Baby, Come On

“Baby, Come On” by Plus-44 is a poignant exploration of love, loneliness, and the struggle to escape from a painful reality. The song's protagonist is enamored with a girl who is perpetually in a state of despair, often found at the bottom of a plastic cup, symbolizing her reliance on alcohol to cope with her sadness. This girl is described as pretty but constantly falling down, both literally and metaphorically, indicating her fragile state of mind and life. The protagonist's love for her is unreciprocated, as she is too lost in her own world to remember or acknowledge his feelings.

The chorus, with its repeated plea to “quit crying your eyes out,” serves as a desperate attempt to pull the girl out of her misery. The line “The past is only the future with the lights on” suggests that the protagonist believes that understanding and confronting their past can illuminate their future, but the girl remains trapped in her sorrow. This phrase also implies a cyclical nature of their struggles, where past traumas continue to haunt their present and future.

The girl's dialogue in the song reveals her deep dissatisfaction with her surroundings and her friends, who she believes will be the death of her. Her request to be taken far away before she melts into the ground highlights her desire to escape her current life and the fear of being consumed by it. The protagonist's repeated calls for her to recognize something familiar about him suggest a longing for connection and a hope that she might find solace in their shared history or relationship.

“Baby, Come On” captures the essence of unrequited love and the pain of watching someone you care about spiral into self-destruction. It’s a melancholic yet earnest plea for recognition and change, set against the backdrop of a small town that feels suffocating and inescapable.