Sunday, October 18, 2009

Chuck Berry - Oh Baby Doll

I recently decided that Chuck Berry is a better songwriter than Bruce Springsteen, but don't have the space here to show my mathematical proof for why that's so. But I will point out that "Oh Baby Doll" is a good example of what sort of songwriter Berry is: a storyteller, with a sharp eye for the telling detail. Plus an eye for the audience -- the song was aimed at, and so is about, high-school students. There's also a topical allusion to the movie Baby Doll, the only Tennessee Williams work to have given a name to a type of negligee.

Happy birthday, Chuck.

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