Cry Me a River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the original "Cry Me a River". For the song with the same title by Justin Timberlake see "Cry Me a River" (Justin Timberlake song). For the Joyce Carol Oates stage play, see Black (play).

"Cry Me a River" is a popular song. It was written by Arthur Hamilton and was published in 1953. It is about a loss of a relationship.

A torchy, jazzy blues tune, "Cry Me a River" was originally written for Ella Fitzgerald to sing in the film Pete Kelly's Blues (1955). But the producer insisted Hamilton remove the word "plebeian" since "audiences wouldn't accept a black woman in the 1950s using that word."^{[citation needed]}. Hamilton tried but eventually refused to make the change, and 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. This version featured in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It and was released as a single in April 1957 (UK #22). More recently, the song has featured on the soundtracks of the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006).

In 1970, British Blues Rocker Joe Cocker made the charts with a rendition in his classically gravelly voice 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.

[edit] 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.
Spanish - "Te Lloré Un Río", recorded by Maná
Finnish - "Joet tulvimaan itke" was recorded by the Harmony sisters in 1956 with lyrics by Saukki.