Michael Buble's Cry Me a River

Cry Me a River is an old soul standard first recorded by Julie London in 1955 and has since been recorded by over 130 artists including Sam Cooke, Harry Connick jr., Bobby Darin, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, even Bjork. The sultry mournful song complains of a lover’s betrayal and coldness. Listen to the lyrics, it’s a demand for feeling and a demand for tears. The singer has cried so much, and seen no feeling in return. Now, it’s the other person’s turn to cry.

When a song has been recorded by this many artists, its difficult to make an original sound. That’s not a problem Michael Buble has on his new album, Crazy Love where he records a brassy, accusatory version of the song. Where others were sultry, Buble is confident, where others were mournful, Buble is merciless.

The brass is the most shocking. Buble has 14 members of his band and 8 of them play brass. The heavy intro gives you an idea of what will follow. The James Bond style mixture of guitar, drums, and brass results in a strong and angry version of this great song.