Mommy had. A little baby.
There he is. Fast asleep.
He's just. A little plaything.
Why not. Wake him up?
Cute. Cute. Little baby.
Little pee pee. Little toes.
Now he's comin' to me.
Crawl across. The kitchen floor.

Baby, baby, please let me hold him
I want to make him stay up all night
Sister, sister, he's just a plaything
We want to make him stay up all night
Yeah we do

See him drink. From a bottle.
See him eat. From a plate.
Cute. Cute. As a button.
Don't you want to make him. Stay up late.
And we're having fun. With no money.
Little smile. On his face.
Don't cha' love. The little baby.
Don't you want to make him. Stay up late.

[Chorus:]

Here we go (all night long)
Sister, sister (all night long)
In the playpen...woo...(all night long)
Little baby goes, ha! (all night long)
I know you want to leave me...

Why don't. We pretend.
There you go. Little man.
Cute. Cute. Why not?
Late at night. Wake him up.

[Chorus]

Here we go (all night long)
Sister, sister...woo...
(with the television on)
Little baby goes...woo! (all night long)
Hey, hey, baby! (all night long)
And he looks so cute (all night long)
In his little red suit (all night long)


Lyrics submitted by majestikmoose9

Stay Up Late Lyrics as written by David Byrne Chris Frantz

Lyrics © Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Stay Up Late song meanings
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23 Comments

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  • +5
    General Comment

    This song starts out sounding really happy and cheerful, with a couple just adoring their new baby and thinking how cute he is and how you just want to wake him up and play with him but then, in the middle of all this cheeriness, comes this incredibly anguished "i know you wanna leave me" which changes the whole meaning for me. so i think its really about two people whose relationship is on the rocks and so they just desperately focus on the baby, which may even be the thing that has come between them. the lyrics even say "why dont we pretend", so they're just pretending everything is hunky dory. the reference to money could be ironic, and a clue to some of their misery

    spiegelon May 09, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Some of the lyrics are wrong. It should be: "Little pee-pee, Little toes" Not Little feet-feet. That don't make sense.

    jugheadchadon August 19, 2007   Link
  • +2
    My Opinion

    I've found that phrase, "I know you want to leave me" thrown off-hand into the lyrics to be chilling; and definitely changes the flavor of the entire song. It makes an upbeat, fun tune now full of menace.

    After that line, the previous statements can be re-interpreted as full of contempt. The fact we're going to "make the baby" instead of "let the baby" stay up all night is another tip-off that something's not right.

    It's brilliant - and kinda creepy. Definitely David Byrne material.

    tranquilyzon January 12, 2015   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this is hilarious! just heard it..

    just the joy of having a baby around, they are pretty unique things..

    tigersroamfreeon December 11, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Children are enthralled with their new baby sibling -- oh, how cute and innocent

    CuteSparkinaon April 11, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Way to interpret a song! There is definitely something in there about using another person for amusement instead of looking out for his needs (just a hint of cruelty), and the man-woman metaphor is not a bad theory.

    ShineYouDiamondon August 01, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Over the years I always loved this song, but it did seem a little hard to figure out, in terms of meaning... it is like other songs, where they have been deliberately short on details so that the song would work more on feeling and just be fun without being too overburdened... I understand on a personal level, looking at the lyrics now. I think it's a song about how certain parts of life can be really trying on average people, but oftentimes when things just get really into stress overload, they just have this ability to change gears and make light of it all... make it fun. That's what this song's about for me. It's both celebrating and advising people to just let off the steam when it gets really bad.... Why not? Just wake the baby up in the middle of the night (it's typically the other way around, right?) and start a little mini-party? Sounds nuts but he's really insightful here about how in pointing to the way we can get a little nuts in order to deal with life's complex difficulties... and just celebrate what's good... just being alive. David Byrne is really optimistic, even when he gets introspective or a bit depressed. I'm a huge fan.

    caucasianon February 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    What is this about?!

    Saynaon March 13, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I thought that songs about babies were quirky enough. Typcial that I found out Talking Heads did a song about babies, how typical.

    Nice bassline, though.

    bkat004on May 31, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    every time i hear this song it remins me of BABYS!!!

    BurtonRockson January 02, 2007   Link

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