| Written by | Arthur Hamilton |
|---|---|
| Published | 1953 |
| Recorded by | Julie London Ella Fitzgerald |
"Cry Me a River" is a popular American torch song, written by Arthur Hamilton and first published in 1953.
A jazzy blues ballad, "Cry Me a River" was originally written for Ella Fitzgerald to sing in the 1920s-set film, Pete Kelly's Blues (released 1955) but the song was dropped. Fitzgerald first released a recording of the song on Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! in 1961.
The song's first release and most famous recording was by actress/singer Julie London in 1955. A sultry performance of the song by London in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It helped to make it a million-selling blockbuster (#9 US/#22 UK).
In 1970, British blues rocker Joe Cocker made the chart with an upbeat hard-rock rendition on the album, Mad Dogs and Englishmen. In 1995, British actress Denise Welch's double A-side "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" / "Cry Me a River" spent three weeks in the UK Singles Chart, reaching #23. In 2009, Canadian singer Michael Bublé entered the charts with a big-band jazz version, which is also the opening track of his fourth album "Crazy Love". This version of the song was used in the BBC's advertising for, and theme music for coverage of, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Versions in other languages
- Portuguese - "Chora um Rio" was composed by Artur Nestrovsky and released by Ná Ozzetti and André Mehmari
- French - "Pleurer Des Rivières", translated by Boris Bergman, recorded by Viktor Lazlo in 1985 and Eddy Mitchell in 2009
- French - "Noir Est Ta Couleur", adaptation by Christophe, recorded by Christophe in 1983
- Spanish - "Tu No Me Llores" recorded by Mari Wilson
- Finnish - "Joet tulvimaan itke" was recorded by the Harmony Sisters in 1956 and by Carola in 1986 with lyrics by Saukki.
Other recordings
- American rock band Aerosmith covered Cry Me a River on their 1982 studio album, Rock in a Hard Place.
- The song is featured on the soundtracks of the films Passion of Mind (2000), Repo Men (2010), and V for Vendetta (2006).
- Another cover version of the song by Mari Wilson was featured as theme music for the British television series, McCallum (1995–96). She had previously recorded it in 1983 and scored a UK #27 hit with it.
- Cher performed this song live on her "The Cher Show" in 1975.
- Giorgio Moroder used the 6 notes corresponding to "Now you say you love me" to create part of the soundtrack of "Midnight Express" in 1978.
- Borgore made a Dubstep remix in 2009.
- Susan Boyle recorded this on her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream, in 2009. The Scottish singer originally recorded the song in 1999 on a charity single. After Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent generated global interest in her, her performance of this song was uploaded onto YouTube and quickly became an internet sensation.[1]
- Sylvia Brooks recorded this song on her Dangerous Liaisons album, recorded and released in 2009. [2]
- Sampled in the song "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" on the Tough Guys Don't Dance album by High Contrast.
