In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Little Betty ate a pound of aspirin
She got them from the shelf upon the wall
Betty's mommy wasn't there to save her
She didn't hear, hear her little baby call
Dead babies can't take care of themselves
Dead babies can't take things off the shelf
Well, we didn't want you anyway
Lalala-lalalalalala-la
Daddy is an agrophile in Texas
Mommy's on the bar most every night
Little Betty's sleeping in the graveyard
Living there in burgundy and white
Dead babies can't take care of themselves
Dead babies can't take things off the shelf
Well, we didn't love you anyway
Lalala-lalalalalala-la
Goodbye little Betty
Goodbye little Betty
So long little Betty
So long little Betty
Betty, so long
Dead babies can't take care of themselves
Dead babies can't take things off the shelf
Well, we didn't need you anyway
Lalala-lalalalalala-la
Goodbye little Betty
She got them from the shelf upon the wall
Betty's mommy wasn't there to save her
She didn't hear, hear her little baby call
Dead babies can't take care of themselves
Dead babies can't take things off the shelf
Well, we didn't want you anyway
Lalala-lalalalalala-la
Daddy is an agrophile in Texas
Mommy's on the bar most every night
Little Betty's sleeping in the graveyard
Living there in burgundy and white
Dead babies can't take care of themselves
Dead babies can't take things off the shelf
Well, we didn't love you anyway
Lalala-lalalalalala-la
Goodbye little Betty
Goodbye little Betty
So long little Betty
So long little Betty
Betty, so long
Dead babies can't take care of themselves
Dead babies can't take things off the shelf
Well, we didn't need you anyway
Lalala-lalalalalala-la
Goodbye little Betty
Lyrics submitted by Funnycatchphrase
Dead Babies Lyrics as written by Alice Cooper
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I sort of wonder, and don't criticize me because I could just be overanalyzing this song, but is it possible that Betty was Steven's daughter? AC makes it clear that Steven's deeply mentally disturbed as it is, but maybe Betty's death pushed him over the edge and made him kill his wife? I don't know, just some of my thoughts. I just saw AC live a few nights ago and he was awesome!
The song was written way before Steven was.
@dixiesgreendaygrl - Alice retconned the song Steven, even prior to WTMN II. <br /> Plus- The violence of the abusive husband/significant other addressed on WTMN is separate from Steven, who killed a sibling out of psychopathy and jealousy.
This is a sobering song that makes a tragic statement about the human condition of no real love and total self-involvement. Something all too common and something which remains an ongoing tragedy even more so now years later. The baby (i.e., Betty) is a victim representation of her young parents' apathy for family, marriage, or anyone else. Ambition and personal pursuits of individual interests by her parents ultimately abandon the baby Betty to the diminished role of a worn out novelty. The baby Betty's parents later make admissions to attempt to selfishly explain away and justify in hindsight any sense of guilt and responsibility for their abandonment of the baby Betty and deny their critical role in her tragic death. The baby Betty's father is a selfish, ambitious man who abandons his family to go to Texas where he becomes a wealthy tycoon in agriculture... and despite his great wealth selfishly chooses NOT to lift a finger to help (or even acknowledge) his former family. The baby Betty's mother (left to raise a baby on her own) feels trapped and alone... with little money, she becomes a stripper to pay the bills... not so much because she lacks the qualifications to do anything else, but moreover to cure her youthful sense of isolation and insatiable need for social adventure. The baby Betty was obvious a curious toddler left on her own while her mother was likely busy in the bedroom with some man she recently met at the bar. Because baby Betty was left unsupervised, she was able to explore and ultimately discover a bottle of aspirin (which she mistook for candy) and overdosed... dying all alone. Obviously this is a song about the sad notion that even someone so precious as a small child is expendable to the selfish needs and personal interests of parents... who possess all the necessary resources, but who lack capacity and desire to give of themselves.
@DuskRider -<br /> The info on Betty's father is scant. "Agrophile" is kind of a made-up word and most definitions attributed to it could be just as easily interpreted to mean he's worm food, dead. At any rate, I highly doubt he's rich, as Betty's mom would see Betty as her meal ticket, and bleed HIM for money instead of sleazing up the local bar.<br /> Everything else you have to say is right on the nose. The Band was ahead of its time in addressing many issues.
its about parents who are too busy wasting their lives away at bars and neglect their kids, and not watch over them, its more of a statement then a shock song.
Why has no one commented on this song written about dead babies?
Ok here is a comment The first part of the song is about a little girl called Betty, who had acces to a pound of aspirin,and at them thinking it was candy,and here Mommy wasn't there to take the aspirins away and take Betty to the hospital,because she (the Mommy) was an alcoholic and had more eyes for the bottle then for her own baby girl,so Betty died,and at the end of the song,the parents have to go to court ,because they let the baby die.
does anyone know what an agrophile is? or is it just a phrase coined by cooper?
Yeah I always wondered what an agrophile is too. Great song.
Agrophile: Something which thrives or lives in cultivated soil.
Taken from dictionary.reference.com
Such a good, sad song. I almost cried the first time I heard it.