About The Song
Orbison claimed to have written this as the result of an encounter he had with an old flame with whom he was still in love. He refused to say how much she meant to him, and when he ran into her again it was too late.
Roy Orbison explained in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh how he came to write this song: “I was dating a girl and we broke up. I went to the barber shop to get a haircut and I looked across the street and there was this girl that I had split up with. I wanted to go over and say, ‘Let’s forget about what happened and carry on’. But I was stubborn. So I got in the car and drove down the street about two blocks and said to myself, ‘Boy, you really made a mistake. You didn’t play that right at all.’ It certainly brought tears to my eyes and that’s how I came up with ‘Crying’.”
Orbison started writing this song for a country singer named Don Gibson; the working title was “Once Again.” Orbison’s songwriting partner, Joe Melson, then came up with the lyrics, “Once again I’m crying, once again I’m crying,” which became the basis for the song, so Orbison changed the title. Orbison claimed the stunning climax at the end of the song was not contrived, but just happened in the course of the song. He told the NME in 1980: “Immediately I thought of a past experience and just retold that, was the way that came about. It was the retelling of a thing with a girlfriend that I had had. I couldn’t tell you right now what notes I hit at the end of the song, or anything.”
At the time, rock artists didn’t typically write songs about crying over a girl. Orbison wanted to show that crying was not weakness, but sensitivity. Other voices would have a hard time pulling this off, but Orbison could emote very naturally when he sang, which he did on many of his hits.
Video
Lyrics
I was alright for a while, I could smile for a while
Then I saw you last night, you held my hand so tight
When you stopped to say, “Hello”
You wished me well, you couldn’t tell
That I’d been crying over you
Crying over you then you said, “So long”
Left me standing all alone
Alone and crying,
Crying, crying, crying
It’s hard to understand
That the touch of your hand
Can start me crying
I thought that I was over you
But it’s true, so true
I love you even more than I did before
But darling what can I do?
For you don’t love me and I’ll always be
Crying over you
Crying over you
Yes, now you’re gone
And from this moment on
I’ll be crying, crying, crying, crying,
Crying, crying, over you