"Crying" is a song written by

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

and Joe Melson for Orbison's third studio album of the same name (1962). Released in 1961, it was a number 2 hit in the US for Orbison and was covered in 1980 by Don McLean, whose version went to number 1 in the UK.

Composition

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic, and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone (magazine), ...

calls the song a "

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

" with "blaring strings, hammered

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

, a ghostly chorus, the gentle strum of a guitar, nda hint of

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

". ''

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 ...

'' observes an "expressive reading" on the "

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 ...

-flavored ballad." The personnel on the original recording included Orbison session regulars

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

on bass;

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signature ...

on piano; Buddy Harman on drums; and Boudleaux Bryant,

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

, and Scotty Moore on guitar.

Release and reception

The song was released as a 45-rpm single by Monument Records in mid-July 1961 and reached No. 1 on the United States '' Cashbox'' chart for a week on October 7, 1961. On the rival ''Billboard'' Hot 100 it peaked at No. 2, where "

Hit the Road Jack "Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues singer Percy Mayfield and recorded by Ray Charles. The song was a US number 1 hit in 1961, and won a Grammy award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording, becoming one of Charles' signat ...

" by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

and his Orchestra kept it from No. 1. Despite not reaching the summit in the latter publication, ''Billboard'' ranked the record as the No. 4 song of

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. In 2002, "Crying" was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. In 2010, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked it 69th on their list of the "

500 greatest songs of all time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Don McLean version

Don McLean's recording of the song went to No. 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 1981. His version of "Crying" also reached No. 2

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

and No. 6 Country. It fared even better in the UK, where it reached No. 1 in 1980, spending three weeks atop 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 ...

. McLean issued an album in 1981; however, "Crying" was taken from his 1978 album, '' Chain Lightning''. It became his second biggest hit in America.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Roy Orbison and k.d. lang version

Orbison rerecorded the song as a duet with

k.d. lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop (music), pop and country music, country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical perfor ...

as part of the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

'' Hiding Out'' and released it as a single in 1987. Their collaboration won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. It reached No. 2 in Lang's native Canada but was a minor US chart hit for the pair, peaking at No. 28 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart and No. 42 on the Hot Country Singles chart. It was a more substantial hit in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1992, reaching No. 13 on the

and No. 9 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. In 1993, the song re-charted on the US Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at No. 40.

Track listings

7-inch and cassette single (1987, 1992) # "Crying" (with k.d. lang) – 3:48 # "Falling" – 2:22 UK CD1 and Australian CD single (1992) # "Crying" (with k.d. lang) # "Falling" # "

Oh, Pretty Woman "Oh, Pretty Woman" or simply "Pretty Woman" is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 fro ...

" # "

She's a Mystery to Me "She's a Mystery to Me" is a song by Roy Orbison, written by Bono and the Edge of U2. It was released on Orbison's final (posthumous) album, ''Mystery Girl'' (also inspiring the album title), and as the album's second single in March 1989. The so ...

" UK CD2 (1992) # "Crying" (with k.d. lang) # "Falling" # " Only the Lonely" # " It's Over"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Notable cover versions

* A version by Jay and the Americans reached No. 25 in the US in 1966. * Three other cover versions made country music charts over time. Charting with the song were: ** Del Shannon (1964) **

Arlene Harden Ava "Arlene" Harden (born March 1, 1945) is an American country music singer. Between 1966 and 1968, she was one-third of The Harden Trio, which comprised her brother, Bobby and sister, Robbie. Arlene recorded for Columbia Records as a solo artis ...

(No. 28 in 1970), **

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, ...

(No. 79 in 1976) **

Stephanie Winslow Stephanie Winslow (born August 27, 1956 in Yankton, South Dakota) is an American country artist. In the late 70s and 80s, she had a series of hit singles on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. Career In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wins ...

(No. 14 in 1980 we). *

Rebekah Del Rio Rebekah Del Rio (born 10 July 1967) is an American singer/songwriter and actress from Chula Vista, California. The San Diego Union-Tribune voted Del Rio one of the "Top 10 Singers in San Diego", after which she moved to Los Angeles in 1989 to f ...

performed an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

version of the song entitled "Llorando" in the 2001

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

film '' Mulholland Drive''.Taubin, Amy (September–October 2001). "In Dreams", Film Comment, 37 (5), p. 51–55.

Appearances in film, television and other media

* US presidential candidate

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

mentioned this song among his top 10 songs of all time in March 2012. * In 2011, "Crying" was featured in the American comedy-drama film ''50/50''. * "Crying" was featured in an episode of '' Only Fools and Horses''. The episode " Stage Fright" featured Raquel and a guest character (Tony Angelino, played by Philip Pope) singing this song at a function. Angelino had a

rhotacism Rhotacism () or rhotacization is a sound change that converts one consonant (usually a voiced alveolar consonant: , , , or ) to a rhotic consonant in a certain environment. The most common may be of to . When a dialect or member of a language fa ...

, causing him to pronounce his ''R''s incorrectly. * "Crying" is featured near the start of the first of the Australian telemovie trilogy ''

Small Claims Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may b ...

'' starring

Rebecca Gibney Rebecca Catherine Gibney (born 14 December 1964) is a New Zealand actress known for her roles on Australian television in ''The Flying Doctors'', ''Halifax f.p.'', ''Packed to the Rafters'', ''Winter (TV series), Winter'' and ''Wanted (2016 Aus ...

and

Claudia Karvan Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress, producer and scriptwriter. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film, '' Molly'' (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in ''High Tide'' (1987). She portrayed a teacher in ...

. * "Crying" was featured in the 1997

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

movie '' Gummo''. After huffing glue, Tummler remarks that his transgender sibling used to sing "Crying". Tummler then proceeds to weakly sing parts of the song. The original version of the song is used during the last scenes of the movie. * The song is featured in the 1999 film '' Paperback Hero'', sung by Hugh Jackman and

. * "Llorando" was featured in a famous scene in '' Mulholland Drive'' and during the closing scenes of ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial drama television show, television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purce ...

'' in season 3. * In '' Ally McBeal'', season 2 episode 6 "Worlds Without Love", "Crying" is sung by Vonda Shepard. * In '' Sports Night'', season 2, episode 14 ("And the Crowd Goes Wild"), Casey McCall wears sunglasses during the course of a day following an eye exam. His colleagues ridicule him for this, one of them saying, "Hit the high note in 'Crying' and I'll be impressed," in reference to Orbison and his trademark sunglasses. * In '' Castle Rock'', Season 1, episode 4 ("The Box"), the song plays over character Dennis Zalewski's shooting rampage through Shawshank Prison. * In AMC's '' The Walking Dead'', "Crying" is used to psychologically break down Daryl Dixon in the Season 7 Episode,

The Cell (The Walking Dead) "The Cell" is the third episode of the seventh season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series '' The Walking Dead'', which aired on AMC on November 6, 2016. The episode was written by Angela Kang and directed by Alrick Riley. The episo ...

. * In '' Bates Motel'', "Crying" is played over the end scene in Season 5 Episode 6, Marion (Bates Motel). * In '' Mindhunter'', "Crying" (Don McLean version) is played in episode 1, season 1.

References

External links

"Crying"
at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crying (Song) 1960s ballads 1961 singles 1980 singles 1987 singles 1992 singles Country ballads Monument Records singles Virgin Records singles Songs written by Roy Orbison Songs written by Joe Melson Roy Orbison songs K.d. lang songs Billy Joe Royal songs Don McLean songs Jay and the Americans songs Arlene Harden songs Ronnie Milsap songs Stephanie Winslow songs Glen Campbell songs La India songs Cashbox number-one singles RPM Country Tracks number-one singles of the year UK Singles Chart number-one singles Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Rock ballads Torch songs Male–female vocal duets Song recordings produced by Fred Foster Song recordings produced by Don Was Song recordings produced by Pete Anderson 1961 songs Millennium Records singles Songs about loneliness