"There's people making babies to my music. That's nice"
About this Quote
There is swagger in Barry White's understatement, the kind that knows it doesn't have to raise its voice. "There's people making babies to my music" lands as a brag, but it sidesteps ego by swerving into deadpan: "That's nice". The comic timing matters. He names the most intimate, consequential human act, then reacts like someone complimented his new curtains. That contrast is the whole move: power presented as casual.
The intent is partly promotional and partly protective. White is acknowledging what his sound was engineered to do - slow the room down, lower defenses, make desire feel elegant instead of desperate. His bass-baritone and plush orchestration became a kind of cultural shorthand for seduction, especially in the 1970s, when "baby-making music" doubled as a joke and a permission slip. By framing it as something other people are doing, he keeps his hands clean. He isn't claiming he caused anyone's choices; he's observing his music as atmosphere, a medium.
The subtext is a wry negotiation with legacy. Artists get trapped by the uses audiences make of their work: memes, rituals, mood-setting. White accepts the stereotype without flinching, but he also upgrades it. If your songs soundtrack conception, you're not just scoring a night; you're potentially scoring a life. Saying "That's nice" is a refusal to get sentimental, yet it sneaks sentiment in through the back door - a soft acknowledgment that being the sound of other people's intimacy is a strange, intimate kind of immortality.
The intent is partly promotional and partly protective. White is acknowledging what his sound was engineered to do - slow the room down, lower defenses, make desire feel elegant instead of desperate. His bass-baritone and plush orchestration became a kind of cultural shorthand for seduction, especially in the 1970s, when "baby-making music" doubled as a joke and a permission slip. By framing it as something other people are doing, he keeps his hands clean. He isn't claiming he caused anyone's choices; he's observing his music as atmosphere, a medium.
The subtext is a wry negotiation with legacy. Artists get trapped by the uses audiences make of their work: memes, rituals, mood-setting. White accepts the stereotype without flinching, but he also upgrades it. If your songs soundtrack conception, you're not just scoring a night; you're potentially scoring a life. Saying "That's nice" is a refusal to get sentimental, yet it sneaks sentiment in through the back door - a soft acknowledgment that being the sound of other people's intimacy is a strange, intimate kind of immortality.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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