Song of the Day 7/10: The Beatles, “Cry Baby Cry”

This one’s for President Whiny Little Bitch. What’s wrong with the brains of people who listen to this crybaby and hear strength?

John Lennon had the chorus to this one months before he finished it in India, and he wasn’t happy with the final result, describing it years later as “a piece of rubbish.” That’s the main reason it was relegated to side 4 of the White Album as the lead-in to “Revolution 9,” which was included on the album only at Lennon’s insistence. BTW, the coda is a 28-second snippet of a separate Paul McCartney demo, uncredited on the initial vinyl release (scroll to the bottom for the track) and included to soften the transition to “Revolution 9.”

Throwing Muses gave the song a dream-pop treatment on a 1991 B-side.

And naturally it was covered in concert by Phish.

The McCartney tune was ad-libbed during the sessions for “I Will.” It was widely bootlegged before it finally got an official release as part of the White Album’s 50th anniversary box set.