Cry Me a River Introduction
In a Nutshell
You know what they say about young love? It's all fun and games until someone gets cheated on. After that, it's just "Cry Me a River" on repeat.Thanks, JT.
Back in 2002, they started issuing euros in France. There was a huge scandal surrounding a company called Enron. George Bush decided to not leave any children behind and created the Department of Homeland Security. The UN held a world summit on sustainable development. Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Queen Mother died.
The most important story of the year, though?
In commemoration of all that and more, Justin Timberlake wrote a song about his epically awful breakup with fellow pop superstar Britney Spears. Obviously.
And while we may have left No Child Left Behind...behind, "Cry me a river" is a phrase that we still grab out of our language catalog.
About the Song
| Artist | Justin Timberlake | Musician(s) | Justin Timberlake (vocals), Timbaland and Scott Storch (backup vocals); Bill Pettaway, Bernard Kenny (guitar); Charles Veal, Southwest Chamber Orchestra (strings), Damen Bennett (flute), Scott Storch (clavinet), Omar Edwards (keyboard), George "Spanky" McCurdy (drums), Vidal Davis (percussion) |
| Album | Justified | ||
| Year | 2002 | ||
| Label | Jive | ||
| Writer(s) | Justin Timberlake, Tim Mosley, Scott Storch | ||
| Producer(s) | Timbaland, Scott Storch | ||
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Learn to play: Guitar Buy this song: Amazon iTunes |
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Music Video
Shmoop Connections
Cheating and revenge are such glorious, depressing, enduring themes in American music and literature that we don't even know where to start.Actually, forget American music and literature. It's a global theme, as human as life, death, and taxes.
Think about Homer. In The Odyssey, unfaithful, sexual relationships are relatively commonplace. Or Shakespeare. Where to start when thinking about cheating in Shakespeare?
Shmoopers, we could watch a long line of cheating narratives unfold throughout history, from classics like The Great Gatsby to contemporary bestsellers like New Moon. Music's often nothing more than pretty-sounding storytelling, and the grand tradition of firing off a parting shot to a cheating lover is strong with singers as diverse as Hank Williams to Destiny's Child.
Admittedly, Justin Timberlake's situation in "Cry Me a River" is something of a special case. After all, the woman who supposedly cheated on him was one of the most famous women in America, so they were constantly staring out at Americans from grocery store magazine stacks. Both Justin and ex-girlfriend Britney Spears have gone back and forth dozens of times, and have topped it off by denying that their songs and videos have anything to do with each other.
What did all the cat-fighting get them? Fame, fame, money, and more fame.
As Jay-Z once said, "Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don't." Sounds about right to us.
On the Charts
"Cry Me a River" debuted at #2 in the UK and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.Justified spent 72 weeks on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, peaking at #2.
Rolling Stone included "Cry Me a River" on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at #484.
"Cry Me a River" won the 2004 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, while Justified took home the prize for Best Pop Vocal Album.