Released: November 23, 1993

Songwriter: DeVante Swing

Producer: DeVante Swing

[Intro, spoken]
Without you, baby
I feel worthless
I'm living on the edge

[Verse 1]
It's been an hour since you've been gone
And that's too long, so come back home
I can't live without you
So I'll cry for you
Do anything that I can
To feel that touch from your hand
Sorry that I want you
Lady, what do I do?
You know...

[Pre-Chorus]
You're everything I knew
Ooh yeah
Do what you want me to
I would do anything
Get on my knees for you
Ooh, baby
What else is there to do?
I don't know, I don't know
But I'll cry

[Chorus]
Lady, I will cry for you tonight, tonight
(Yeah)
Lady, I will cry for you tonight, tonight
(Well-l-l, well
Help me out
Help me out, yeah)

[Verse 2]
You spoil me girl, like a child
When you're not here, I can't even smile
I can't think without you
My mind is always with you
It's amazing what you do
To keep me falling in love with you
Girl you all that I know
Where else can I go?
I say...

[Pre-Hook]

[Hook, extended]
Lady, I will cry for you tonight
(Ooh, ooh, no, no, no)
Lady, I will cry for you tonight, tonight
(Help me out baby
Help me out baby, yes
I don’t know how else to say it
I don’t know what else to say
K-Ci help me sing it)
(JoJo, I’m right here, yes I am
I will cry for you lady
Sometimes my pillow gets so wet with tears
I don't have no one to call my own
I want you back, baby
Ooh yeah)

[Bridge]
Baby I’m begging, baby I’m begging, begging, baby
(Said I’m beggin’)
Baby I’m begging, baby I’m begging, begging, baby
(uh, Lord have mercy)
(Say I’m begging)
Baby I’m begging, baby I’m begging, begging, baby
(I just can’t take it no more
I don’t give a damn anymore, baby)
Baby I’m begging, baby I’m begging, begging, baby
(Come back, come on back)
Is there anybody out there know what I’m talking about
Somebody, anybody)
Jodeci, let me here you say, YEAH-a, a, ah

[Outro]
Baby, I’m begging, baby, I’m begging, begging, baby

Jodeci

Started in 1983, Jodeci is comprised of two sets of brothers—Cedric and Joel Hailey (also known as K-Ci and JoJo) and Donald and Dalvin Degrate (also known as DeVante Swing and Mr. Dalvin). Jodeci were once known as the “bad boys of R&B,” notable particularly because they were actually boys at the time, breaking out as teenagers in 1991 with their debut album and its title ballad, “Forever My Lady.” Natives of North Carolina, they were discovered by Heavy D, who overheard their demo when an A&R at Uptown was in the process of passing on them. Heavy D introduced Jodeci to Uptown founder Andre Harrell, who signed them after they sang in his office, and handed them off to his then-protégé Puff Daddy, who outfitted the group in dark shades and coordinating leather ensembles. The look, along with the streetwise soul found in songs like “Cry 4 U” and “Feenin” (as well as a few run-ins with the law) made them the antithesis to good-guy personas of then-peaking R&B superstars Boyz II Men. Devante, who along with Mr. Dalvin held down production duties for the group, founded the Swing Mob, a collective responsible for the discovery of musical geniuses like Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and Static Major. As a group, Jodeci would go on to release three critically-acclaimed album in the ‘90s, before disappearing from the limelight. K-Ci and JoJo splintered off as a duo in 1997, producing hit single “All My Life” and, eventually, five albums, but adoring fans never let go of their Jodeci obsession. In March, the group released The Past, The Present, The Future, the first Jodeci album in two decades. Jodeci, if y'all reading this, where’d you go?