Songfacts®:

• "Rock A Bye Bye" is anti-abortion song in line with lead singer Gary Cherone's Christian beliefs. Most of Extreme's songs don't take on such controversial topics, but you won't hear them singing about drugs and groupies or the kind of debauchery common in the hair metal milieu (particularly from Mötley Crüe). Their songs are more likely to be about the dangers of celebrity than the benefits of it (see: "Decadence Dance").
• The title and lyrics are a play on the traditional lullaby "Rockabye Baby," but far more intense, with Cherone singing about the "silent screams" of the aborted baby.
• The first half of the song is orchestral, then it falls to silence and resumes with an extended guitar solo from Nuno Bettencourt, who wrote the song with Cherone.
• The song is part of Extreme's self-titled debut album, which sold reasonably well and got a bit of airplay thanks to the songs "Play With Me" and "Kid Ego." Their next album, Pornograffitti, looked like it might get the band dropped after the first two singles bombed, but then the ballad "More Than Words" caught on and gave them a #1 hit.
• Gary Cherone elucidated his stance on abortion in an open letter he published in 1999 when he was lead singer in Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen supported the pro-choice organization Rock For Choice, so Cherone felt the need to offer an opposing viewpoint. His time in Van Halen came to an end a short time later when the band went on hiatus.