Beatles "Cry Baby Cry" white album 1968

Lennon told Rolling Stone in 1980, In response to Cry Baby Cry, the who wrote what interview. Lennon said

" Not my rubbish" trying to disown the song, & distance himself from it I suppose.

Why ? Maybe McCartney or someone else helped, I don't know, but in the main, it's clearly all or largely a Lennon tune. Not a hated or ridiculed one either.. kind of a forgotten one, as much as a Beatles track can be forgotten or unknown.

I like it because of the word imagery, the Duchess of krikorie ? Cooking breakfast for the king ? What's he talking about, I don't know, more made up people from Beatles world... So in that sense it's like a Sgt Pepper song, I don't remember a proper bridge offhand, there must be a key change or something..

Anyway I don't love it, well I love all Beatles tracks almost, but of his 12 white album songs, I rate it no higher than 7th or 8th at best, maybe lower. Still why did he hate it ? Deny he wrote it, why is this song so forgotten ? It sounds just like Glass Onion or whatever, what's the deal with this one ?

Did someone else actually write the words or melody, is there some story about this record I've never heard before ?

 

Lennon wrote it.
Lennon disparaged a lot of his songs and also expressed that he was dissatisfied with the finished product on some of his most well known songs.

 

Great song, love it.

 

Lennon would also sometimes mix up who wrote what including his own songs. He had a lousy memory.

 

Put me down as one who has always like this song.

When I became a parent with a crying child, I imagined John wrote this song from inspiration of his young son Julian.

 

I absolutely love this song! It's perfectly placed on the album too, followed by Can You Take Me Back and Revolution #9 (and Good Night of course) what a closing side!

 

I've always liked this track, especially with McCartney's "Can You Take Me Back" bit on the end. For me, it's always been one of the more underappreciated moments on the White Album.

 

I was just reading a few interesting tidbits at Beatles Bible I hadn't known.

Besides acoustic guitar, unusually Lennon overdubbed both piano & organ, & sang the harmony himself. McCartney is credited with bass only. Which is unusual, most of the time I'd expect to see McCartney singing a part, probably playing either the piano or organ, his role is pretty limited.

Although I think I hear a McCartney harmony on 1-2 lines, maybe it's just uncredited. These websites commonly have quite a few errors.

My point is, Lennon sang lead, & harmony, played acoustic, piano & organ, a lotta work for something he claims.s was rubbish, & not his.

The other thing both Cry Baby Cry & Lennon's 1980 track Clean up time, borrow lyrics from the same nursery rhyme. Lennon borrows, slightly adapts, & uses liberally from "Sing a song of sixpence" whatever or whoever that was.

Yes Cry Baby Cry is another of the many tunes written in India.

 

I don't love it. Lennon in neutral.

 

Honestly I think he just temporarily forgot about the song. He says it's his in the 1972 Hit Parader interview.

 

I love this song but I think the version on Anthology 3 is better.

As to why he didn't like it...who can say. This is a guy who called And You're Bird Can Sing a throwaway.

 

Thought the lyric was "... the Duchess of Kirkaldy always smiling ..."

Even then the town name was mispronounced, locals pronounce it "Kirkordy"

 

I love it. It fits into the creepy WA vibe that I find so fascinating.

 

That's probably what it is. I think as fans we forget our experience with these songs is a lot different than the artist's. We've all heard this stuff a million times, but for him it's just something he probably didn't give a lot of thought to after recording it.

 

I was an impressionable kid when the "Paul is Dead" rumor made the rounds. I remember a radio piece (WNEW-FM?) that walked listeners through all the "clues," and I was thoroughly spooked afterwards. For years I couldn't listen to Revolution #9, and even today Paul's "Can You Take Me Back" gives me the chills. There's an underlying creepiness to the White Album that I just love, and that some masterings (e.g. 2014 mono vinyl) bring out more than others.

 

He's going thru a list of songs too, pretty quickly, doesn't give you a lot of time to think about it.

 

Maybe all that immediately came to mind when he was asked was the "can you take me back" part. It would certainly explain his reply.

 

You find another interview where he said he loved it.

 

Possibly, I can see him actually liking the creepy vibe to that.

 

The reason I think maybe he forgot, is he said not his, he's called some of his other songs rubbish while acknowledging them.

 

I've always liked it. One of the first White Album songs I came to really enjoy (it's my favorite Beatles album overall, but that didn't happen overnight).

 

Some interesting posts, at the moment I'm leaning towards Chuckee's theory that Lennon simply blanked out the song, that under the rapid fire interview process, he didin't immediately recall the song, & they moved onto the next question before he could reflect & recall.

His lack of recollection, certainly shows he didin't store Cry Baby Cry in the same cabinet where he kept 14 year old Brandy & Strawberry Fields, Across The Universe & Nowhere Man.

 

Love this song. Also love the Ramsey Lewis version.

 

Yes, it would be unlikely that he would deliberately lie about his authorship of the song simply because he didn't think it was very good. He had no problem dismissing several other of his own songs as you note.

I also think it's unlikely that he'd forget that he'd written the song. I think the most likely scenario is that he was confused about the title and was thinking of a different song entirely. Either that, or it's a transcription error. The latter is not beyond the realm of strong possibility, given that it's been established that the instance (in the same interview) in which he appears to claim authorship of "Two of Us" is due to a transcription error.

 

As someone who often quips "If they did more Helter Skelter I think I could love them" I must say I also really like Cry Baby Cry a lot.