Cry Me A River | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| Emadd9 Emmaj7 | Amadd9 Ammaj7 | C7 | B7b5 |
Verse 1
| Em Emb6 | Em6 Em7 |
Now you say you’re lonely,
| Am7 D9 C7b5 | Gmaj7 G6 F#m7 B7 |
you cry the whole night through.
| Bm7 E7b9 Eaug | C#m7b5 A13 A7 |
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river,
| Am7 D9 | G F#m7b5 B7 |
I cried a river over you.
Verse 2
Now you say you’re sorry,
for being so untrue.
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river,
| Am7 D9 | Am7/G G69 F#7alt |
I cried a river over you.
Bridge
| Bm6 B69 Bm6 | C#m7b5 F#7#9 F#7b9 |
You drove me, nearly drove me, out of my head.
| Bm6 | C#m7b6 C#m7b5 F#7#9 F#7b9 |
While you never shed a tear.
| Bm Bm6 | C#m7b5 F#7#9 F#7b9 |
Remember, I remember all that you said.
| Bm69 Fm7 | F#m7 B7 B7alt |
Told me love was too plebeian. Told me you were through with me, and.
Verse 3
Now you say you love me,
well, just to prove you do.
Come on and cry me a river, cry me a river,
| Am7 D9 | Am7/G G69 |
I cried a river over you.
Outro
| Emadd9 Emmaj7 | Amadd9 Ammaj7 | Am7 D9 | Am7 G69 |
I cried a river over you.
| Am7 D7 | Am7 G69 |
I cried a river over you.
| Am7 D7 | Am7 G69 |
I cried a river over you.
| Am7 D9 D7 | Am7 G69 |
I cried a river over you.
Cry Me A River Chords: Learn the progressions
Sung by Julie London and played by Barney Kessel, we are looking at a serious challenge when aiming to decipher Cry Me A River‘s chords!
In fact, this is so difficult I would suggest you ignore the theory and just crack on with the TAB or this will turn into a brain exercise.
Members get all the TAB needed to play this on one guitar with a singer. I have modified it here and there to compensate for the lack of a bass player.
Here’s some preview TAB of verse 1 so you can see what you are up against!
There is so much going on in just these 8 bars I could write an essay, but it would be much better for you to just practice these bars than to read about them so let me just point out a couple of things.
That ascending Em – Emb6 – Em6 – Em7 feels like a reversed Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, it’s so cool! Having both the b6 and 6, it’s without a doubt breaking diatonic rules.
The C#m7b5 could be seen as an A9, in verse 2 it comes back instead of A7 as we play here in verse 1.
Anyway, I’m not going to go on about Cry Me A River’s chords anymore, it is much better for you to simply play the TAB (members get this for all sections!).
Here’s a link to the complete lesson: Cry Me A River – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Cry Me A River Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Cry Me A River Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Cry Me A River iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Barney Kessel played on Cry Me A River!
Nicknamed “Fruitcake” by his friends for practising up to 16 hours a day, Barney Kessel is considered one of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time.
He may be mainly famous for playing Cry Me A River but Barney was also in the famed session band The Wrecking Crew where he played on recordings for The Monkees and Beach Boys.
Barney would spend his days in the studio, going to the jazz club at night, continuing his pursuit to only put the guitar down when sleeping.
Eventually, he became famous enough to focus on being only a jazz guitarist, earning a signature guitar from Gibson in the process.
At the time (1961-1974), jazz was not as popular as it once had been and the guitar didn’t sell too well. Today this means that since the amount of guitars made was so few, they are now fetching crazy money.
My favourite Barney quote is when he stood up in the studio during a recording of a Sonny and Cher song only consisting of one chord (The Beat Goes On) exclaiming “Never have so many played so little for so much”.
Cry Me A River Chords | Related Pages
Cry Me A River | Guitar Lesson + TAB
In this guitar lesson, you get TAB for how to play all sections of Cry Me A River on just one guitar. There are so many chords.
| Em Emb6 | Em6 Em7 |
Now you say you’re lonely…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- All In Love Is Fair chords by Stevie Wonder
- Angel Eyes chords by Frank Sinatra
- Call It Stormy Monday chords by T-Bone Walker
- My Funny Valentine chords by Chet Baker
- Summertime chords by Billie Holiday
Julie London tunes
Most famous for singing Cry Me A River, starring in Westerns and in the TV series Emergency! Julie London also recorded many Jazz standards.
Tunes include Fly Me To The Moon, Dream A Little Dream Of Me, Bye Bye Blackbird, A Taste Of Honey, and Why Don’t You Do Right?
Julie London on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Cry Me A River chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
