Cry Me a River

Cry Me A River

Arthur Hamilton later said of the song: “I had never heard the phrase. I just liked the combination of words… Instead of ‘Eat your heart out’ or ‘I’ll get even with you,’ it sounded like a good, smart retort to somebody who had hurt your feelings or broken your heart.” He was initially concerned that listeners would hear a reference to the Crimea, rather than “..cry me a…”, but said that “..sitting down and playing the melody and coming up with lyrics made it a nonissue.”

A bluesy jazz ballad, “Cry Me a River” was originally written for Ella Fitzgerald to sing in the 1920s-set film Pete Kelly’s Blues (released 1955). According to Hamilton, he and Julie London had been high school classmates, and she contacted him on behalf of her husband, Jack Webb, who was the film’s director and was looking for new songs for its soundtrack. After the song was dropped from the film, Fitzgerald first released her version on Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! in 1961. The song was also offered to Peggy King, but Columbia Records A&R chief Mitch Miller objected to the word “plebeian” in the lyric.

The song’s first release was by actress and singer Julie London on Liberty Records in 1955, backed by Barney Kessel on guitar and Ray Leatherwood on double bass. London had been urged to record the song by Bobby Troup, whom she would later marry after her divorce from Webb. A performance of the song by London in the 1956 film The Girl Can’t Help It, helped to make it a bestseller (reaching no. 9 on US and no. 22 on the UK Singles Chart). It became a gold record, and in 2016, it was inducted by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry.

Intro 2X (Am   Am6 Dm6 E7) 2x  

|Am   | Am6   | Am7 | Am/F#     | Dm7 | G7  G7#5 | CM7 |
Now you say you’re lonely,   You cry the whole night through,
|  Bm7 E7  | Em7     | A7#5 |  D9 | D9 |                                    
Well, you can cry me a river             cry me a river

 Dm7    | Dm7/G  | C6 | B7b9 Bb7b9      

 I cried a river over you.

|Am   | Am6   | Am7 | Am/F#     | Dm7 | G7  G7#5 | CM7 |
Now you say you’re sorry,     For bein’ so un.. true,
|  Bm7 E7  | Em7     | A7#5 |  D9 | D9 |    
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river,
|  Dm7 |       Dm7/G | C6   | F#m7b5 B7b9 
I cried a river over you.

Em     |     Em |   Am6 | B7
You drove me, nearly drove me, out of my head,
      Em |    C#m7b5 |   Am6/C | B7sus   B7
while you never shed a tear.

Em              Em       Am6/C B7sus B7
Remember…I remember all that you said…
|   E             | E |                 Bm7 |         E7
told me love was too plebeian,  told me you were through with me…and…        
Am       Am6   Am7
Now you say you love me,
Dm7         G7 G7#5   CM7

Well, just to prove you do,
 

 Bm7  E7 Em7             A7#5 D9
Come on and cry me a river, cry me a river,
Dm7     Dm7/G     C6 (return E7#5b9)
I cried a river over you.

Songs don’t have to have a story behind them. Sometimes you can write a song because it just sounds freakin cool