Cry Me a River (Justin Timberlake song)
"Cry Me a River" is a song by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake for his debut solo album, Justified (2002). It was thought to be inspired by Timberlake's former relationship with singer Britney Spears. Jive Records released the song to contemporary hit and rhythmic radio in the United States on November 25, 2002, as the album's second single. Accompanied by an electric piano, beatbox, guitars, synthesizers, Arabian-inspired riffs and Gregorian chants, "Cry Me a River" is a pop and R&B song about a brokenhearted man who moves on from his past.
"Cry Me a River" received acclaim from music critics, who praised Timbaland's production while calling it a standout track on Justified. The song earned several lists of best of the year and the decade (2000s), while Rolling Stone included it on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at 484. It won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2004 ceremony. The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Pop Songs charts and charted in the top ten in other countries. It was certified double platinum by both the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Filmmaker Francis Lawrence directed the music video for "Cry Me a River" at 24860 Pacific Coast Hwy in Malibu, California. In the controversial video, Timberlake's character invades the home of his ex-lover and films himself having sexual activity with another woman. Spears alleged that the video was a publicity stunt, but Timberlake maintained that she did not inspire the production. In 2011, however, Timberlake admitted his breakup with Spears inspired the video. The clip won the awards for Best Male Video and Best Pop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. Timberlake performed "Cry Me a River" on his four major concert tours: The Justified World Tour (2003–2004), Justified and Stripped Tour (2003), FutureSex/LoveShow (2007), and The 20/20 Experience World Tour (2013–2015). The song has been covered by various artists, without chart success.
Release and response[edit]
"Cry Me a River" was released as the second single from Justified.[3] Jive Records serviced the song to contemporary and rhythmic radio in the United States on November 25, 2002.[8][9] On December 23, three remixes were released as a 12-inch single in Canada and France.[10][11] On January 5, 2003, the song was sent to urban contemporary radio stations in the US.[12] It was released as a CD single in Germany on January 23. The single contains the album version of the song and the remixes on its 12-inch single release.[13] A CD single, which included Johnny Fiasco's remix of the song and two additional remixes of "Like I Love You", was released on February 3 and 6 in the United Kingdom and Canada, respectively.[14][15] "Cry Me a River" was released as a CD single in the US on February 18. The single features the album version of the song, its instrumental and four remixes.[16]
Following its release, there was media speculation that Spears had written a song as a response to "Cry Me a River";[3] she denied the rumors, explaining, "You know, it's funny. I read that I wrote this song and I wrote these lyrics and that's not my style. I would never do that."[17] Annet Artani, who co-wrote Spears' 2003 song "Everytime", stated that the song was written as a response to "Cry Me a River".[18] When asked during an interview with Diane Sawyer on PrimeTime in 2003, if "Everytime" was about Timberlake, Spears responded, "I'll let the song speak for itself."[19]
Composition and lyrical interpretation[edit]
"Cry Me a River" is a pop[23][24] and R&B song[25] with an instrumentation that features clavinet, guitars,[1][21] beatboxing,[22] synthesizers, Arabian-inspired riffs and Gregorian chants.[20] The instruments are arranged into what critics described as a graceful and mysterious melody.[20] Jane Stevenson of Jam! said the single combines gospel and opera.[26] Tyler Martin of Stylus Magazine enjoyed the way that the song unconventionally mixed a range of experimental sounds.[27] According to Martin, the wave synth affects the real strings to create an unusual dissonance.[27] The song's chorus devolves into a choral reading in which Timberlake pleads over the group. "Cry Me a River" finishes with a Timbaland vocal sample heard during the chorus.[27]
"Cry Me a River" is written in the key of G♯ minor, in alla breve, with a tempo of 74 beats per minute.[21] Timberlake's vocal range spans from the low note of C♯3 to the high note of B4.[21] Billboard magazine critics called "Cry Me a River" a bittersweet song, in which the singer's "familiar tenor belting" is tempered with a soulful falsetto and a "convincingly aggressive rock-spiked baritone" rasp.[28] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly labeled the song "a haunted, pained farewell".[29]
Lyrically, the song is about a heartbroken man who moves on from his past.[30] A Rolling Stone reviewer called the song a "breakup aria".[31] According to Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian, "Cry Me a River" stands out for its "slow-building sense of drama", which highlights Timberlake at his "husky best".[32] The song begins with the phrase "You were my sun, you were my earth", which according to Timbaland was Timberlake's inspiration to write the song.[6][21] Tanya L. Edwards of MTV News observed that Timberlake was lied to and wronged, and said this is demonstrated by the lyrics: "You don't have to say whatcha did / I already know, I found out from him / Now there's just no chance."[33] The chorus contains the lines: "Told me you loved me, why did you leave me all alone / Now you tell me you need me when you call me on the phone."[34] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani called Timberlake's 2007 single "What Goes Around... Comes Around" an ostensible sequel to "Cry Me a River" both lyrically and musically.[35] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard stated that aside from the presence of Timbaland's "fantastically cluttered production", the difference between "Cry Me a River" and Timberlake's 2013 single "Mirrors" is clear: "10 years ago, Timberlake was broken, and now he is whole".[36]
Commercial performance[edit]
"Cry Me a River" debuted at number 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated December 21, 2002, earning the Hot Shot Debut honor with 29.6 million audience impressions.[54] On February 1, 2003, the single reached a peak of number three, becoming Timberlake's first solo single to reach that position.[55] The song debuted on the US Pop Songs chart at number 37 in the issue dated December 14, 2002[56] and reached a peak of three on February 1, 2003.[57] For the issue dated December 28, 2002, "Cry Me a River" debuted at number 75 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[58] It reached a peak of 11 on March 8, 2003.[59] It also peaked at number two on the US Hot Dance Club Songs, becoming Timberlake's second top-three song, after his debut single "Like I Love You" reached number one.[60] As of August 2003, remixes of the single have sold more than 61,000 units in the United States.[61] As of 2018, the song has sold 1.2 million copies in the country.[62]
The song debuted at number two on the Australian Singles Chart on March 9, 2003.[63] It fell to number six in the following week. "Cry Me a River" became Timberlake's first top-three solo single on the chart.[63] The song remained on the chart for 12 consecutive weeks. It was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 35,000 units.[64] The single debuted at number 44 in New Zealand on March 9, 2003. After two weeks on the chart, it reached a peak of 11. It remained on the chart for 11 weeks.[65]
In the United Kingdom, "Cry Me a River", debuted at number two on February 15, 2003.[66] The next week it fell to number three, before returning to its original peak on March 1, 2003; it stayed on the chart for 13 weeks.[67] The song has sold over 365,000 copies in the country as of 2015.[68] It debuted at number 14 on the French Singles Chart on April 5, 2003. After three weeks, "Cry Me a River" peaked at number six, and it stayed on the chart for 21 weeks.[69] It was less successful on the Italian Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 14 and stayed on the chart for four weeks.[70] "Cry Me a River" also peaked at number five in Belgium (Wallonia),[71] at number six in the Republic of Ireland[72] and the Netherlands,[73] at number seven in Belgium (Flanders),[74] and at number 10 in Germany,[75] Norway,[76] and Sweden.[77]
Music video[edit]
Development and release[edit]
The music video for "Cry Me a River" was directed by Francis Lawrence, and filmed in Malibu, California on October 22, 2002.[3] Lawrence created the video's concept and told MTV News, "[Justin and I] had a conversation on the phone and all he said was he wanted to have some dancing in it, but to do my thing. He told me what the song was about, but in a [general way] as well. He just said it was a kiss-off song and so I came up with this idea and he went for it."[78] Though the name "Britney" was not allowed in the video or on set, Lawrence alluded to Spears the best he could.[79] He explained: "There was just this unspoken agreement between [Justin and I]. Because [Justin and Britney] were on the same label; that's part of the reason I thought the label would never, ever go for it. It was all about implying certain things, there's little elements and details that play throughout [the video] and tie it in."[79] Timberlake enjoyed these details, or clues, which included a reference to Spears's tattoo[78] and her newsboy hat.[80]
Live performances[edit]
Timberlake performed "Cry Me a River" for the first time on an episode of TRL, the same day as the release of Justified.[97] He again performed the song at the 13th annual Billboard Music Awards, held on December 9, 2002, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. He was accompanied by a string section and a 20-member choir.[98] He also performed the song on the Justified World Tour (2003–04), his first worldwide tour.[99] The song was eighth on the set list of Justified/Stripped Tour (2003), his joint North American tour with Christina Aguilera. Timberlake performed "Cry Me a River" on a promotional concert held at House of Blues in West Hollywood, California on June 17, 2003.[100] He performed a rock-inspired version of the song on Saturday Night Live on October 11, 2003;[101] and it was fourteenth on the set list of his second worldwide tour, FutureSex/LoveShow (2007).[102] During his world tour in Zürich, Switzerland, in August 2007, Timberlake performed "Cry Me a River" and segued into the chorus of "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse.[103][104]
On October 23, 2010, while performing at the annual charity gig "Justin Timberlake and Friends" in Las Vegas, Timberlake began the show with a slow and "sultry" performance of "Cry Me a River" and segued into a cover of Bill Withers' 1971 single "Ain't No Sunshine".[105] He later resumed "Cry Me a River" before segueing into a cover of Drake's 2010 song "Over". Jillian Mapes of Billboard described the performance as "completely lovely in an effortless sort of way."[105] Timberlake performed "Cry Me a River" at concert he held during the 2013 Super Bowl weekend in New Orleans.[106] Timberlake performed "Cry Me a River" in a medley with other of his songs at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. After the performance he accepted a Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the ceremony.[107] Timberlake included the single on the set list of his fifth worldwide concert tour, The 20/20 Experience World Tour (2013–15).[108]
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Justified.[1]
Recording and mixing
Personnel