"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 popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

. 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 advertis ...

'' Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart in early 2003, and held that position for three weeks.Blake Shelton Scores Second No. 1
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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, watching flashbacks of his life and family. The roll of film also shows flashbacks and pictures of Shelton and his family. The video was directed by Peter Zavadil, and premiered on CMT on December 25, 2002, along with

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban ( né Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves Int ...

's " Raining on Sunday", and

Deana Carter Deana Kay Carter (born January 4, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter who broke through in 1996 with the release of her debut album '' Did I Shave My Legs for This?'', which was certified 5× Multi-Platinum in the United States f ...

's " There's No Limit".

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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

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