Little Babies Lyrics
To me this song was always about how I (being a teenage girl who loved sleater-kinney) was the little baby and sleater-kinney were like my mother who i could always depend on if i felt angry or alone! I thought it was brave of them to be so confident in their influence on us! haha!
These are two songs being sung here. The lyrics above only have the mother-figure; there's also someone talking dirty inbetween each line in the verses.
I think it's about men wanting women to be two different things in one - a caring mother and a horny lover. Those men are the little babies :-)
Carrie Brownstein said in her book this song was written for the fans about the band's relationship to their listeners. When she was younger Carrie felt she didn't fit in with her family or surroundings and constantly felt a need for more attention and validation. She wrote letters to rock stars but most didn't write back but when she wrote letters to tv soap actors they actually did and would send head shots as well which made her feel validated and alive in the world. For someone struggling to feel noticed the acknowledgement of a celebrity, however insignificant or not, is a huge gratitude. In later years Carrie said she'd felt that same hunger and need in fans to be the person on the other end, to try to help others feel validated without being completely overwhelmed by their sometimes bottomless desire. Kingliz hit the nail on the head!
great friggin song.
I read (yeah again, I know I look too dumb to figure stuff myself heh) that it's about male rock "idols" and their groupies or other girls around them. while the rockstars do their thing, they just use the girls tha come their way. it's like, how women are treated and used in the male dominant rock scene. like, women can't rock but they can take care of the rockstars which sucks.
Salvo I think you've got it. The references to cleaning, washing up are there to reinforce the traditional idea of women, which leads to the maternal 'care' and 'support' of groupies. eg: "come inside I am your shelter"
And of course, "Mother's Little Helper" was a Rolling Stones song.