Song History
Anka—whose last chart-topping hit had been 1959's "Lonely Boy"—had written the song for his wife and their four daughters while appearing at Lake Tahoe. Originally, the song was to be a solo effort by Anka. But the unknown Coates, whom Anka had met while on tour, was at the studio during the recording session. Upon suggestion by United Artists recording executive Bob Skaff, the song became a duet. Released in late June 1974, the mellow-sounding "(You're) Having My Baby" quickly climbed the chart and became Anka's third No. 1 song. A follow-up single—"One Man Woman/One Woman Man"—reached the Top 10 in early 1975.
The song gained criticism for its chauvinistic undertones. Among other issues, the song was criticized for declaring the child was the man's, rather than the couple's. Anka defended his linguistic choice in a 1974 interview, saying, "it's not meant to alienate anyone. I could have called it 'having our baby', but the other just sounded better. It's not a male ego trip—'my baby.' It's not that at all." However, Anka did sometimes sing the line as "you're having our baby" while performing in concert. While reviewing a 2005 concert, Dan MacIntosh of Popmatters noted that while Anka had "covered most of his career highlights", he had "wisely neglected to include 'You're Having My Baby.'" Others criticized a line stating that while the woman could have "swept it from life", she had not because it was "a wonderful way of showing how much she loves him". In response to feminists, Anka said the song was "a love song". He also explained in 1974, "what I'm saying in the song is that there is a choice. The libbers will get on me; I can't help that. I am into the antihuman thing, and I do understand the other side of it. There are those who can't cope, and it's not in the cards for them to have kids. I'm a libber myself, in the sense that ... if you've got to abort, you do. Some people just can't cope."
The National Organization for Women gave Anka the satiric "Keep Her in Her Place" award during "its annual putdown of male chauvinism" in the media on Women's Equality Day. Ms. magazine "awarded" Anka their "Male Chauvinistic Pig of the Year" award.
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