"Baby, Stop Crying"
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Street Legal
B-side"New Pony"
Released31 July 1978 (US single)
RecordedApril 1978
GenreRock
Length5:17
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Don DeVito
Bob Dylan singles chronology
"Is Your Love in Vain?"
(1978)		 "Baby, Stop Crying"
(1978)		 "Changing of the Guards"
(1978)

"Baby, Stop Crying" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released in the summer of 1978 as a single and in a longer album version on Street Legal. The song charted at #13 in the UK and was a top-ten song in much of Europe, although it failed to chart in the United States.[1]

Lyrical interpretation and reception

The song's narrator is a desperate man attempting to play the role of consoler to a despairing woman, asking her for a pistol in the opening verse, and claiming he "can't tell right from wrong".[2] Commenting on the content of this song, Dylan once said, "The man in that song has his hand out and is not afraid of getting it bit".[3]

Dylan scholar Tony Attwood sees the song as having lyrical roots in Robert Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down".[4]

Like many of the tracks from Street Legal, "Baby, Stop Crying" features a saxophone and a trio of female backup singers. According to Billboard the female voices provide an "exciting counterpoint" to Dylan's "raspy" vocal performance.[5] Cash Box said that it "has a tight, repetitive hook, backing singers, strong sax solo and organ work."[6] Record World said that "Old fans will lean toward [Dylan's] customary throaty vocals while new audiences might latch on to the high female background singing that gives it just a touch of r&b."[7]

Live performances

Dylan performed the song live in concert 39 times. All performances were in 1978.[8]

Covers

References

  1. ↑ "baby stop crying | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  2. ↑ "Baby, Stop Crying | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  3. ↑ Magazine, Rolling Stone (1989-09-15). Rolling Stone Interv. Macmillan. p. 362. ISBN 9780312034863.
  4. ↑ "Bob Dylan's "Baby Stop Crying": the meaning of the lyrics and the song | Untold DylanUntold Dylan". 2016-07-06. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  5. ↑ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. August 12, 1978. p. 82. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  6. ↑ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 12, 1978. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  7. ↑ "Record World Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. August 19, 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
  8. ↑ "Bob Dylan Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
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