Released: 2021
At its core, “Angel Baby” by Troye Sivan is a pulsating ode to new love and the transformative power it holds. The lyrics shed light on the journey of an individual from desolation and despair to unearthly bliss, all thanks to the intervention of their “Angel Baby”.
The first verse gives us a vivid image of the narrator’s state before encountering their lover: “I need a lover to keep me sane/ Pull me from hell, bring me back again”. These lines speak to a sense of emotional turmoil and longing for salvaging intimacy, for love that transcends the mundane and pulls them back from the precipice.
As we journey into the chorus, Sivan introduces us to the object of his longing: “You came out the blue on a rainy night…/ I just wanna live in this moment forever”. The line establishes the lover as a savior, a lifeline in the protagonist’s seemingly desolate existence. The phrase “live in this moment forever” is a classic trope within pop music, embodying the desire to freeze a moment of bliss and perpetuate it endlessly.
Moving further, Sivan’s reference to ‘giving up on the word “forever”‘ alludes to his previous skepticism towards lasting relationships, or perhaps even love itself. His lover’s commitment, symbolized in the lyrics by the phrase “you gave up heaven, so we could be together”, has inverted that viewpoint. It’s a beautiful reclamation of the belief in enduring love, reinforcing the notion of the lover as an angelic, self-sacrificing figure.
The line “All the sick and twisted nights that I’ve been waiting for ya” gives an edgy flip, bringing us back to the raw reality of the longing and anticipation that lay in the past. The repetition of the chorus reaffirms the impact of the lover – the angel baby – on the narrator’s perspective of life and love.
All in all, “Angel Baby” is a poignant commentary on the restorative power of profound love, the type that feels divine and larger-than-life. Sivan masterfully portrays a universally compelling narrative of darkness turned into light, of a sceptic turned believer, and a lost soul finding home in another.
