Baby Don’t Cry is Namie Amuro’s 30th single overall. It was used as the theme song for the dorama, Himitsu no Hanazono, while the B-Side, Nobody, was originally going to be the B-Side of the White Light / Violet Sauce single, before being taken down for unknown reasons and used on this single. It debuted at #3, which was also its weekly rank, and its peak daily and weekly rank. It has sold 144,081+ copies, and is her highest selling single since “RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE” from 1999. It was the #48 single of the year, and was released on the 24th of January, 2007.

Track Listing
1. Baby Don’t Cry
2. Nobody
3. Baby Don’t Cry (TV-MIX)
4. Nobody (TV-MIX)

While not as surprising as Ningyo, Baby Don’t Cry was also a shock, mainly because of it’s more pop-focused arrangement, while using less R&B elements. It has a way of reminding you of other pop music, yet it doesn’t pinpoint any particular song. It’s a mid-tempo song, and focuses a lot more on synth than CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK did, which was a shame, as I can imagine parts in this song where even an electric guitar would work… However, Namie’s vocal performance is of a much higher quality this time around, and while the verses aren’t exactly boring, once again the high point is the bridge and chorus. The way they were put together makes the song seem a lot more emotional, which is something I haven’t really seen Namie do in quite a while, as most of her songs lately seem to be about being fun to listen to instead of actually having this kind of personal message to it. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s great to hear something like this from Namie again.

Nobody is going to be a really familiar experience for many of us. It uses EXACTLY the same arrangement as White Light, and, until you reach the chorus, it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference. The song seems to have more trouble flowing than White Light did, and the end of the chorus ends up sounding awkward. It’s easy to see why it was left off of the White Light single… That’s not why it was (OR WAS IT?!), but still, it’s not as easy to listen to as White Light was. You can’t help but compare the two when you listen to them, and White Light definitely comes off as the stronger of the two. If there ever was a song made to be a B-Side, it was Nobody.

Overall Grade
B

Favorite Song
Baby Don’t Cry

Baby Don’t Cry is definitely one of my favorite singles for PLAY (CSCEIS just barely beats it), mainly due to its different sound compared to what we usually expect from Namie. It’s easy to see why it sold so well, but Nobody pretty much ruined the single; although not as much as previous B-Sides have, it did still lower the overall quality.