This, That, and the Other

Helen Vahdati’s theme for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is “find/found.” It took me two seconds to choose the song by the Foundations, titled “Baby Now That I’ve Found You,” for my choice.

Written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod, the song, which was released in the the U.K. in the summer of 1967, and in the U.S. in December 1967, reached number 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.

When the record was first released in the U.K., there appeared to be little enthusiasm for the single until BBC’s newly founded Radio 1 began to play it. It’s a simple song about a guy pleading with his girlfriend to not leave him now that he’s found her.

The song’s co-writer, Tony Macaulay recalls, “I woke up that morning with a stinking headache and when I got to the studio and heard The Foundations, I thought they were pretty terrible. I decided my hangover was to blame, and so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. The only song I could think of was something John McLeod and I had had for some time, ‘Baby Now That I’ve Found You.’ I didn’t have a lot of faith in the song, but they recorded it with a lot of energy and I learned a lot from making that record.” It went on to become an international hit.

Here are the lyrics to the song.

Baby, (ba-da-da-da)
Now that I’ve found you,
I can’t let you go,
(Ba-da-da),
Build my world around you,
I need you so,
(Oooh)
Baby, even though,
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me,

Baby, (ba-da-da-da)
Now that I’ve found you,
I can’t let you go,
(Ba-da-da),
Build my world around you,
I need you so,
(Oooh)
Baby, even though,
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me,

Baby, baby since first we met,
I knew in this heart of mine,
(I wanna tell you)
The love we had,
Could not be bad,
I played it right,
And bide my time,

All my life I’ve waited for somebody,
To give me love like you,
Now you tell me that you wanna leave me,
(Darlin’ I just can’t let you)

Baby, (ba-da-da-da)
Now that I’ve found you,
I can’t let you go,
(Ba-da-da),
Build my world around you,
I need you so,
(Oooh)
Baby, even though,
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me,

Baby, (ba-da-da-da)
Now that I’ve found you,
I can’t let you go,
(Ba-da-da),
Build my world around you,
I need you so,
(Oooh)
Baby, even though,
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me,

All my life been looking for somebody,
To give me love like you,
Now you tell me that you wanna leave me,
(Darlin’ I just can’t let you)

Baby, (ba-da-da-da)
Now that I’ve found you,
I can’t let you go,
(Ba-da-da),
Build my world around you,
I need you so,
(Oooh)
Baby, even though,
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me,

Baby, (ba-da-da-da)
Now that I’ve found you,
I can’t let you go,
(Ba-da-da),
Build my world around you,
I need you so,
(Oooh)
Baby, even though,
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me,

Baby, (ba-da-da-da)
Now that I’ve found you,
I can’t let you go,
(Ba-da-da),
Build my world around you,
I need you so,
(Oooh)
Baby, even though,
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me,

Baby, (ba-da-da-da)
Now that I’ve found you,
I can’t let you go,
(Ba-da-da),
Build my world around you,
I need you so,
(Oooh)
Baby, even though,
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me,
[fade]