"The Baby" is a song written by
Michael White and
Harley Allen
Harley Lee Allen (January 23, 1956March 30, 2011) was an American bluegrass and country singer and songwriter.
Early life
Allen was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of bluegrass performer Red Allen.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
Musi ...
and recorded by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...
. It was released in October 2002 as the first single from Shelton's album ''
The Dreamer''. The song became Shelton's second number one hit on the US ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Hot Country Singles and Tracks
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart in early 2003, and held that position for three weeks.
Blake Shelton Scores Second No. 1
/ref>
Content
The song describes how a mother thinks of her children, especially the narrator. He describes being the youngest child in his family, and tells of various situations where he is referred to as "the baby" of the family. Later on, the narrator tells of receiving a telephone call to come to the family's home state of Louisiana, where his mother is dying (it is unclear whether she was in a local hospital or if she was at the family house under hospice care); however, he arrives shortly after she is pronounced dead. The narrator then laments the passing of his mother, stating "I softly kissed that lady / And cried just like a baby."
Music video
The video shows Shelton singing in a room with blue screens while watching flashbacks of his life and family. The roll of film also shows flashbacks and pictures of the narrator and his family. It was directed by Peter Zavadil.
Chart performance
The song debuted at No. 48 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart dated November 2, 2002. It spent 24 weeks on that chart, and became his second Number One single on the chart dated February 22, 2003, holding the top spot for three weeks. It peaked at 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Year-end charts
References
External links
Lyrics
at CMT.com
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baby, The
2002 singles
Blake Shelton songs
Songs written by Harley Allen
Songs written by Michael White (singer)
Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil
Warner Records Nashville singles
2002 songs