. You can hear cars pass by while she is doing this. It shows you how great the song is when you can express it perfectly over a lone acoustic and a voice. She goes by “Blazin’ Blair” and this was like 15 years ago. She has appeared on local tv stations where she lives. It’s lo-fi and raw, but the spirit is there. Something about it…hit me the right way…especially the intro.

There Goes My Baby

Bom-bom (do-do-do-do-do)
There she goes (do-do-do-do-do)
There she goes (do-do-do-do-do)
Bom-bom (do-do-do-do)
Bom-bom (do-do-do-do)

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?

There goes my baby (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 – (do-do-do-do-do)
Where is my baby? (Do-do-do-do-do)
I want my baby (do-do-do-do-do)
I need my baby (do-do-do-do-do)
Yeah, whoa-oh-oh

There goes my baby
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
There goes my baby