"Cryin'" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

. It was written by

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

, Joe Perry, and

Taylor Rhodes Taylor Laurence Rhodes is an American songwriter, producer, and musician from Nashville, Tennessee, most notable for his work with hard rock band Aerosmith since 1993. Music career 1980s In 1987, Rhodes co-wrote the lead-off minor hit title ...

. It was released by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

on June 20, 1993, as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their 11th studio album, ''

Get a Grip ''Get a Grip'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in April 1993 by Geffen Records. ''Get a Grip'' was the band's last studio album to be released by Geffen before they returned to Columbia Records. ''Get a Gr ...

''. The single reached number 12 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, ending the year at number 60 overall. The song is one of their most successful hits in Europe, reaching number one in Norway, number three in Iceland, Portugal, and Sweden, and number 17 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song went

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

in the United States for selling over 500,000 copies. The song's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

features

Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further prom ...

Stephen Dorff Stephen Hartley Dorff Jr. (born July 29, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Roland West in the third season of HBO's crime drama anthology series ''True Detective'', PK in '' The Power of One'', Stuart Sutcliffe in ''Backbe ...

and

Josh Holloway Josh Lee Holloway (born July 20, 1969) is an American actor best known for his roles as James "Sawyer" Ford on the television show ''Lost'' and as Will Bowman on the science fiction drama ''Colony''. Most recently he had a recurring role in sea ...

Background

Tyler described the song saying "It was

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

– we just Aerosmith’d it.”

Music video

The

for the song, directed by

Marty Callner Marty Callner (born 1950 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American television director, who has made music videos, comedy specials, concert specials, and television shows, in a career spanning from 1977 to present day. He is the creator of HBO's '' Ha ...

, features the first of three successive appearances by

in the band's videos, the next two being " Amazing" (1993) and "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

" (1994). Silverstone was 16 years old when "Cryin'" was filmed. In the video, the band performs in the Central Congregational Church in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

. The video flashes back and forth between the band and Silverstone, who plays a teen who has a falling out with her boyfriend (played by

) after catching him cheating. She feigns an attempt to kiss him, but instead leans away, annoying him. She then punches him and shoves him out of the car, leaving him in the dust. She begins a phase of rebellion and individuality and gets a

navel piercing Navel piercing (also referred to as a belly button piercing), a type of piercing located through the skin of the navel. It is most commonly located on the upper fold of skin, but can also be effected underneath or around the edges of the navel ...

, which has largely been credited as introducing navel piercing to mainstream culture. After having her purse stolen by another young man (played by then-unknown

of ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

''), she chases him down and knocks him to the ground. The video then cuts to her standing on the edge of an

overpass An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...

, contemplating jumping. Her ex-boyfriend arrives on the scene, along with numerous police officers, encouraging her to come down from the bridge. She jumps, but a bungee rope is revealed, arresting her fall and leaving her dangling over the freeway, laughing at Dorff's character. The video ends with the dangling Silverstone looking up and giving Dorff

the finger In Western culture, "the finger", or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger, the bird or flipping someone off) is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent i ...

. The video was a smash success on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, becoming the most requested video in 1993 and earning the band several awards at the

Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

Awards

MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, 1994 *

MTV Video Music Award for Viewer's Choice MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, 1994 *

MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Group (also known as the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video) is given to recording artists at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). The award was introduced at the inaugural ceremony in 1984 by vocalis ...

, 1994

Track listings

US and Canadian 7-inch and cassette single :A. "Cryin'" (LP version) – 5:08 :B. "Walk On Down" (LP version) – 3:39 UK CD single # "Cryin'" (LP version) – 5:08 # "Walk On Down" (LP version) – 3:39 # "

I'm Down "I'm Down" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on a non-album single as the B-side to "Help!" in July 1965. The song originated in McCartney's attempt ...

" (LP version) – 2:20 # " My Fist Your Face" (LP version) – 4:21 European CD single # "Cryin'" (LP version) – 5:08 # "Love in an Elevator" (LP version) – 5:22 # "

Janie's Got a Gun "Janie's Got a Gun" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith and written by Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton. The song was released as the second single from '' Pump'' in 1989, peaking at number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number ...

" (LP version) – 5:29 German 7-inch single :A. "Cryin'" – 5:08 :B. "

Love in an Elevator "Love in an Elevator" is a song performed by American Rock music, rock band Aerosmith, written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry. It was released in August 1989 as the lead Single (music), single from their third album with Geff ...

" – 5:22 French CD and cassette single # "Cryin'" (LP version) – 5:08 # "Janie's Got a Gun" (LP version) – 5:29 Australian CD single # "Cryin'" # "Janie's Got a Gun" # "Love in an Elevator"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryin 1992 songs 1993 singles Aerosmith songs Geffen Records singles MTV Video of the Year Award Music videos directed by Marty Callner Number-one singles in Norway Song recordings produced by Bruce Fairbairn Songs written by Joe Perry (musician) Songs written by Steven Tyler Songs written by Taylor Rhodes