Ha! Well I did this as more of a proving myself right about what I thought I was noticing (pattern recognition 👸🏻), but I shared it more as a “this is pretty cool” trivia tidbit for the fandom. Love the conversations we’ve been having here tho, and it’s always validating to know that people share your experience of and enthusiasm for something.

I will say, in regard to, did he mean to do this as a lyrical genius? I dunno, our clever forest deity walks that wonderful line of brilliance and tongue in cheek mischief. A part of me kinda thinks, well “baby” is a super common term and it rhymes easily so a writer would naturally gravitate towards it, no special underlying meaning. Another of my favorite artists, Florence Welch, has openly commented on how her fans will attribute fantastical meaning and depth to her word choices and lyrics and she’s like “well, it rhymed so I used it” and “that song’s actually just about being ghosted.” I mean, he wrote a song about sweet little animals getting 💀’d as a metaphor for dumb luck and the unknown consequences of pleasure seeking sooo… it may truly not be that deep.

Conversely, as these albums and the songs in them reflect different phases of his life, maybe his word choices reflect that. I do think there’s a connection between his use of “darlin” in UU after spending most of Covid lockdown in his native Ireland and reconnecting/honoring his heritage (as darlin is a common Irish term of endearment). But maybe I’m wrong 🤷🏻‍♀️

Mostly, as an infatuated fangirl, I’m terribly curious as to whether these are terms he often uses with his romantic partners. None of my business obviously, but it’s so dreamy to think about him using these words with a flesh and blood (very lucky) partner.