1974 Soft Rock Duet, One of the Era's Most Controversial Love Songs, Became a No. 1 Hit
A No. 1 hit track doesn't always come with glamour and high praise. Canadian singer Paul Anka released a 1974 chart-topping track after over a decade since his first major hit, but it wasn't well-received by fans who felt the love song was misogynistic and sexist due to its lyrics.
Anka's last major hit was in 1959 with the song "Lonely Boy" and experienced a long drought of unsuccessful releases. Fifteen years later, he released the soft rock track "(You're) Having My Baby" that was sung as a duet alongside vocalist Odia Coates. According to SongFacts, the track was never meant to be a duet, as his record label had suggested recording with Coates, as she was working with the singer at the time.
"(You're) Having My Baby" was released in late June 1974 and quickly climbed the Billboard Hot 100 charts at No. 1 and Cashbox. It landed at No. 5 on the Adult Contemporary charts and led to a follow-up single titled "One Man Woman/One Woman Man" that entered the Top 10. The soft rock track revitalized Anka's career slump, but it was also marked as one of the worst to have ever been released due to its lyrics.
Paul Anka defended his controversial love song
By the early '70s, Anka was a father to four daughters when he recorded "(You're) Having My Baby." He had gotten the inspiration while at Lake Tahoe with his family, and wrote the song about the joys of fatherhood and as an appreciation to his wife, former fashion model Anne de Zogheb. Anka has commented that the track is a "love song," but audiences didn't take it that way.
While some felt the song was overly sentimental and old-fashioned, others felt the wording was sexist and had possessive undertones. The track was released during the rise of the second wave of feminism, where the lyric "You're having my baby" was framed as pregnancy belonging to the man and not the woman.
Anka would later defend the lyrics and song title for having been a creative choice, and "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."
Further criticism also included the line " swept it from [her] life" being a euphemism for abortion, which had been recently legalized through Roe v. Wade. The singer would also come to his defense, explaining that the lyrics imply having a choice, and "there are those who can't cope, and it's not in the cards for them to have kids."
"(You're) Having My Baby" still became a No. 1 hit on the charts for three weeks, but the National Organization of Women (NOW) gave Anka the "Keep Her In Her Place" award in response to male chauvinism.
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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 3:19 PM.