MOG

I have tendency to go on binges with songs I like, listening to them over and over and over again for a few days and then moving on for another. (With the exception of Shiny by The Decemberists, which I will always listen to at least five times before I allow myself to proceed to the next song.) It's very rare that I binge on a song for more than a few days, which is what makes my love for B-A-B-Y so unique.

This song is spectacular. Absolutely fantastic. Carla Thomas was a teen during much of her songwriting years, which gives her tunes an innocent and pure feel to them. Listening to this one reminds me of my first real boyfriend and the flush of emotions I felt every time our hands grazed or we caught each other staring, the letters he wrote to me about how much he missed me during the days, and the frequent late-night phone calls filled with not much more than teenage poetics on what we considered love. The way Carla almost slurs some of her words together as the song intensifies is so much of what I did, stumbling over my words in an attempt to get the right ones across.

Plus, you can't help but adore a song that romanticizes feeling possessive over your new love.