The B-52's

Released: April 27, 1983

Songwriter: The B-52's

Producer: Steven Stanley

Yeah, if you go down to Athens, G-A
And you're driving in your car
You won't get very far before
You hear people shoutin' out!
What's that?
Butterbean! Yeah!
Gramps and grannies
Kids in their teens
Junkyard dogs and campus queens
Yeah, everybody likes butterbeans

Don't you wait, don't you linger
Butterbean don't slip through my fingers

Pass me plate full, I'll be grateful
1-2-3-4
Pick 'em, hull 'em, put on the steam
That's how we fix butterbeans
(Fix 'em hot hot hot)
(Yeah, make 'em jump outta the pot)

Come here you little butterbean you come on!
Butterbean-butterbean
Butterbean-butterbean
Butterbean-butterbean
Butterbean-butterbean
Butterbean grows on the vine

Some people are fat, some people are lean
But I want you to show me the person
Who doesn't like butterbeans
Yay!

Well, you can have your yams
You can have your collard greens
But if you want to please little ol' me
You better fix butterbeans

Don't you wait, don't you linger
Butterbean don't slip through my fingers

Pick 'em, hull 'em, put on the steam
That's how we fix butterbeans
(Fix 'em hot hot hot)
(Yeah, make 'em jump outta the pot)
Fix 'em for me now

The B-52’s, (now stylized as The B-52s) are an internationally successful New Wave band also known for their campy fashion. The group’s original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, Cindy Wilson and Ricky Wilson. Originally, all members of the band played multiple instruments. However, after Ricky Wilson’s tragic AIDS-related death in 1985, instead of hiring a full-time replacement, Strickland transitioned to primarily playing guitar, and the band has used various other musicians for recording and touring purposes.

Their self-titled first album The B-52’s was released to critical acclaim in 1979, spawning the Canadian chart-topping hit “Rock Lobster”, which was also successful in Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK. Rolling Stone magazine later placed the album at #152 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Their second album, Wild Planet, released in 1980, spawned another minor US hit with “Private Idaho”. Whammy! followed in 1983, giving the band a third minor US hit with “Legal Tender”. Their fourth album, Bouncing Off the Satellites, was recorded and mixed but not yet released when Ricky Wilson died in October 1985. It was nearly a year before the album was released, in September 1986. It is the band’s only album that does not feature a picture of its members on the cover.

more tracks from the album

Whammy!

From the album

Whammy! (1983)

The B-52's popular songs

ButterbeanThe B-52's

The B-52's

Whammy!