I Got You Babe

Do you know anyone who hasn’t seen the great 1993 movie Goundhog Day starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell? Timeless! (No pun intended.)

It’s impossible not to come away from the film humming the Sonny (Bono) and Cher hit “I Got You Babe” from the soundtrack—it’s what wakes up weatherman Phil Connor (Murray) every morning, OVER and OVER and OVER!

“I Got You Babe,” written by Sonny, was the only chart-topper for the famous husband and wife act, reaching #1 in July of 1965. (The duo did have a number of other top-forty hits from 65-72 and Cher of course went on to a very successful solo career.)

Sonny and Cher met in Los Angeles when Sonny, eleven years older than the then sixteen year-old Cher, was working for legendary record producer Phil Spector in Hollywood. At first, their recording act was called “Caesar and Cleo” but they emerged on the pop scene as Sonny and Cher in 1965 with their breakout debut album, Look at Us.

Sonny and Cher were married for a number of years and co-hosted their own television show on two separate occasions during the 70s. They had one child together, Chastity.

Divorced in 1975, both Sonny and Cher remained in the spotlight. Cher, through her three-days-after-her-divorce-tabloid-fodder marriage to rocker Greg Allman (a founding member of the Allman Brothers band) and her very successful solo recording and acting career (her role in Moonstruck garnered the 1988 Academy Award for Best Actress).

Sonny Bono found new fame too as an actor and, more notably, a politician. He served as mayor of Palm Springs, California, and in 1994 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In Congress, Bono played an instrumental role in the enactment of The Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998 which, among other things, extended the claim of ownership of a copyright from life of the author plus 50 years to life of the author plus 70 years. The Act is now commonly referred to in the intellectual property arena as “The Sonny Bono Act.”

Sonny Bono died in 1998, at age 62, as a result of a skiing accident near Lake Tahoe, California.

I Got You Babe Lyrics

(Words and Music by Sonny Bono)

[CHER] They say we’re young and we don’t know
We won’t find out until we grow
[SONNY] Well I don’t know if all that’s true
‘Cause you got me, and baby I got you

[SONNY] Babe
[BOTH] I got you babe I got you babe

[CHER] They say our love won’t pay the rent
Before it’s earned, our money’s all been spent
[SONNY] I guess that’s so, we don’t have a pot
But at least I’m sure of all the things we got

[SONNY] Babe
[BOTH] I got you babe I got you babe

[SONNY] I got flowers in the spring I got you to wear my ring
[CHER] And when I’m sad, you’re a clown
And if I get scared, you’re always around
[CHER] So let them say your hair’s too long
‘Cause I don’t care, with you I can’t go wrong
[SONNY] Then put your little hand in mine
There ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb

[SONNY] Babe
[BOTH] I got you babe I got you babe

[SONNY] I got you to hold my hand
[CHER] I got you to understand
[SONNY] I got you to walk with me
[CHER] I got you to talk with me
[SONNY] I got you to kiss goodnight
[CHER] I got you to hold me tight
[SONNY] I got you, I won’t let go
[CHER] I got you to love me so

[BOTH] I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe