Song Cry Lyrics

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  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

“Song Cry” is an emotional ballad in which Jay describes the pain of a long-term relationship ending, caused by his professional schedule and personal philandering. Since his pride and masculinity don’t allow him to visibly show his emotions, he employs the tear-jerking lyrics to do it instead.

Asked whether this track was about a specific girl, Jay told Bill Maher the content was formed from three different relationships.

This song is the third episode in the progression of Jay’s portrayal of women in his raps. As he told NPR in 2010:

I mean, a song on my first album was “Ain’t No Nigga.” […] It was like, this careless relationship. And then that went to “Big Pimpin” in ‘99. And on that same album was a song called “Song Cry,” and then “Song Cry” became “Bonnie & Clyde” on 2004, which became “Venus vs. Mars” on my last album. So there’s a steady growth in the conversations—that’s being had as it pertains to women, you know, as I grew.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What is "Song Cry" about?
Genius Answer

It’s about a guy who isn’t fully ready to commit, but the girl he’s with, he really loves her, you know? And he wants to be with her. So what happens is, she’s sick of putting up with his stuff and she finally moves on into another relationship, and he’s crushed. But even after all that, his pride won’t allow him to cry … It’s a gumbo of a lot of my relationships. I use different emotions from different people or different times. You know what a gumbo is? Like a soup.

Has Jay ever spoken publically on the track's main premise?
Genius Answer

In a feature for Vibe magazine in 2003 Shawn Carter explained the majority of the track’s origin:

It was in Virginia that I met my second serious girlfriend, Stephanie (everybody called her Fannie). What people don’t know about me is that I’ve always been in long-term relationships. My first real relationship was with this girl from Long Island, and it lasted five years. I was with Fannie for another five. It was on a long drive from New York to Virginia that I really bonded with Fannie. She told me her dreams of going back to school and making something of herself, and I told her my dreams of being an MC. She was the first person I let know how discouraged I was by the music business. Fannie followed me to New York. And even though I put her up in a nice apartment in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, and took care of her material needs, my level of commitment to her couldn’t compete with what I was willing to give to make this rap thing work. I didn’t record it till years later, but ‘Song Cry’ had been writing itself in my head ever since Fannie left me to go home to Virginia.

What did JAY-Z say about "Song Cry"?
Genius Answer

During his Rap Radar Podcast interview, Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua revealed he wrote the hook, and explained he created the hook first, and Jay recited the first four bars, to make sure he was heading in the right “direction.” Joshua said “Yep,” and later explained he wanted Jay to “really talk about something” when he initially heard the beat and wrote the hook.

What else have the artists said about the song?
Does Jay ever get emotional when performing this track?
Is there a video for this track?
Credits
Produced By
Written By
Phonographic Copyright ℗
Recording Engineer
Mixing Engineer
Recorded At
Baseline Studios
Release Date
May 8, 2002
Song Cry Live Performances
View Song Cry samples
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