Posted by Baby Hotline is one of the most cryptic songs ever made by Jack Stauber. Fans analyzed it from all the possible points of view, and they came up with different theories, all potentially valid. Of course, the song’s author never revealed the real meaning, so the whole world keeps attempting new explanations, searching for the one that best matches the lyrics. In this article, we will interpret the lyrics’ meaning according to the most popular theory on the Internet. You will also find the complete song’s lyrics at the end of the article.
You can find the song in full streaming below.
Baby Hotline: inside the lyrics and their meaning
According to the most popular interpretation, the person singing in Baby Hotline loves someone who died; he’s now trying to process the loss. Some of the lines seem to refer to the dead person’s issues in life. The “baby hotline” symbolizes a connection that the singer keeps attempting to stay in contact with the loved one, but it doesn’t seem to work, and at some point, the protagonist will need to accept it.
The most cryptic lines of the song are the following:
I contend that your drinking eye has never opened
I insist somebody will die and I hate hoping
Wishing that the pills let you cry and I hate coping
Someday I will go back outside and see her okay
We better interpret the first line literally: she never opened her eyes; she’s dead. She probably had a drinking problem, and she was perhaps taking pills. The author wishes those pills let her cry, which would probably be better than the apathy of depression, which led to death. “I hate hoping” means that the protagonist hopes that something will change, but death is irreversible. And when the author says, “I insist somebody will die,” he may hint that he wants to kill himself and reunite with the girl he loves.
The pre-chorus says:
Baby Hotline, please hold me close to you
Baby flatline, still time to do it too (Ha-ha-ha!)
Baby snack time, chow down to earth
But in your head she’s a
Hoarder of quarters
And no boundary boredom-dom
Boundary boredom!
That’s what the author wishes, deep inside himself. He wishes she was a hoarder of quarters, an avid collector of coins that she would use to talk with him by phone, in the retro vision that implies the usage of public payphones. With this wish, he hopes she will talk with him forever, having enough coins and knowing they will never get bored talking. Boredom is not a boundary: his deepest desire is that they can speak as much as they want.
In the second part of the song, the author starts realizing that the attempts to keep the connection with a dead person won’t work:
Numb, feel burning with haste
And I’m realizing now it’s a terrible waste
He still hopes something will change soon, but he’s disappointed. And now he feels he’s just wasting all his time and energy trying to stay in contact with the dead girl. It will never work.
What a waste
What a waste
What a waste
There is space for the last fantasy vision before the song’s end: the singer visualizes a sunbath over the night, till the morning, and then he hopes he will see her eyes open. It’s his last wish to see her alive again. But he immediately recognizes that he’s losing his mind.
Sunbathe ’til morning time
And your e-eyes will open wide
(What a waste)
Oh baby, nevermind
To my si-ight, oh, run and hide
After that, he comes to his final solution: killing himself, ending his pain to see her again in the afterlife.
I can say
Oh, wrap it in with cinnamon
(What about…)
I’ve been dead
Oh, wrap the trouble now (Ha ha!)
I feel so good, you’re welcome (If you did it)
Thinking bent, oh
I won’t stay more anymore, oh I don’t even think about it
The singer says literally, “I’ve been dead.” The expression “wrapping it in with cinnamon” seems to be a creative symbol of death, the end of everything. He feels so good now that he’s dead. And he even appears to answer “you’re welcome” to his girl, who virtually thanked him for dying and joining her in death. From this point of view, “I won’t stay more anymore” may refer to the fact that he now has no longer intention of being alive.
Therefore, that may be the real meaning behind the lyrics of Baby Hotline: the girl I loved is dead, and I can’t bear the pain. I’m still living in the hope that she will return to life again, but soon I’m going to give up and kill myself, sure that I will see her again after death.
There are many other theories on the Internet about this song, and you can find many of them in this dedicated thread on Reddit.
Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave
The complete lyrics
Baby Hotline, please hold me close to you
Baby flatline, still time to do it too (Ha-ha-ha!)
Baby snack time, chow down to earth
But in your head she’s a
Hoarder of quarters
And no boundary boredom-dom
Boundary boredom!
I contend that your drinking eye has never opened
I insist somebody will die and I hate hoping
Wishing that the pills let you cry and I hate coping
Someday I will go back outside and see her okay
(Hotline!)
Hung up and put on hold! (-old)
(Hotline!)
My line is getting cold! (-o-o-old)
(Hotline!)
Hung up and put on hold! (-o-o-old)
(Hotline!)
(No, uh, I’ll try again though)
Baby Hotline, please dial nine to get out!
No flatline, what were you scared about? (Ha-ha-ha!)
Baby sat by and felt the wind
At least I called her a
Hoarder of quarters
And no boundary boredom-dom
Boundary boredom!
I contend that your drinking eye has never opened
I insist somebody will die and I hate hoping
Wishing that the pills let you cry and I hate coping
Someday I will go back outside and see her okay
(For a while)
(While, oh) (Hahahahahaha…)
(For a while)
(While, oh)
(Hotline!)
Hung up and put on hold! (-old)
(Hotline!)
My line is getting cold! (-o-o-old)
(Hotline!)
Hung up and put on hold! (-o-o-old)
(Hotline!)
Numb, feel burning with haste
And I’m realizing now it’s a terrible waste
I feel numb, I feel burning with haste
And I’m realizing now what a terrible waste
I feel numb, I feel burning with haste
And I’m realizing now it’s a terrible waste
I feel numb, I feel burning with haste
And I’m realizing now it’s a terrible waste
I feel numb
What a waste
What a waste
What a waste
Sunbathe ’til morning time
And your e-eyes will open wide
(What a waste)
Oh baby, nevermind
To my si-ight, oh, run and hide
I can say
Oh, wrap it in with cinnamon
(What about…)
I’ve been dead
Oh, wrap the trouble now (Ha ha!)
I feel so good, you’re welcome (If you did it)
Thinking bent, oh
I won’t stay more anymore, oh I don’t even think about it
Oh, you know I don’t
Oh, you know I don’t
Oh, you know I don’t
Oh, you know I don’t
I hate hoping, oh-oh-oh
I hate hoping, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I hate hoping, oh
I hate hoping, oh
