Baby Doe

[Image: 'Meltdown' Front Cover]

Sections:

Lyrics

Unfolding today
A miracle play
This Indiana morn

The father--he sighs
She opens her eyes
Their baby boy is born

"We don't understand
He's not like we planned"
The doctor shakes his head

"Abnormal" they cry
And so they decide
This child is better dead

I bear the blame
Believers are few
And what am I to do?

I share the shame
The cradle's below
And where is Baby Doe?

A hearing is sought
The lawyers are bought
The court won't let him eat

The papers applaud
When judges play God
This child is getting weak

They're drawing a bead
Reciting their creed
"Respect a woman's choice"

I've heard that before
How can you ignore
This baby has a voice

I bear the blame
Believers are few
And what am I to do?

I share the shame
The cradle's below
And where is Baby Doe?

Where will it end?

It's over and done
The presses have run
Some call the parents brave

Behind your disguise
Your rhetoric lies
You watched a baby starve

I bear the blame
The cradle's below
And where is baby

Recorded Appearances

Albums

Compilations

Promos

About The Song

From Interviews With Cornerstone '84 Artists, Cornerstone Magazine, Q1(?) 1984:

"My new album Meltdown is basically done along the same lines as the last one, going back to the same theme of hypocrisy. But I tried to pull myself more into this album as a whole because I don't like the idea of me just pointing the finger. In the song 'Baby Doe,' I was just as much to blame as the parents, because I wasn't doing anything about it."

From Clone Club News Flash Spring/Summer 1984, Spring/Summer 1984:

A baby was born in Bloomington, Indiana with Down's Syndrome, and despite numerous outside pleas for adoption, the parents and doctors agreed to allow Baby Doe to starve to death. I began writing this song with a sense of outrage that points a finger at those responsible and demands justice. But the more I thought about what had happened, the more I realized that I shared in the blame--that my silence had helped to clear the way for Baby Doe's suffering and death. "Baby Doe" is only a song of hope if it causes people to take a stand and say, "Never again."

From Who Does Not Want To Be a Clone?, Campus Life, January 1987:

"Baby Doe" started off as a song that kind of points a judgmental finger and asks Indiana officials, "How could you let this happen?" [referring to the newborn allowed to starve to death in a Bloomington, Indiana, hospital]. But the more I got into the story, the more I sensed a guilt we all share if we fail to take a stand on this issue. This is not a hopeful song, then, except in the sense that it might cause someone to ask, "How can we assure that this does not happen again?"

From Now The Truth Can Be Told Liner Notes & Song-By-Song Essays, Now The Truth Can Be Told Insert Booklet, August 23rd, 1994:

I must credit both the Christian philosopher Francis Shaeffer and Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff for their influence and inspiration in helping me to develop a foundational belief in the sanctity of human life. Ten years after the events described in this song occurred, the alarm they and others sounded rings prophetically true. But it continues to be drowned out by the rhetoric of "freedom of choice" and "quality of life."

A baby was born in Bloomington, Indiana with Down's Syndrome, and despite numerous outside pleas for adoption, the parents, doctors, and ultimately the courts agreed to allow Baby Doe to starve to death, right there in the hospital.

I began writing this song with the sense of outrage that fingers those responsible and demands justice. But the more I thought about what had happened, the more I realized that I shared in the blame--that my silence had helped clear the way for Baby Doe's suffering and death. Hearing this song again leaves me feeling empty and a little numb. In our democratic society, the battle for the sanctity of human life is being lost.

And when that window closes, nothing will be sacred.