Cry Me a River (Arthur Hamilton song)  

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"Cry Me a River" (1953) is a American song written by Arthur Hamilton. It is about a break-up.

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 record producer insisted Hamilton remove the word "plebeian" since "audiences wouldn't accept a black woman in the 1950s using that word.". 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 (2005).

In 1970, British blues rocker Joe Cocker made the chart with a 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.

Another cover version of the song by Mari Wilson featured as theme music for the British televison series, McCallum (1995–6).

Versions in other languages

Selective list of recorded versions




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Cry Me a River (Arthur Hamilton song)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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