Oh Baby

I just discovered this song. Strangely, it took me 2 years. It hits me hard right now, so my interpretation could be slightly skewed.

To me, it's about two very close friends, who have come to love each other as more than friends. At least he definitely loves her as more than a friend, and knows she feels very strongly about him. She is in a long-term meaningful relationship, which she is committed to and must see through till the end. He knows and respects that. He wants to be, and in fact IS, there for her as she is going through a turbulent/tumultuous period in her life.

Sometimes they are able to spend time together, but must be discreet. They are sometimes able to embrace, but those moments are fleeting.

He's willing to wait, as he is certain he has found, in her, one of his few people on this planet. He is willing to wait patiently, and dreams about being able to spend more time with her some day.

Part of him wants to know if he is waiting in vain. One way or another, he wants to be woken from his lovesick patient dream. He wants to know if it can ever happen, or if he should do what he can to move on.

She always ends up having to go back home. He continues to wait, but in the end, manages to find a way to let her know that he is still, and will always be, there for her.

To me this is a duet between the protagonist (an addict) and his lover (real or imaginary).

"Oh baby Oh baby You're having a bad dream Here in my arms

Oh sugar You came to me Could all be a bad thing Doing harm "

This is the lover speaking. She's cradling the protagonist in her arms as he's suffering from a bad trip (possibly a psychedelic/hallucinogen or some other harder drug, or possibly an instance of self-harm).

"Oh oh oh

Oh lover You run from me We move like a bad scene Shot in the dark"

This is the protagonist narrating an instance (either real, or imagined, or in a dream) where he's trying to keep his lover close but she keeps leaving the toxic relationship due to his addiction or self-harm issues.

"Oh but please Please wake me For my love lies patiently Please baby please And my love life waits for me"

This is the narrator suffering in the present moment from a bad trip, wanting to end it but can't. He imagines or remembers his lover who would have stayed with him if he was sober. Perhaps she even promised him she would be in a relationship with him again if he was clean.

"Oh love You came to me Are you having a bad time? There in your home

Oh sugar Give in to me You're just having a bad dream Of ringing alarms"

This is the lover (as imagined by the protagonist) comforting him again during his bad trip (complete with ringing in his ears).

"Oh but please Please shake me from my lovesick patient dream Please baby please And my love plays wait and see"

This is the narrator who again wants to get out of his bad trip and return to his lover sober.

"Oh I'm on my knees, yeah I'm on my knees I promise I'm clean And my love life waits"

The narrator is begging to end his trip and begging his lover to accept him as a clean/sober individual.

"And you're already gone Yeah, you're already gone We are already home And my love life stumbles on"

The narrator realizes his lover has already left him (for good?) and he has no one in his life to love, so he just stumbles from one insignificant social encounter to another.

"Oh baby Lean into me There's always a side door Into the dark Into the dark, shh"

The narrator imagines his lover again, during his bad trip, comforting him and telling him that he can escape the agony another way. The "side door" isn't real, just like his lover isn't real. The narrator is aware of this, he's aware that he is lying to himself to cope with his shitty existence. But it's all he can do.

For me this tells a story of a new love where things are not working as expected.

He is in a dark place and not ready for love, and his lover is waiting patiently for him to resolve his issues. Meanwhile she's into him, but feels like she's in a bad dream, that coming to him could be a bad thing and do her harm.

She then runs away from him and the potential relationship goes south "We move like a bad scene, Shot in the dark"

He begs her to wake him from the situation he's in (post breakup and hurting or maybe being an addict due to the hurt of a breakup), to waken his love life and heart are dormant, "waiting for him".

She tries to escape this toxic situation but still comes to him... because she misses him when she's alone at home. He asks her to give in to him, that this is just a temporary "bad dream" - he will make things work out.

He is not ready for love "my love plays wait and see" but he begs her on his knees to stay - he says he's clean (of drugs, or an ex lover / past relationships that didn't work out) and his love life waits.

But she can't take whatever he's going through and his impossibility to really be in a relationship with her, and she leaves anyway and it feels like his love life crumbles. He begs her to come back... that they will find a way to work things out, even if not in a traditional way "a side door into the dark".

I think it's about two people who have both experienced damage in the past and are hesitant to fully commit to the other. But they are slowly and tentatively moving toward one other despite their doubts and fears. Maybe the relationship is doomed, maybe it will be happy, but for me this song is about trying to make something beautiful in the wake of loss or hurt.

For me this is not a totally hopeless or sad song. Lyrically it has a yearning, melancholy tone, but there's also a fresh hopeful feeling to the music.

Oh baby\nCan we first appreciate the metronome opener. I think sound has as much meaning to a song as lyrics do. The beat chants and one and two, and one and two, and one and two, even tho the signature is 4/4. There is an atmospheric background. And there are intro notes placed here and there as well as sound wave intervals that lead into the drum beat. The first lyrics suggest someone has fallen asleep in the singers arms and they are having a bad dream. The second line, “oh sugar,” is a metaphor for cocaine or speed. Baby is a drug. And baby could be a bad thing or more importantly she could be the muse for all his inspiration. If we write high, can we credit ourselves or the drugs? But the music runs through our blood like a fascination with a lover. And that obsession drives our loved ones away. And when one recognizes the toll drugs takes on oneself and others, all they want to do is wake up. So then we try rehab. We try to be sober. But she calls to us. Always that calling is in the back of an addicts mind. “Oh sugar, give in to me.” And his true love waits to se if he can beat his addiction demon as he battles detox. Bit it’s too late. His love is gone. And his love life stumbles on. But there’s always a side door. If he plays this game long enough and decides he cannot win, there is a way out. There’s always a side door. He’s threatening suicide. This song is the cry of an addict. An addict in love. And one and two. And me and you. Because of you. Because of me. I am clean. I’m on my knees. Is the bad dream the addiction or the reality of the cycle of addiction. It’s the rhythm. It’s the prayer. It’s the plea that hits with song.