Cry Baby

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Cry Baby
Studio album
Artist	Melanie Martinez
Released	August 14th, 2015
Recorded	September 2013 - 2015
Genre	Alternative pop • Electropop • Indie pop
Length	Standard: 46:43 Deluxe: 57:01
Label	Atlantic Records Warner/Chappell Music
Producer(s)	Aalias Babydaddy CJ Baran Daniel Weber Felix Snow Frequency Jennifer Decilveo Kinetics & One Love Kyle Shearer Michael Keenan Michael Miller SmarterChild
Singles
"Pity Party" Released: June 1st, 2015 "Soap" Released: July 10th, 2015 "Sippy Cup" Released: July 31st, 2015
Melanie Martinez chronology
Previous	Carousel (The Remixes)
Current	Cry Baby
Next	Pity Party Remixes

"Cry Baby", alternatively stylized as "Crybaby", is the debut studio album by Melanie Martinez. It was released on August 14, 2015, by Atlantic Records through digital download, CD, cassette and vinyl. The album debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart, placing a spot at #6 with 40,000 total copies sold in its first week. It also topped the Billboard Alternative albums chart by dominating at #1. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA on February 24, 2017, and x2 multi-platinum on June 4, 2021.

Background

Melanie began recording for an unreleased EP shortly after being eliminated The Voice. The EP was completed around 2013 and was ready to be released but she later scrapped it after recording her song "Dollhouse" which led her to change her sound and start working on a new album.

In January 2014, she confirmed the name of the album. In May 2014, Melanie put out her debut EP, Dollhouse, and announced that summer that she hoped to have her album out around October. When October came, Melanie released the music video for "Carousel" and postponed her release date for her album, and stated that she hoped to have it out in the spring of 2015. The first single from her debut album was "Pity Party" and was confirmed on May 27, 2015. The music video was accidentally leaked by Melanie herself on May 29, 2015 but she later tweeted that she was happy and excited for the fans who had already seen it and promised there was "more to come" during her live stream on June 1, 2015. It was officially released on the day of the live stream.

During the live stream, Melanie announced that the release date of Cry Baby would be in August. She also revealed that it would be available to pre-order soon. The second single, "Soap", was confirmed in late June and it was announced soon before it was to be released on July 10, 2015. The one-shot music video came out the same day. On July 16, 2015, the album art and release date were leaked on Amazon, although the release date was false. The next day, on July 17, 2015, the album art was officially revealed and merch bundles were available to pre-order on Melanie's website, with the digital pre-order on July 24, 2015. Before then, the tracklist of the album was leaked, although the websites that leaked it replaced "Play Date" with "Half Hearted". The final tracklist was officially revealed with the album pre-order on July 24, 2015.

Starting on July 27, 2015, Melanie released a snippet of each song (apart from the songs on the deluxe edition) on her Instagram. On July 28, 2015, Melanie released the snippet for "Sippy Cup" and announced that it would be released on July 31. On July 30, 2015, SPIN Magazine premiered the video and "Sippy Cup" was released the day after. The album was released on August 14, 2015. The CD was packaged as a storybook, with jewel case CDs available later. Both a picture disk and a standard black vinyl were also released. Cassettes were then advertised as being in yellow, blue, and pink. There is also a less common green cassette. All physical copies of the album are the standard explicit, with the deluxe and clean being digital exclusives.

Cry Baby's Extra Clutter, an EP on vinyl with the albums 3 deluxe tracks and Christmas single "Gingerbread Man" was released as an Urban Outfitters exclusive on November 25, 2016. The Cry Baby Coloring Book was released at Barnes & Noble a few days later on November 29, 2016.

Story

This album tells the story of Cry Baby, a fictionalised version of Melanie Martinez and a representation of her vulnerable and messed-up side. Melanie claims that many of the things that have happened to Cry Baby are similar to the things that have happened in her own life, mixed in with fantasy elements. Each song on the tracklist is titled something childhood related, while the actual message being crossed to the listener carries more adult-like themes and problems.

The storybook available in the pre-order bundle features rhymes and illustrations based on the album, written by Melanie herself, and the illustrations were drawn by her ex-friend Chloe Tersigni.

Primary Characters

• Cry Baby, (featured in all videos)
• Mom, (featured in Sippy Cup, Cry Baby, and Dollhouse)
• Alphabet Boy, (mentioned in Alphabet Boy and featured in Carousel)
• Johnny, (featured in Soap, Training Wheels, and mentioned in Pity Party)
• Big Bad Wolf, (featured in Tag, You're It and Milk and Cookies)

Secondary Characters

• Bunny Doctor, (featured in Cry Baby, Mrs. Potato Head and Mad Hatter)
• Dad, (featured in Sippy Cup and Dollhouse)
• Brother, (featured in Cry Baby and Dollhouse)
• Basic Bitch, (featured in Pacify Her)
• Blue Boy, (featured in Pacify Her)
• Mrs. Potato Head, (featured in Mrs. Potato Head)
• Mr. Potato Head, (featured in Mrs. Potato Head)
• Rushton Dolls, (featured in Mad Hatter)

Tertiary Characters

• Nurse, (featured in Cry Baby and Mad Hatter)
• Cashier, (featured in Tag, You're It and Mad Hatter)
• Mr. Potato Head's Lover, (featured in Mrs. Potato Head)
• Mistress/Slut, (mentioned in Dollhouse and featured in Sippy Cup)
• Plastic People, (featured in Mad Hatter)

Unknown Characters

• Beth Anne, (mentioned in Pity Party)

Locations

• Cry Baby's house, (featured in Cry Baby, Pity Party, Sippy Cup, Tag, You're It, Mrs. Potato Head, and Mad Hatter)
• Big Bad Wolf's house, (featured in Milk and Cookies)
• Hospital, (featured in Cry Baby, Mrs. Potato Head, and Mad Hatter)
• Carnival, (featured in Carousel)

Tracklist

There are 13 tracks on the CD with 3 additional for the deluxe version. More than 50 songs were intended for Cry Baby but only a quarter of them made the final cut. In an interview with TheKnockTurnal, Melanie revealed that she would love to have included more songs on the album but "[she] can’t put 30 songs on [an] album".

There is both an explicit version of the album and a clean version.

• * indicates the song has both an explicit and a clean version.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Cry Baby"*	Melanie Martinez, Jeremy Dussolliet, Tim Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	3:59
2.	"Dollhouse"	Martinez, Dussolliet, Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	3:51
3.	"Sippy Cup"*	Martinez, Dussolliet, Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	3:15
4.	"Carousel"	Martinez, Dussolliet, Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	3:50
5.	"Alphabet Boy"*	Martinez, Dussolliet, Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	4:13
6.	"Soap"	Martinez, Emily Warren, Kyle Shearer	Shearer, Daniel Weber	3:29
7.	"Training Wheels"*	Martinez, Scott Hoffman	Babydaddy	3:25
8.	"Pity Party"	Martinez, CJ Baran, Kara DioGuardi	Baran	3:24
9.	"Tag, You're It"	Martinez, Scott Harris, Rick Markowitz	SmarterChild, Michael Miller	3:09
10.	"Milk and Cookies"*	Martinez, Dussolliet, Markowitz	SmarterChild, Michael Keenan	3:26
11.	"Pacify Her"	Martinez, Chloe Angelides, Keenan	Keenan	3:40
12.	"Mrs. Potato Head"	Martinez, Dussolliet, Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	3:37
13.	"Mad Hatter"	Martinez, Dussolliet, Bryan Fryzel, Aaron Kleinstub	Frequency, Aalias	3:21

Deluxe Version
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Play Date"*	Martinez, Jennifer Decilveo	Keenan, Decilveo	2:59
15.	"Teddy Bear"*	Martinez, Phoebe Ryan, Felix Snow	Snow	4:05
16.	"Cake"	Martinez, Baran, DioGuardi	Baran	3:19

Cut Songs

Main article: List of Unreleased Songs

Melanie had recorded many songs between 2013 and 2015 with the intention of including them on this album. This list is of known songs which didn't make the final cut.

Key

• Bold typing indicates that the song has been fully leaked online or officially released.
• Italic typing indicates that the song was never released and has yet to leak fully online.

List

• "1st Unknown Song"
• "2nd Unknown Song"
• "99 Cent Store"
• "Arts & Crafts"
• "Band Aid"
• "Bittersweet Tragedy"
• "Bombs on Monday Morning"
• "Bones Are Blue"
• "Coloring Book"
• "Cooties"
• "Dead to Me"
• "Drowning"
• "Gold Diggin' Love"
• "Half Hearted"
• "Haunted"
• "I Scream"
• "Jumprope"
• "Mistakes"
• "Night Mime"
• "Patient"
• "Psycho Lovers"
• "Ring Pop"
• "Rocking Horse"
• "Rotten Milk"
• "Rough Love"
• "Run"
• "Schizo"
• "Seesaw"
• "Strawberry Fields"
• "Trophy Wife"
• "Twins"
• "Unhappy Meal"
• "Where Do Babies Come From?"
• "You Love I"
• "Zzzz"

Unknown Songs

These are outtakes with unknown titles that Melanie has worked on, but were only mentioned by social media posts with little information.

4/29/14

On April 29^th 2014, American record producer and songwriter Dre Skull, posted a Tweet indicating that he was in the studio with Melanie Martinez.

7/30/14

On July 30^th, 2014, Melanie Martinez and British singer-songwriter Talay Riley posted two Tweets indicating that they were in the studio along with American record producer Rey Reel writing "the sweetest song".

To see even more unknown songs check here.

Early Concepts

In February of 2014, Melanie had different plans for the album. One of its earliest versions was not story-driven; Melanie considered having songs believed to be written for other artists originally such as "Bittersweet Tragedy" and "Mistakes" which were both these originally recorded in June 2013. Melanie also decided to rework 2013 EP tracks such as "A Million Men", "Birthing Addicts" and "Dear Porcupines", but it's unknown if she ever got around to actually remaking them. "A Thousand Words" was also considered for inclusion on the project but it's believed that she was simply going to use the EP version from 2013 as it seems to fit the album's sound during that time period.

"Bones Are Blue", "Night Mime" and "Rough Love" are 2013 EP tracks that were actually known to be reworked for Cry Baby. The new version of "Night Mime" was recorded in late 2013 and produced by Robopop which then got performed live multiple times in 2014.

The "Bones Are Blue" and "Rough Love" remakes were made in February 2014 with production by Redd Lights, following Melanie's Gramercy Theatre performance earlier that month. Melanie didn't acknowledge the 2 songs at all after reworking them and never performed them again, so it's possible she scrapped them due to being unsatisfied with the new versions.

"Coloring Book" was a title Melanie was considering for the album. It was later proven to be a real song, meant to replace Cry Baby. "Coloring Book's" lyrics gives a rough idea of the album's earliest story-driven version, including the tracklist, although nothing is 100% accurate.

Music Videos

No.	Title	Release Date	Length
1.	Cry Baby	March 14, 2016	6:06
2.	Dollhouse	February 9, 2014	4:25
3.	Sippy Cup	July 31, 2015	3:21
4.	Carousel	October 15, 2014	3:50
5.	Alphabet Boy	June 2, 2016	4:20
6.	Soap	November 18, 2015	4:24
7.	Training Wheels	November 18, 2015	3:49
8.	Pity Party	June 1, 2015	3:39
9.	Tag, You're It	August 23, 2016	3:14
10.	Milk and Cookies	August 23, 2016	3:30
11.	Pacify Her	November 15, 2016	3:45
12.	Mrs. Potato Head	December 1, 2016	5:32
13.	Mad Hatter	September 23, 2017	4:38

Digital Booklet

• Front Cover
• Credits
• Tracklist

1/18

Melanie Martinez Unboxing Cry Baby Storybook CD

Gallery

Main article: Cry Baby (Album)/Gallery.

Tracklist

Logo

Cry Baby Picture Disc Vinyl

Hot Topic Exclusive vinyl

Cassettes

Standard Album

Trivia

• Before deciding the album's title, "Animal Crackers", "Toy Chest" and "Coloring Book" were also considered for it.
• Melanie's favorite song on the album is "Mrs. Potato Head".
• "Alphabet Boy" is the longest song on this album, both on the deluxe and standard version, with the song length at 4 minutes and 13 seconds. "Tag, You're It" is the shortest song on the standard version of the album, lasting for 3 minutes and 9 seconds. "Play Date" is overall the shortest song on the deluxe version of the album, at 2 minutes and 59 seconds long.
• The music video for "Dollhouse" was fan fund, while the music videos for all the other songs were made with a budget from Atlantic Records.
• All songs on the standard album have been certified gold by RIAA. Two songs from the deluxe edition, Cake and Play Date, have also been certified gold, making Teddy Bear the only song on the album that is not certified.
  • "Dollhouse", "Pity Party", "Soap", "Mad Hatter", "Carousel" and "Play Date" have also been certified Platinum.
    • "Dollhouse" is certified 2x Multi-Platinum.
  • 15 songs from the album have been certified; This means that Cry Baby currently has the most certified songs on one album created by a female artist.
• In some of the physical storybooks, there is a spelling mistake with the word "vulnerable" on the page for Tag, You're It. It is misspelt as "vunerable".
• Later in 2016, "Hot Topic" released a special pink/white exclusive vinyl.
• There are three different vinyl records of this album.
• The album has surpassed 1.2 billion streams on Spotify.
  • The deluxe version of this album has gathered over 2.5 billion streams on Spotify alone.
• The album cover was taken by "Lissy Laricchia".
• In an interview with the TikTok Summer Songwriting Academy, Melanie stated that she 'wanted Cry Baby to have a film attached to it' along the lines of how K-12 was made.
• As of December 3, 2020, Martinez set most of the official audios on YouTube as "unlisted", those audios being: "Cry Baby", "Soap", "Pacify Her", "Mad Hatter", "Dollhouse", "Sippy Cup", "Carousel", and "Pity Party".
  • All the other official audios are still up on Melanie's YouTube channel, including the official audios for "Play Date", "Teddy Bear", and "Cake".