Special Lady
New England Guy asks way down in the comments of a post on "I Am Woman":
If we're onto Helen Reddy, what the hell happened to Angie Baby at the end of that song (Helen's follow-up hit )?
First, "Angie Baby" was not Reddy's follow-up hit. "I Am Woman" went to #1 in December of 1972. It was only her second charted record in America after her 1971 cover "I Don't Know How To Love Him." Her follow-up hit in September of 1973 (after the less successful "Peaceful") was another #1, "Delta Dawn."
More hits followed, including "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)" and "You And Me Against The World," before her third and final #1, "Angie Baby," which reached the top of the charts in the last week of 1974. She would only have one more top ten record, "Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady," in 1975.
Now the song. It's always fascinated me, since it might be the freakiest lyric ever heard in a #1 hit. Reddy--who didn't write it anyway--has never explained precisely what it means, but certain basics are pretty clear.
There's a young woman, Angie, whom everyone thinks is a little off. She's been taken out of school and doesn't have any friends, but does seem to have an active imaginary life. In particular, she has a strong relationship with her radio. (This song would need to be completely rewritten for the internet age.)
The nasty boy next door figures he can take advantage of her. He comes over when her parents are gone. But when he gets into her room, and the radio is playing, he gets confused. And (here's the freaky part--up to now you could read the whole thing as a metaphor for being a teenager) as she turns the music down, he disappears into the radio.
The rest of the world only knows the boy disappeared, presumed dead. But he's now her lover (one of many?) whom she can call on any time she chooses.
Whether her alleged mental problems have given her special powers, or she's a witch, or from an alternate universe, we don't know. But we can see that though the outside world thinks she's crazy, she seems to know what she's doing. (There is another interpretation where she simply kills him and disposes of the body, and continues living in her dream world, but that's so ugly I'd rather not think about it.)
Here's a visual interpretation of the song which might be helpful:
posted by LAGuy @ 12:02 AM
10 Comments:
For some good background on the song, check out:
http://www.superseventies.com/sw_angiebaby.html
....well, maybe
Thanks LA Guy, I remember listening to the song in junior high in 1974 and found it tremendously spooky. There was sort of industry in story/spooky songs (K-Tel hits all I think) back then with kind of lonely/losers in them -Night The Lights went out in Georgia, Billy Joe McAllister (?) (Hallahatchie Bridge?- the line about the father who "doesn't do much of anything" since his wife dies always got to me), Janis Ian's "Seventeen", Gilbert Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally," Patches (?), Wildfire, Rocky, the one about the dog that has gone away (Shannon?). It was fun time for puberty! Maybe because because I don't spend hours listening to the radio anymore
Thanks Anon for the link. A 15 minute search of amazon and bookfinder,com could not locate the History of Australia penned by Ms. Reddy (unless its title is "Woman I Am") that is referenced at the end of the article. Just finished the Peter Carey oeuvre and that is a book I'd like to consult- Any further info would be welcome.
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Do you remember "Timothy"? It's got to be the only hit pop song about cannibalism.
http://www.lyricstime.com/the-buoys-timothy-lyrics.html
Well, I think "I Eat Cannibals" was a minor hit in the early 80's. I don't know how to link Youtube videos, but it's there. Here are the lyrics: http://www.afn.org/~afn30091/songs/t/toto-i.htm.
Minor hit is too kind. It didn't crack the top 40. Plus the song, a novelty number, seems to me more a metaphor for love than about actual cannibalism. "Timothy," which went top 20, despite being banned by many stations, was a tale told elliptically whose whole point is two guys stuck in a mine eating a third.
Of course, once punk and new wave came in during the latter half of the 70s, lyrics got a lot wilder--sometimes that was the whole point. But in the early 70s, a song like "Timothy" on top 40 radio was shocking.
It never occurred to me that Angie's powers were supernatural or psychic or anything like that. I just thought she was insane (mentally divergent?), but that the songwriter wanted us to think, hey, maybe she knows more than us.
So I always figured that the boy was mesmerized by Angie's persona, then became her love slave, and after that he remained hidden in her closet. She gave him part of the food she got from her parents.
Then how do you explain all that stuff about the radio?
The radio was part of how she hypnotized him. The bit about the room spinning round and the radio is from his point of view -- the room only seemed to spin.
I certainly don't claim this is the correct interpretation!
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