Cry for You (September song)


"Cry for You", also known as Cry for You on Hard2Beat, is a song by Swedish singer September. The song samples its main melody from a 1984 song "Smalltown Boy" by the British synth-pop group Bronski Beat. The dance-pop track spent three weeks at the top spot of Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart in May 2007. In the United States, it is the second single from September's album September, succeeding "Satellites", while overseas it is her fifth single release from her second studio album In Orbit, following "It Doesn't Matter". It is also a single from various compilation albums released in Europe.
The single was a huge success in Sweden as well as the rest of Europe, and can be considered her biggest hit yet, together with "Satellites". In her homeland of Sweden, "Cry for You" peaked at the number 6 position on the Swedish Top 60 Singles Chart for two weeks in a row. It remained on the singles chart in Sweden for 17 non-consecutive weeks. It stands as the 1403rd best song of all time in Sweden. In the UK it stands as the biggest selling number five hit of 2008.
As of November 2010, "Cry for You" has been certified Gold in the United States for sales of over 500,000 copies, making September the first Swedish singer to receive a Gold certification in the United States since Ace of Base's 1998 hit "Cruel Summer".
In late 2018, nearly 12 years after its release, the song was turned into a meme on Twitter, thanks to its "you'll never see me again" lyrics.

Composition and release

Before the worldwide release in 2007, September had originally recorded the song for her studio album In Orbit. However, in many compilations September has released, the song has appeared on her compilations including September, Dancing in Orbit, Gold and Cry for You - The Album.
According to September, she stated the reason why she wanted to release it worldwide, by saying "The song was so strong by itself. And I've been there and it feels like the fans are starved of dance music. But now dance music is coming back again, and the world is getting smaller and smaller because of the internet – that now sometimes you don't even have to do much promotion, although obviously it is still very important. But I think that a hit song will always find a way."
In an interview with Digital Spy, they asked about the background of the song, when she replied:
The song has been compared to Bronski Beat's song "Smalltown Boy" and its sampled counterpart, Tell Me Why by Supermode, although possible similarities have been declared unintended.

Critical reception

"Cry for You" received positive reviews from music critics. Nick Levine from Digital Spy awarded the song with four stars out of five, giving it a positive review. He stated " it's a surprisingly affecting Eurodance number, a record that's both relentlessly danceable and desperately sad" and said its "actually a pretty decent record." However, he felt the song was not "original" enough to outbet releases by fellow Swedish singer Robyn. Popjustice said the song is a "massive balls-out club anthem and we think it works rather well." Ben Norman from About.com called the song the "Best Dance Crossover Track", while saying "Robbins has since made peace with me by backing and promoting Swedish singer September and this Europop confection. Good job guys!."
AllMusic had rated the song three-and-a-half-stars out of five stars. K. Ross Hoffman, also from AllMusic, had highlighted the song as an album standout, and said "'Cry ' is the obvious standout, managing to conjure both sophistication and a surprising degree of emotion from its fairly pedestrian frothy electro-pop arrangement and polished but powerful vocal turn." However, he also added "'Cry for You' is a strong enough track ." PopBytes.com gave it a positive review, saying it's "total pop dance fluff but highly enjoyable."

Chart performance

On the issue date of 30 August 2008 the song debuted at number ninety-four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after spending 8 weeks on the Bubbling Under chart. The next week it moved to number ninety-two. In its third week it moved eight places to number eighty-four. The song made its highest peak on the Hot 100 at number seventy-four, and on the Pop 100 at number twenty-nine. It spent a total of 10 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. "Cry for You" also made it onto other popular countdowns in the U.S. after its re-release in 2008; entering at number thirty-nine on American Top 40, and number twenty on the TRL Weekend Countdown radio show.
In the UK and Ireland, "Cry for You" was released in April 2008 on the Hard2Beat Records label, a subsidiary of Ministry of Sound, in a new remix with a new video. The remixed version entered the UK Singles Chart at number nine, and later climbed to number five, following release of a physical single for the song. On 28 December 2008, the UK Singles Chart had this as number thirty-five for the top songs of 2008.
In France, "Cry for You" topped the airplay chart and debuted at number six on the singles chart. The song debuted in Switzerland at number thirteen, next week it moved at number seven on downloads alone. It debuted at number sixteen in Germany and peaked at number eleven. In the Netherlands the song was a huge success too, peaking at number four and staying in the top forty for twenty-one weeks. In Europe the song peaked at number fifteen on the European Hot 100 Singles.
In Australia, the original single version was released to radio, rather than the shorter UK remix. The song debuted at number nineteen on 10 August 2008 and peaked at number fourteen. In New Zealand airplay and official charts, the song debuted at number thirty-nine on the issue date of 22 September 2008.
"Cry for You" was certified gold for shipment of over 500,000 copies by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2010. The song is the first by a Swedish artist to be certified by the RIAA since Ace of Base's Cruel Summer in 1998. The song was listed at number five on the Top 100 Club Chart Year-End result.

Music video

Two music videos were released for the single. The international version is set at the edge of a futuristic city inside a large solitary building which could be a prison, barracks or factory. Inside are hundreds of clones dressed in black rubber cat suits who are marching in unison, watched over by women wearing white. They at first appear to be marching towards a video screen which shows September singing and dancing while wearing a strapless dress. The video intercuts between September and one of the clones singing the song, while another clone dances atop a podium. On the bridge, one of the clones breaks ranks. As she runs away, she takes off her black glasses and hood of her cat suit to reveal she is September. She is pursued by the female guards dressed in white who fire their laser guns, but September reaches a door and escapes outside.
The original video was a promotional video featuring September in a photoshoot, as it features on several covers of the singles CD cover formats. This version uses the original radio edit, while the UK video uses the UK mix of the song.

Track listings

  1. "Cry for You"
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  8. "Satellites"
  1. "Cry for You"
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    Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history