Cry Baby Cry

"Cry Baby Cry" is a song by The Beatles from their 1968 album The Beatles, also known as The White Album. "Cry Baby Cry" is the final song on the album featuring the group's instrumental presence. It is about an old nursery rhyme that John Lennon remembered from his youth.^{[citation needed]}

The song is followed by a brief segment, written by Paul McCartney often referred to as "Can You Take Me Back".

History

When asked about "Cry Baby Cry" in 1980, Lennon replied, "Not mine. A piece of rubbish."^[1] The "Not mine" part is either a mistake in Lennon's memory, an error in the transcription of the interviewer's audio tape of the interview, or Lennon sarcastically disowning the song. Paul McCartney said, "Cry Baby Cry was another of John's songs from India,"^[2] although demos of the song indicate it was written in late 1967, before the Beatles went to India.^{[citation needed]}

The original lyrics were "Cry baby cry, make your mother buy." Lennon describes to biographer Hunter Davies how he got the words from an advertisement.^[3] The "Duchess of Kirkcaldy" mentioned in the song was a creation of Lennon's, possibly inspired by the Beatles' gig in the town of the same name in 1963.^{[citation needed]}

George Martin plays harmonium on this track (introduced after the first statement of "make your mother sigh"). This was the same harmonium Lennon used on "We Can Work It Out" and that Martin had previously used on "The Word".

This was the song the Beatles were working on when engineer Geoff Emerick quit, though his departure was precipitated by Lennon and McCartney's obsessions over the recordings of "Revolution" and "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da", respectively, and the overall tensions of the White Album sessions.

Can You Take Me Back

"Cry Baby Cry" is followed by a very short unrelated song performed by McCartney, whose most prominent line is "Can you take me back?" appearing directly before "Revolution 9". This separate song does not appear in the sleeve track listing, on the label, or in the lyrics sheet included with the album. For many years, the origins of the fragment were unknown, but Beatles' historian Mark Lewisohn revealed that "Can You Take Me Back" is actually part of "take 19" of Paul's song, "I Will," recorded on 16 September 1968.^[4] According to Lewisohn, the full take lasted 2:21, and just a fragment was included on the LP.^[5] Immediately following this track, a short and barely audible conversation takes place between producer George Martin and Alistair Taylor, Brian Epstein’s personal assistant. Taylor is apologising to Martin, apparently for neglecting to bring a bottle of wine for him to the session. While this was included as part of the track for "Cry Baby Cry" on some CD releases, the conversational part is the beginning of "Revolution 9."^[6] Also, at the end of "Come Together" on the Love soundtrack, the song segues into "Can You Take Me Back", backed by the Eleanor Rigby strings.

The entire version of the song is featured on several bootlegs.

Personnel

• John Lennon – vocal, acoustic guitar, piano, organ
• Paul McCartney – bass
• George Harrison – lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine
• George Martin – harmonium

Personnel per Ian MacDonald^[7]

"Can You Take Me Back"

• Paul McCartney – vocals, acoustic guitar

Cover versions

• Ramsey Lewis recorded an instrumental version of this song on his 1968 album Mother Nature's Son.
• Fools Garden covered this song on their first album Once in a Blue Moon in 1993.
• Samiam covered this song on their 1997 album, You Are Freaking Me Out.
• Tom Freund recorded a version on his 1998 album North American Long Weekend.
• Live covers by Phish are available on the Hampton Comes Alive box set and Live Phish Volume 13.
• Richard Barone has a live version of this song on his album Cool Blue Halo.
• Bardo Pond covered this song on their album Ticket Crystals.
• Throwing Muses include a version of this song on the Not Too Soon EP, having already recorded their own song, with the same title, on the Chains Changed EP.
• Katie Melua included a version of this song on her single "Spider's Web".

Notes

References

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Cry Baby Cry"
• The Beatles Bible: Cry Baby Cry