crying

"Crying" is a rock and roll ballad written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and sung by Orbison.

History

The song was released as a 45rpm single by Monument Records in July 1961 and went to No. 2 on the Billboard pop music charts.

The song contains "a vivid combination of hurtful romantic longing combined with near operatic vocals" (Roy Orbison Biography, no date). It is remarkable in that Roy Orbison begins singing the climactic, final note slightly flat, sliding up by the end of the note to just under the correct pitch. That this was done for effect was confirmed in a live performance, Live at Austin City Limits, as well as on the 1987 re-recording from the album In Dreams, on which he sang that note perfectly on key.

The song also appears on Orbison's 1962 album with the title Crying and his 1989 posthumous album A Black & White Night Live from the 1988 HBO television special.

In 1987, Orbison rerecorded the song as a duet with k.d. lang as part of the soundtrack for the motion picture, Hiding Out. Their collaboration won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Rebekah Del Rio performed an a cappella Spanish language version of the song, entitled "Llorando" in the 2001 David Lynch film Mulholland Dr. The song had also previously been used on the soundtrack for the 1997 cult film Gummo, directed by Harmony Korine, in which two of the central characters even discuss the song at length.

In 2002, "Crying" was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it #69 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

Carrie Underwood performed the song on the TV Talent show, American Idol (Season 4). She later went on to win the show, and is now a successful country music artist. The winner of Australian Idol Damien Leith also performed the song, in 2006.

In a 2006 poll for a Channel 5 program Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs, "Crying" was voted 13th.

Other versions

The Lettermen recorded a version of "Crying" in 1964; it was included on their album She Cried. A version by Jay and the Americans reached #25 in the US in 1966. Don McLean also recorded a version of "Crying" in 1978. By 1980, it was an international number one hit.

Other artists who have covered the song include Lyn Paul, Gene Pitney, Waylon Jennings, Del Shannon, Bobby Vinton ,Liza Minnelli and Vonda Shepard.

Popular Culture

• Crying was featured in an episode of Only Fools and Horses. The episode Stage Fright featured Raquel and a guest character Tony Angelino singing this song at a function. Unfortunately Tony had a rhotacism, causing him to pronounce his R's incorrectly, making "Crying" sound more like Cwying.
• Crying is featured near the start of the first of the Australian telemovie trilogy Small Claims staring Rebecca Gibney and Claudia Karvan.
• Crying was featured in the movie Gummo. After huffing glue, Tummler remarks that his cross-dressing brother 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.
• "Llorando," a Spanish version of "Crying," is featured in the movie Mulholland Drive performed at an eerie midnight theater called Club Silencio.
• Carrie Underwood performed this song in the Top 3 episode of the popular singing show American Idol. Underwood later won the competition.
• In the final round of the popular talent show America's Got Talent (season 2), ventriloquist Terry Fator made his puppet turtle Winston perform this song while impersonating Roy Orbison. Fator received the highest number of votes and won the competition and the one million dollar prize.
• In the movie Superbad, Michael Cera's character Evan has to sing "Crying" for some crackheads at a party due to mistaken identity.

External links

• Songfacts entry

References

Roy Orbison Biography. (no date). Retrieved July 19, 2006, from http://www.hotshotdigital.com/OldRock/RoyOrbisonBio.html

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