Cry Me a River (Justin Timberlake song)
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| “Cry Me a River” | |||||
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| Single by Justin Timberlake from the album Justified |
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| Released | December 17, 2002 | ||||
| Format | Digital download, CD single, 12" single | ||||
| Recorded | 2002 | ||||
| Genre | Pop, R&B | ||||
| Length | 4:48 | ||||
| Label | Jive | ||||
| Writer(s) | Justin Timberlake | ||||
| Producer | Timbaland and Scott Storch | ||||
| Justin Timberlake singles chronology | |||||
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| Timbaland singles chronology | |||||
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"Cry Me a River" is the second single from Justin Timberlake's solo debut album Justified. Released on December 17, 2002, the single, which features guest vocals and production by Timbaland and Scott Storch, won Timberlake a Grammy Award for "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" in 2004.
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[edit] Background information
The song is supposedly a re-telling of his split with Britney Spears[1], including accusations of her infidelity with lyrics like, "You don't have to say what you did/I already know, I found out from him/Now there's just no chance, for you and me, there'll never be/And don't it make you sad about it." The music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, depicts him exacting revenge upon Britney, portrayed by Lauren Hastings, by breaking into her house and filming himself with another woman kissing passionately, and watching as she returns to find the video playing on her television. The video's success started a feud between producer Timbaland and Scott Storch, who claimed he was uncredited for producing (the booklet credits him as clavinet player and writer). Both have released diss songs aimed at each other.
[edit] Reaction
Rumors of Britney Spears cheating as the underlying reason of their breakup eight months before had been surfacing for a while, and for many, the song and the music video confirmed their beliefs. US Weekly ran a cover story, titled "Britney Vs. Justin: The War Is On", immediately after the release of the video. Timberlake, however, said, "The video is not about her. The video is about me." [2] Spears responded "Boys will be boys."[citation needed]
[edit] Track Listings
US Maxi-CD
- Cry Me A River [Album Version]
- Cry Me A River [Instrumental]
- Cry Me A River [Dirty Vegas Vocal Mix]
- Cry Me A River [Junior's Vasquez Earth Club Mix]
- Like I Love you [Basement Jaxx Vocal Mix]
- Like I Love you [Deep Dish Zigzag Remix]
Pt. 1 [SINGLE]
- Cry Me A River [Original Version]
- Cry Me A River [Dirty Vegas Vocal Remix]
- Cry Me A River [Bill Hamel Vocal Remix]
- Cry Me A River [Enhanced Video]
Europe Single
- Cry Me a River [Album Version]
- Cry Me a River [Dirty Vegas Vocal Mix]
- Cry Me a River [Bill Hamel Vocal Remix]
- Like I Love You [Basement Jaxx Vocal Mix]
[edit] Remixes/official versions
- Album Version - 4:47
- Mash-Up Remix featuring 50 Cent - 5:13
- Official Remix featuring 50 Cent - 4:52
[edit] Chart performance
"Cry Me a River" peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was - at that point - Timberlake's most successful single, until "Sexyback" reached the number-one position in 2006. The track also peaked at #3 on the United World chart. In the UK, "Cry Me a River" peaked at #2 for two consecutive weeks (part of a long string of singles for Timberlake to just miss hitting the top, broken by "Sexyback" in 2006). In Australia, "Cry Me a River" debuted (and peaked) at #2 on the ARIA singles chart.
"Cry Me a River" also performed well in other countries, peaking at #6 in the Netherlands and France (Timberlake's first French Top 10 single and his highest charting hit until "What Goes Around... Comes Around" reached #5 in 2007). "Cry Me a River" reached the #10 position in both Sweden and Norway, and was a Top 20 success in New Zealand (#11), Finland (#19) and Switzerland (#20).
[edit] Cover versions
"Cry Me a River" was covered by Lostprophets as a B-side to their 2004 single "Last Train Home" as well as Hope Kills on their album One For The Saints, Two For The Sinners.
British cover band Ten Masked Men recorded a death metal version of the song. 50 Cent also collaborated with Timberlake on two remixes. One remix uses "The World" from 50 Cent's underground album God's Plan.
In 2006, New Found Glory covered the song for an online performance on Yahoo Music & Pepsi Smash's "Cover Art" feature. The video can be found on YouTube.
During a performance with The Rolling Stones at Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto in 2003, during the band's hit "Miss You", Mick Jagger sang the song's chorus several times with Timberlake, much to the crowd's delight (this performance can be found here).
The music video was also parodied in 2006 in Bob Sinclar's music video for "Rock This Party".
Glen Hansard and Colm Mac Con Iomaire of the Irish band The Frames recorded a cover version, for the Today FM album Even Better than the Real Thing.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (2002) | Peak |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [3] | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-hop songs | 11 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart [4] | 2 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart [5] | 11 |
| UK Singles Chart [6] | 2 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 6 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 22 |
| German Singles Chart | 13 |
| Austrian Singles Chart [7] | 29 |
| Netherlands Top 40 Singles [8] | 6 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart [9] | 10 |
| Swiss singles chart [10] | 20 |
| Swedish Singles Chart [11] | 10 |
| French Singles Chart [12] | 6 |
| United World Chart | 3 |
[edit] References
- ^ Justin, Britney At War? - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
- ^ Justin, Britney At War? - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
- ^ Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Justin Timberlake
- ^ australian-charts.com - Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River
- ^ charts.org.nz - Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River
- ^ Chart Stats - Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River
- ^ Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River - austriancharts.at
- ^ dutchcharts.nl - Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River
- ^ norwegiancharts.com - Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River
- ^ Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River - hitparade.ch
- ^ swedishcharts.com - Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River
- ^ lescharts.com - Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River
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