"The Baby" is a song sung by country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton

Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...

. The song became Blake's second number-one hit, where it remained for three weeks in early 2003

2003 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2003.-Events:*March 10 — During a concert in London, England, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said that the band was "ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas"...

. It was the lead-off single to his second album, 2003's The Dreamer

The Dreamer (Blake Shelton album)

-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:...

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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 while watching flashbacks of his life and family. The roll of film also shows flashbacks and pictures of the narrator and his family. It was directed by Peter Zavadil.

Chart performance

The song debuted at No. 48 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart dated November 2, 2002, making it his highest debut on that chart. 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

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

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Chart (2002-2003)	Peak position

External links

• Lyrics at CMT.com