LogFAQs > #956830222

64. Roy Orbison Crying (1961)
from the album Crying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNdBLBleO90

Key lyrics:
I love you even more
Than I did before
But, darling, what can I do?

Though Roy Orbisons Crying obviously has backing instrumentation, the greatness of this song rests almost entirely within Orbisons voice. This is one of those powerhouse performances showcasing such a strong range that it becomes era-defining. For the first half, Orbison sings in his ordinary style, which is familiar but still impressive. But by the second half, he is absolutely wailing at times, shifting between highs and lows at will. His voice warbles through so many words, a perfect simulation of the crying he is describing. Crying is a perfect example of the human voice as an emotive instrument.

While it is easy to heap praise upon artists who use lyrics to tell complex stories or throw out a dozen clever phrases, there is also something noteworthy about keeping things so simple that the vocalist is left to evoke the true meaning. Like Mitskis Nobody or Pixies Hey, so much of this songs strength is in the creative repetition of a single word. Crying may have two syllables, but rarely is that enough for Orbison. Though his first uses of the word are standard, if occasionally drawn out for emphasis, the next section finds him shooting up and down his range with each extra use. After a certain point, the word itself disappears inside his almost onomatopoeia-like delivery. By the climax, he just keeps pushing to another level.

Breakup songs typically need something extra for me to care an underexplored emotion, some unique instrumentation that serves as the actual backbone of the song. Part of this is because these themes are so common that they can immediately read as generic. The other part is that Crying expresses the act of despairing over a breakup so perfectly that anyone covering the same ground has stiff competition.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/