Soul Coughing,was founded by vocalist and guitarist Mike Doughty (who billed himself at the time as 'M. Doughty'), a folk singer, slam poet, and music writer.
Doughty was a doorman at the old Knitting Factory on Houston Street in New York. While working there he met sampler artist Mark De Gli Antoni, upright bass player Sebastian Steinberg, drummer Yuval Gabay, and artist David Linton. Doughty convinced them to join him in forming a new band. They played their first gig, as 'M. Doughty's Soul Coughing' at the Knitting Factory on June 15, 1992, a late-Monday night slot that Doughty cadged from his boss because nobody else wanted it. In 1993, he founded a club night called SLAW at CBGB's 313 Gallery, which was meant to emulate the popular jazz and hip hop club Giant Step, but eventually became a showcase for Soul Coughing. Posters for SLAW were headlined 'Deep Slacker Jazz' (a parody of The Who's slogan 'Maximum R&B'), which became an enduring description of the band's sound.
The band was signed within a year to Warner Brothers subsidiary Slash Records, and released three albums: Ruby Vroom (1994), Irresistible Bliss (1996), and El Oso (1998). They enjoyed minor hit singles with "Circles," "Super Bon Bon," and "Screenwriter's Blues."
The band broke up in 2000, after years of feuding over songwriting credits and publishing money. Doughty continued as a solo artist, and Gabay, Steinberg, and De Gli Antoni have been involved with other projects including a trio disc sans Doughty in 2004.
I'm Living on Baby Food
Soul Coughing Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Daughter to the pop veneer
Shining like a new mint quarter
Shining like the Franklin Mint
Seedy like the lampshade quarter
Rolling with the dopes you know
Rolling with the wrong gun on you
Going down to Baltimore
Oh I miss the girl, miss the girl, miss the girl
I want to give myself to the water
Speeding to the rupture line
Rat-a-tatting boombox moocher
Darling with the boop shuh-nai
Rat-a-tatting lose your future
I dream that she aims to be the bllom upon my misery
She rocks the mop style, she needs the rest
And I know it's not the same thing
The lyrics of Soul Coughing's "I'm Living on Baby Food" are a disorienting and seemingly nonsensical stream of consciousness narrative, told from the perspective of someone who is living on the fringe of society. The opening lines describe the subject of the song as someone who is outwardly attractive and polished, but secretly seedy and compromised, like a new mint quarter with a dirty underside or a lampshade stained with secrets. The subject is also shown as someone who is familiar with the criminal and drug cultures, "rolling with the dopes you know" and "rolling with the wrong gun on you."
Despite this, there is a yearning and melancholy undercurrent to the lyrics, with the singer expressing a longing for a girl that he has lost or abandoned. The repeated line "Oh I miss the girl, miss the girl, miss the girl" highlights this sadness, as does the final lines of the song, where the singer dreams of the girl being the "bllom upon [his] misery" and needing "the rest."
Line by Line Meaning
Daughter to the pop veneer
Being a product of the superficial pop culture
Shining like a new mint quarter
Seeming new and perfect like a freshly minted coin
Shining like the Franklin Mint
Being a shiny and valuable object like a collectible coin from the Franklin Mint
Seedy like the lampshade quarter
Having an undesirable and questionable appearance like a low-quality quarter found under a lampshade
Rolling with the dopes you know
Hanging out with people who are foolish and ignorant
Rolling with the wrong gun on you
Being in the possession of the wrong weapon while being accompanied by shady individuals
Going down to Baltimore
Heading towards Baltimore, possibly with questionable intentions
Going in an off-white Honda
Traveling in a questionable-looking car
Oh I miss the girl, miss the girl, miss the girl
Expressing a longing for a specific girl
I want to give myself to the water
Desiring to submerge oneself into the water, suggesting suicidal thoughts
Speeding to the rupture line
Rushing towards a dangerous and potentially fatal action
Rat-a-tatting boombox moocher
A person who steals music from others and blasts it loudly from a boombox
Darling with the boop shuh-nai
Someone who talks in a flirtatious and coquettish matter
Rat-a-tatting lose your future
Wasting one's time and taking actions that are detrimental to one's future prospects
I dream that she aims to be the bllom upon my misery
Having a hopeful and optimistic dream that someone will bring happiness and joy to an otherwise miserable situation
She rocks the mop style, she needs the rest
Describing someone who is carefree and nonconformist, but also possibly tired and in need of rest
And I know it's not the same thing
Acknowledging that there is a difference between one's dream and reality
Writer(s): MARK DEGLIANTONI, MICHAEL DOUGHTY, SEBASTIAN STEINBERG, YUVAL GABAY
Contributed by Alexis D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@maxaronow712
THE YOUNG GUN, THE LONG ISLAND LOLITA! AMY!
@pouderbernf.u.7021
+Max Aronow search for the other version of this live ........ see my comment above
@crudecube
AMY FISHER!
@theoriginalMaxman2
I have this on vinyl believe it or not!
@JasonSanders
is it "Soil X Samples 18"?
@pouderbernf.u.7021
why does it seem that I have the best version of this ..... that is nowhere to be found anywhere else????? seriously ........ on my zune I have a version of this that has yet to be matched ..... WTF?!?!???!??!?!?!??! soul coughing live is awesome
@pouderbernf.u.7021
+Nikolas Marsh I need to have it zip filed and sent to me as I am on the road .... I believe it is on one of their compilation albums
@WiigWiig
I, too, am curious.
There doesn't seem to be a version of this track on "Live Rarities", at least not on the one on youtube.
@doctorcXanthophyll
Strangely ,when I shout "I"m living on baby food" in any setting... I get dirty looks.