Tonight was just great,
She taught us the sign for peace.
Now She's made us some popcorn,
We've turned out the lights and we're watching movies
I don't understand and she tries to explain
How a spaceship is riding through somebody's brain
And their blood and guts and oh

She's the best one that we've ever had
She sits on her hair
And she's tall as my dad
And she tie-died my shirt,
And pierced her own ear
And it's peace, man, cool, yeah, the babysitter's here

Her boyfriend is Tom but we call him the king of romance
He wears an American flag on the butt of his ripped up pants
And will they get married with kids of their own?
He says "Not if she's going to college we won't,"
And he kisses her, oh
Someday I'll have a boyfriend just like that

She's the best one that we've ever had
She sits on her hair and she's tall as my dad
And she got mad at dinner when Tom drank a beer
But peace man, cool, hey, the babysitter's here

And we all went to see her go dance at the high school
We made her a big
And she told us that she'd be the unicorn wearing the pink leotard
And there she was leaping up just like she said,
With a sparking horn coming out of her head
And she's oh...oh oh uh oh
I can't wait to give her card, I can't wait to give her the card

She's the best one

OK, so, the play was called the unicorn,
And she was the unicorn,
That means the star...was my babysitter!

But it's Saturday night,
I can't sleep, and we're watching the news
She says, "Do me a favor,
Don't go with a boy who would make you choose,"
And I don't understand, and she tries to explain
And all that mascara runs down in her pain
Cause she's leaving me, oh no

You're the best one that we've ever had
You sit on your,
And you're tall as my dad
And I'll make you a picture for college next year
So hush now, peace, man, the babysitter's here.
The best babysitter's here.

We will see the spinache.
Just sometimes, though, not all the time.


Lyrics submitted by aur0ra, edited by dartisha, Crochetchef

The Babysitter's Here Lyrics as written by Dar Williams

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

The Babysitter's Here song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    This song was my favourite song about 8 years ago when i was about 8 - the age of the girl in the song, i imagined! It got through to me cos i had a close relationship with my babysitter i think. Anyway last year I wanted to hear the song again but i couldn't find it so my Mum bought me Dar's album and I've been hooked ever since, and this song is still one of my favourites. It wasn't until this time round that I heard it that I really understood the song though. I think its about irony: the little girl has this great relationship with the babysitter and perceives the babysitter to have a great relationship with her boyfriend. When the boyfriend makes the Babysitter choose between college and him, the Babysitter gets upset and tries to explain to the girl why. The irony comes where the child has said earlier that she wants a boyfriend just like "Tom", and that she thinks that the Babysitter is upset because she's leaving to go to college and she doesn't understand that the "perfect" boyfriend has made her babysitter choose between him and going to college. The innocence Dar creates in this song is really moving and it gets to me everytime.

    mighty_mooseon June 12, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Dar has the ability to capture childhood innocence so well. The song is sad though....the babysitter has to grow up and go to college, and leave you.

    sakeboxon April 14, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i heard this song in a jewlery store in New Orleans and it struck me so much when i came home i had to find it. It's telling the story of the babysitter from the little girl's point of view. The little girl sees her babysitter in this great relationship with this wonderful guy, but what she doesnt see is that "wonderful" guy was making his girlfriend choose either him or college. the babysitter was crying because she broke up with said boyfriend to pursue what she really wanted...does that make sense? it's a really sweet song. it makes me cry like every time i hear it.

    Desaparecidaon May 12, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I'm torn. In one way I can see what Desaparecida is saying, though I have another idea. That the babysitter, though liberal, loved being innocent and babysitting with children. Her boyfriend wants her to go to college, to become one of the liberal free women that aren't little housewives. Though she really wants that old style wife's life she is so swept up by the woman's movement that she does what is supposed to be right and chooses freedom even though she still wants a family life instead.

    VampedVixenon November 07, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I see Desaparecida's point more than VampedVixen, because I think that if she wanted a family she would understand that it's possible to have an education first, while trying to be a mother and a student is near impossible.

    penguinzazon March 12, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love the way it's a sad love story without being whiny or despairing- since it's from this innocent little girl's point of view, she doesn't see how the relationship's falling apart. I think VampedVixen's got it wrong- the boyfriend doesn't want the babysitter to go to college, he wants her to get married & settle down. I will never "go with a boy who would make you choose". I want to get married and have a family, AFTER art school.

    smallboyonherbikeon February 21, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    My favorite line, and I think one of Dar's best, She says do me a favor don't go with a guy who would make you choose and I don't understand and she tries to explain And all that mascara runs down in her pain

    So perfectly captures the struggle so many people face in making decisions. You feel the tug toward the known, but want to explore and expand your horizons. I feel like 30 years ago, many people didn't see a point in a woman going to college if she was to end up a housewife anyway.

    idm13on July 14, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Dar brings a lot of humor to this live with her expression and childlike affectation.

    "I can't wait to give her the card. I can't wait to give her the card."

    Slarti42on June 25, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Here's how I see it. This girl loves her babysitter, sort of a hippy babysitter. (which is not in anyway a bad thing.) She has a boyfriend named Tom, and she thinks he is really cool too. He says they are only getting married if she stays home and doesn't go to college. So, she is faced with the choice: stay home with Tom, or be an independent woman and go to college. She decides to go to college. I love the line "And all that mascara runs down in her pain cause she's leaving me" She's crying because she thought she really loved Tom.

    225178on October 17, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Just a little comment about an allusion from the song - the movie they're [probably] watching on tv is called Fantastic Voyage, "a 1966 American science-fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby. The film is about a submarine crew who are shrunk to microscopic size and venture into the body of an injured scientist to repair damage to his brain." [source: Wikipedia]

    sharkycharmingon September 12, 2019   Link

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