This is a song about losing someone you dearly love without having the closure to understand why.
Who wrote “Baby Blue”?
The name that most people think of first when they hear the song “Baby Blue” is George Strait, which is understandable: He did, after all, serve as the face and voice of this country classic. The song’s success, though welcome, wasn’t a particularly momentous occasion for King George as it followed the release of a slew of other hits.
But to the man behind the music who penned the lyrics, this was a tune that meant a lot to him. In a YouTube video, Barker said, “I came to do this song because it had a profound impact on my life.” For this previously unknown songwriter from Texas, the critical and commercial success turned out to be a highly significant moment in both his career and his life.
Aaron Barker wrote “Baby Blue” when he was experiencing financial hardships, and it got his foot in the door of the music scene of Nashville. Barker didn’t let this opportunity go to waste, as his prolific career that follows clearly shows.
It was a happy accident that George Strait ever ended up with the song at all. A cassette with the demo on it was mistakenly brought to Strait’s manager even though it had already been rejected, and the rest is history. As Barker put it to the Tennessean “God comes in, the angels start moving things around, and it got into Erv Woolsey’s hands. He heard it and played it for George. George loved it.”
The success was as immense as it was unexpected, allowing him to turn his life around and overcome financial strife. The song came out in April of 1988 as the sophomore single of the album, “If You Aint Lovin’, You Ain’t Livin.'” Strait had already come out with seven other studio albums before this track hit number one on the US Billboard charts.
A Loving Tribute?
The literal interpretation of these lyrics is that of a love affair gone wrong. The narrator sings of a lover who has left him with no closure, and he doesn’t understand why it happened.
But another read is that “Baby Blue” is a tribute to George Strait’s real-life daughter, who passed away before her time. Rumors abound that Strait sang and recorded the song in her memory, but the artist has never confirmed this.
Color Theory
The opening stanza explores the narrator’s turmoil, which all gravitates around a particular girl or young woman:
“She looked so much like a lady / But she was so much like a child / A devil when she held me close / An angel when she smiled / She always held it deep inside / But somehow I always knew / She’d go away when the grass turned green / And the sky turned baby blue”
These lines explore the duality between the characters’ actions and feelings. The singer already knows that it’s going to end, and he’s bound to be left in sadness.
The use of the color blue is highly significant because it represents youth but also sadness. This choice of eye color for the main character’s love interest represents their young love and the heartache of the narrator.
Lyrics
She looked so much like a lady, but she was so much like a child.
A devil when she held me close, an angel when she smiled.
She always held it deep inside, but somehow I always knew
She’s go away when the grass turned green
And the sky turned baby blue.
And baby blue was the color of her eyes.
Baby blue like the Colorado skies.
Like a breath of spring, she came and left,
And I still don’t know why,
So here’s to you and whoever holds my baby blue tonight.
She brought colors to my life that my eyes had never touched.
And when she taught me how to care, I never cared so much.
I try not to think of her, but I fall asleep and do,
And drift off where the grass is green and the sky is baby blue.
And baby blue was the color of her eyes.
Baby blue like the Colorado skies.
Like a breath of spring, she came and left,
And I still don’t know why,
So here’s to you and whoever holds my baby blue tonight.
And baby blue was the color of her eyes.
Baby blue like the Colorado skies.
Like a breath of spring, she came and left,
And I still don’t know why,
So here’s to you and whoever holds my baby blue tonight.
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Aaron Gayle Barker
Baby Blue lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Reservoir Media Management, Inc
