How John Morgan's 'Cry Baby' Started With an Apology
An apology at home became the starting point for a new country song. Billboard has published a Makin' Tracks feature on John Morgan's 'Cry Baby', tracing how the song was written.
Makin' Tracks is Billboard's series that goes back to the writing room and asks the people in it how a song came together. According to Billboard, the idea came from Tully Kennedy. Around his 20th wedding anniversary, he said to his wife, "sorry I made you cry, baby." That line stayed with him.
The song was written by Kennedy, Kurt Allison and Lydia Vaughan. They met for a writing session on April 11, 2025, at BMG Music on Nashville's Music Row, the district where many music publishers and record companies have their offices. A writing session is a planned meeting where songwriters work on a song together, often for a few hours in one room.
Allison created the musical track. Billboard describes it as moody and introspective, a backing that suits a song about hurting someone you love and wanting to put it right.
The chorus opens with a different line: "I don't wanna make you cry, baby." The phrase turns the original apology into a promise, and it is the part of the song most listeners will hear first.
Most songs are written in rooms like this one and never leave them. The story of 'Cry Baby' shows how a single sentence, said in a marriage, can be carried into a song written with two collaborators in Nashville.
