For Your Babies


"For Your Babies" is a 1991 song by British soul and pop band Simply Red. Written by Mick Hucknall, it was included on the band's 1991 album, Stars, and reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart in February 1992. It also reached the Top 20 in Ireland, and the Top 30 in Austria and Belgium. The track was included on the band's compilation albums, Greatest Hits in 1996, in 2008 and Songs of Love in 2010. It was also featured on the band's acoustic album Simplified in a new version.

Critical reception

from Billboard wrote that Mick Hucknall "offers an unusually restrained and completely effective performance on this delicately arranged R&B gem." Writing for CultureSonar, Ellen Fagan wrote that Hucknall "was never more appealing than in this ballad of a proud dad serenading his little child with loving hopes for his future during the sleepless days of early parenthood. Hucknall had his first baby decades after this was written, so his ability to conjure up such a scenario is deliciously prescient." Music & Media described the song as a "very gentle, vulnerable pop ballad, thoughtfully arranged and featuring some fine Spanish acoustic guitar licks."
musicOMH said that "For Your Babies" is a "perfect romantic ballad". Newcastle Journal noted it as a "honest ballad". People added that Hucknall's singing "is still the hook in Simply Red's music, sliding gently in a pillow-soft upper register." Pop Rescue labeled the song as "a wonderfully gentle track, laden with piano, bass, and acoustic guitar." They added that Hucknall "takes a leisurely stroll through the lyrics." Karla Peterson from The Press-Courier called it "a tender tribute to parenthood in times of trouble". Johnny Dee from Smash Hits labeled it as a "soulful, smoochy track".

Track listing

Charts