"My Baby" is a song written by

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

that was originally released on

the Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

1986 album ''

Get Close ''Get Close'' is the fourth studio album by Rock music, rock band the Pretenders, released on 20 October 1986 in the United Kingdom by Real Records and on 4 November 1986 in the United States by Sire Records. The album contains the band's two ...

''. "My Baby" was included on the Pretenders' 1987

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

'' The Singles''.

Background

"My Baby" is a love song to Hynde's baby daughter. Vic Garbarini of ''

Musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

'' magazine also suggested that the song is about the baby within Hynde herself, in the sense of "something being born" into a "new life.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Matthew Greenwald describes the

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

melody that begins the song as sounding like an Irish folk song. He describes the rest of the melody as having a " folk-rock groove," applying a two- chord pattern that he describes as "ingenious." He describes the lyrics as Hynde expressing her "near-overflowing affection in her literate, conversational style."

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that with this single "Chrissie Hynde exhibits her great growth as a writer and interpretive singer." ''

SPIN Magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. Histor ...

'' described the song as "gorgeous," and described Hynde's lead vocal as possessing "the goofy tenderness of someone who is too smart to walk around showing baby pictures, but who is too giddy to resist."

Elizabeth Wurtzel Elizabeth Lee Wurtzel (July 31, 1967 – January 7, 2020) was an American writer, journalist, and lawyer known for the confessional memoir ''Prozac Nation'', which she published at the age of 27. Her work often focused on chronicling her persona ...

wrote in ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'' that, like "Don't Get Me Wrong," "My Baby" "could have sounded gushy," but instead became a representation of "a life lived hard that at least approximated some precarious version of settledness."

Ira Robbins ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

and Delvin Neugebauer of ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' described "My Baby" as a "sentimental love song" that was one of the few worthy songs on ''Get Close''.

Chart performance

"My Baby" was released as a single in the U.S., achieving modest success on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at #64. It achieved far greater success on the

Mainstream Rock chart Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...

, spending two weeks at #1, following up on "

Don't Get Me Wrong "Don't Get Me Wrong" is a song released by British-American alternative rock group The Pretenders. It was the first single taken from the group's 1986 album, ''Get Close''. It can also be found on the band's '' The Singles'' album, released in 1 ...

," an earlier single from ''Get Close'' which also reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart. "My Baby" however, only reached #84 on the UK charts. It was slightly more successful in Australia and New Zealand, where it peaked at #56 and #50 respectively.

References

{{authority control 1986 songs The Pretenders songs Songs written by Chrissie Hynde 1987 singles Song recordings produced by Jimmy Iovine Sire Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Clearmountain