I had my music on shuffle the other day and one of my favorite songs came on. It was “Cry Baby” by Janis Joplin. I have loved Janis since I was in middle school and finding new music that the other kids around me weren’t listening to. I was always captivated by the way she sings this song. It has something a little different than the rest of her songs. Although all of her songs have soul and feeling within her words and voice, this song in particular always gets me in my feelings because of the pain I can feel in her voice when she sings. It is a cover that she did of a song by Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, a blues artist and band from the 1960’s. The song is about someone who was completely in love with another someone who had left them for their old flame. Basically, the lyrics are saying, “Go ahead and let yourself get screwed over with them, I want to see you cry like a little baby when you want to come back to me.” Knowing the type of person Janis was, this seems like it hit really close to home for her with one of her past loves. I wonder if she still felt that pain every time she recorded or performed that song? Listen for yourself and see if you can feel her pain, too.