{Note: The Madonna Timeline is an ongoing feature, where I put the iPod on shuffle, and write a little anecdote on whatever was going on in my life when that Madonna song was released and/or came to prominence in my mind.}
MY GUY IS SENTIMENTAL,
HE’S ALWAYS FEELING BLUE
HE CAN BE SO TEMPERAMENTAL
AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO…
It’s hard to leave a good impression when you’re on the same album that birthed ‘Vogue’ and included Madonna’s first (and thus far only) collaboration with Stephen Sondheim. But when you throw in a silly song and awfully-affected vocal stylings, you’re practically doomed. Such is the case with ‘Cry Baby’, a song that adheres roughly to the theatrical bent of the entire ‘I’m Breathless’ experience, but is the album’s resounding dud. (Even ‘I’m Going Bananas’ was a notch or two higher on the low rungs of the Madonna canon, though that isn’t saying much.)
I DON’T WANT TO HURT HIS FEELINGS
BUT HIS OUTBURSTS HAVE ME REELING
BOO-A-HOO-HOOING ALL THE TIME
IF I TURN OUT LIKE HIM I THINK I’M GONNA
CRY BABY!
At the time, the whole world knew that Madonna was dating Warren Beatty. Whether or not this song is about him remains a mystery that will likely linger beyond the point where anyone really cares. Hell, we may already be there. But rumor had it he was on the whiny side, and this only fueled that fire. As for the musical merit of everything happening here, it’s catchier than it has any right to be, even if it gets bogged down by Madonna’s own boo-hooing, and it’s another character she can add to the rich pastiche of the whole ‘I’m Breathless’ brouhaha.
WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF PLEASE?
THANK YOU.
SONG #143: ‘Cry Baby’ ~ Summer 1990
Back to Blog
