"Cry" is a song by American recording artistMandy Moore, released on November 4, 2001, by Epic Records. It was written by James Renald, and co-produced by Renald and Peter Mokran. The song was released as the third and final single from her self-titled third studio album. The song achieved minor success in the United States, but was a big hit in Asia, especially in the Philippines. "Cry" received generally positive reviews from music critics, and was one of the songs most adored by MTV at the time of its release. The lyrics of "Cry" focuses on a girl who thinks the boy she likes is insensitive until the day she sees him cry. The musical structure of the song is created based on the melody of a guitar as a ballad. It was used as a promotional single and was included in the soundtrack of Moore and Shane West's romantic dramaA Walk to Remember.
Song information
The song tells the story of a girl who thinks the boy she likes is insensitive, until the day she sees him cry. "You were all by yourself, staring up at the dark gray sky, I was changed..." It was not a major hit in the U.S. until the release of Moore's romantic drama A Walk to Remember, but was an MTV favorite and did well overseas. Because the song was set to be released around the same time as the film and they had a remarkably similar theme, Moore felt that "Cry" would be perfect to be included in the film's soundtrack. The song is one of Moore's favorites on her third self-titled studio album. Moore said in a Billboard interview that she carried around a copy of the song for over a year before she recorded it. "It felt like my ace in the hole. It's such a beautiful song on every level. I couldn't wait to get into the studio and sing it." She also said that James Renald, the co-writer and co-producer of the song, had to "peel her out of the booth because she wanted to sing it over and over again."
Music video
The music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and released in 2002. Moore sings the song in Heaven that looks like the night sky. West drives home from the premiere of A Walk to Remember and watches their home video. Then he looks up at her through their telescope. When she disappears from his sight, he goes and falls asleep on his bed. Stars shoot and explode behind Moore for a moment. The next day, West goes out with friends where he walks around and sees a window display of Moore's self-titled album, the theater again with a worker putting the title A Walk to Remember on the front of it and a building covered with the A Walk to Remember movie poster. The video was not a huge success on MTV like her previous video "Crush". The music video is included on A Walk to Remember's DVD as a bonus feature. It was also included as a multi-media track on the 2003 special expanded edition of the film's soundtrack, but the song is not included in her YouTubeVevo channel yet.
Chart performance
A Walk to Remember and its soundtrack were a financial success, but the single never entered the BillboardHot 100 in the United States, but it was successful in Canada and Asia. The single also performed well in Germany, where a limited 6-track maxi-CD was released. To date, "Cry" has sold 15,000 physical copies and 203,000 paid digital downloads according to Nielsen Soundscan. In Asia, the song was a major success in countries like Thailand and the Philippines, and was among the five biggest songs in Taiwan at the time.
