This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Cry baby, cry baby, cry baby,
Honey, welcome back home.
I know she told you,
Honey I know she told you that she loved you
Much more than I did,
But all I know is that she left you,
And you swear that you just don't know why,
But you know, honey I'll always,
I'll always be around if you ever want me
Come on and cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby,
Oh honey, welcome back home.
Don't you know, honey,
Ain't nobody ever gonna love you
The way I try to do ?
Who'll take all your pain,
Honey, your heartache, too ?
And if you need me, you know
That I'll always be around if you ever want me
Come on and cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby,
Oh daddy, like you always saying to do.
And when you walk around the world, babe,
You said you'd try to look for the end of the road,
You might find out later that the road'll end in Detroit,
Honey, the road'll even end in Kathmandu.
You can go all around the world
Trying to find something to do with your life, baby,
When you only gotta do one thing well,
You only gotta do one thing well to make it in this world, babe.
You got a woman waiting for you there,
All you ever gotta do is be a good man one time to one woman
And that'll be the end of the road, babe,
I know you got more tears to share, babe,
So come on, come on, come on, come on, come on,
And cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby.
And if you ever feel a little lonely, dear,
I want you to come on, come on to your mama now,
And if you ever want a little love of a woman
Come on and baby baby baby babe babe baby now
Cry baby yeah.
Honey, welcome back home.
I know she told you,
Honey I know she told you that she loved you
Much more than I did,
But all I know is that she left you,
And you swear that you just don't know why,
But you know, honey I'll always,
I'll always be around if you ever want me
Come on and cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby,
Oh honey, welcome back home.
Don't you know, honey,
Ain't nobody ever gonna love you
The way I try to do ?
Who'll take all your pain,
Honey, your heartache, too ?
And if you need me, you know
That I'll always be around if you ever want me
Come on and cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby,
Oh daddy, like you always saying to do.
And when you walk around the world, babe,
You said you'd try to look for the end of the road,
You might find out later that the road'll end in Detroit,
Honey, the road'll even end in Kathmandu.
You can go all around the world
Trying to find something to do with your life, baby,
When you only gotta do one thing well,
You only gotta do one thing well to make it in this world, babe.
You got a woman waiting for you there,
All you ever gotta do is be a good man one time to one woman
And that'll be the end of the road, babe,
I know you got more tears to share, babe,
So come on, come on, come on, come on, come on,
And cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby.
And if you ever feel a little lonely, dear,
I want you to come on, come on to your mama now,
And if you ever want a little love of a woman
Come on and baby baby baby babe babe baby now
Cry baby yeah.
Lyrics submitted by oofus
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I think it's about a women who's telling her true love that left her, that if he ever needed someone to love, or ever anything, that she would always be there waiting for him. All he has to do is ask. It's about selfless love. I really love her vocals in this song, very strong and bluesy. I think, personally, she probaly the greatest female singers ever to grace this earth. I know I'm not alone in this thought, it's pretty well shared by alot of people.
Janis sounds amazing in this song, her vocals are untouchable, not many people can sing like she could.
i think that janis sounds the best in this song..especially at the very beginning.
paigepeach is right. I don't think anyone could've said it any better.
It means she is waiting for him to come back to her. If you ever need me just cry, cry baby. She will be waiting for him. Listened to this song for over 50 years. Still love it everytime I hear it. One of Janis's best.
i think it's about a guy, an ex of hers, who left her for someone else. and that someone else left them and janis is kind of like it's alright, i knew and i'm still here for you if you need me. she still loves him.
I agree most with you paigepeach. =]
this is a great song.
in my own opinion this song is pretty much about a girl(aka Janis Joplin) who was completely inlove with this guy, who had a previous flame. Well this guy left Janis for his old flame, and Janis is pretty much saying go ahead and let yourself get screwed over, I wanna see you cry like a little baby to me. Which she said he always seems to do, so she knows better than to take him back again, and he's just gonna be outta luck.
He left her for another woman, that the woman left him. She feels his pain, because she knew what it felt like, she's giving him a shoulder to cry on, comforting him and welcomming him back with open arms.