bayyyY-EE-EEE behhh

Vampire Weekend, “Don’t Lie” | Modern Vampires of the City, 2013

When searching for a good “baby,” it would be tempting to jump at Vampire Weekend’s “Diane Young” and its 58 (58!) playful, exuberant, Elvis-like “babies” coupled with the romantic idea of dying young. Maybe these “babies” speak to you more because, look, this is a subjective exercise and people love what they love. There is no right kind of “baby”! 

However. It’s on the song immediately following “Diane Young,” on the band’s pulsing, joyous, melancholy third album Modern Vampires of the City, that lead vocalist Ezra Koenig makes clear: This band has juice! Third album? Still going strong? And singing an angelic, cirrus-cloud, sweet-nectar “baby” like that? 

It hits at :27 …

One look sent knees to the ground

Young bloods can't be settling down

Young hearts need the pressure to pound

So hold me close my bayyyY-EE-EEE behhh.