Angie Baby

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"Angie Baby"

Single by Helen Reddy
from the album Free and Easy
Released	1974
Format	7" single
Genre	Pop
Length	3:29
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Alan O'Day
Producer(s)	Joe Wisert
Certification	Gold
Chart positions
#1 (U.S.)

Angie Baby was a number-one U.S. hit for Australian singer Helen Reddy. The song's cryptic lyrics have inspired a number of listener theories as to what the song is really about, and Reddy has refused to comment on what the true storyline of the song is, partly because she has said she enjoys hearing other listeners' interpretations. Reddy has also said that "Angie Baby" was the one song she never had to push radio stations into playing.

Singer/songwriter Alan O'Day finally revealed in 1998 that the "crazy" heroine in the song had "magic power" and "special abilities", and that he had deliberately blurred the lines between fantasy and reality. ^[1] However, he still declined to give a detailed explanation of what happened to the boy in the song. Reddy herself had joked that the boy had become "a sound wave",^[2] an explanation that O'Day later refuted.

[edit] Partial lyrics

When he walks in the room, he feels confused

like he's walked into a play.

And the music's so loud it spins him around

'til his soul has lost its way.

And as she turns the volume down

he's getting smaller with the sound.

It seems to pull him off the ground.

Toward the radio he's bound...never to be found.

The headlines read that a boy disappeared

and everyone thinks he died.

'Cept a crazy girl with a secret lover who keeps her satisfied.

It's so nice to be insane.

No one asks you to explain.

Radio by your side, Angie Baby.

Angie Baby, you're a special lady

living in a world of make-believe.

Well, maybe. Well, maybe.

Preceded by "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin	Billboard Hot 100 number one single December 21, 1974	Succeeded by "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by Elton John