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 […]