Timberlake’s Unoriginal Controversal Song ‘Cry Me A River’
Contributed anonymously:
I don’t now why it’s never been reported that Justin Timberlake’s song Cry Me a River lyrics and very similar to a 1950’s song by Julie London of the same name. It’ seems to me that he practically copied the song, but changed the lyrics around. Can you say plagiarism! After all this is the song caused a lot the controversy (and stirred him a lot of publicity) and made Timberlake a pop culture celebrity around the World. The real controversy should be the fact that it’s not original at all. He could of at least changed the name. Read on for the lyrics.
Cry Me a River-Julie London
Now you say you’re lonely
You cry the whole night thorough
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river
I cried a river over you
Now you say you’re sorry
For bein’ so untrue
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river
I cried a river over you
You drove me, nearly drove me out of my head
While you never shed a tear
Remember, I remember all that you said
Told me love was too plebeian
Told me you were through with me and
Now you say you love me
Well, just to prove you do
Come on and cry me a river, cry me a river
I cried a river over you
I cried a river over you
I cried a river over you
FADE
I cried a river over you
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11 thoughts on “Timberlake’s Unoriginal Controversal Song ‘Cry Me A River’”
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Interesting. I’ve never heard of this ‘Cry Me A River’, before you posted. Some of the lyrics are related to JT’s song, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it plagiarism. If it were, would you say for example Christina’s ‘Voice Within’ copied Mariah’s ‘Hero’ because both songs say: “No one reaches out a hand for you to hold”? If I don’t make sense, then this post doesn’t either.
You’re retarded. I just listened to that song and it sounds nothing like “cry me a river” neither the text or the melody. Cry me a river is a common phrase and it is used all the time and just it is the song title of two songs does not mean anyone copied anyone. Besides no one in the States including Justin Timberlake has ever heard of this women. I doubt he felt the need to rip off some dead British singer from 1950… No no get your facts together and compare the lyrics of the two songs. And “Like I love you” is the song that made him a solo superstar.
Oh for god’s sake stop reaching. I’ve heard this song before and about another 3 ‘cry me a river’s’ after it. Most of them have a similar under tone to the original, but not all are covers. About 3 lines are remotely similar in Justin’s version, the melody & arrangement are completely different as is the production & the entire song.
Pull your head out Anonymous. The phrase “Cry me a river” is a cliche about someone whining for no reason. Of course it’s been used in songs, and a lot of the times it’s been about broken relationships. Big duh. That’s like saying The Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” is plagiarized from questions couples ask each other.
I applaud you on your attempt to try and make Justin look bad, but with a title “Cry Me A River,” what else can the song be about? It’s a common phrase, and saying that he copied it just because of a few similar lines and the same song title… lets talk about how many songs there are called “Girlfriend,” or “Work It,” or “Falling” just to name a few. Nice try, but if at first you don’t succeed, shut up.
You idiot! That’s Etta James’ song! Not no damn Julie London! If Julie did sing it, it’s probably a remake in itself so yeah, I give you permission to pick your jaw up off the floor. You should feel dumb because the whole basis of the argument was stupid to begin with and now this? Before you post stuff, get your damn facts straight, alright? Saves you the embarrassment.
‘It was actually written by Julie London not Etta James. Etta James may of used the song…hopefully giving Julie London credit. I think a lot of you are missing the point. Give credit where credit is due. If there are so many songs out there similar Julie London’s original Cry me a River than why has Justin Timberlake taken the song as his own…something he wrote about is personal experience. Instead he borrowed the ideas which makes it completely unoriginal. As an artist you can’t just practically steal the lyrics and name to a song without crediting the original artist. I like Justin Timberlake…saw him in concert, but this is very disappointing to me.
Actually it was written by Arthur Hamilton, not Julie London. And as far as I’ve seen, it hasn’t been credited anywhere that Julie wrote it on Etta’s things. And when you put Cry Me A River in the search engine, next to Justin, Etta James’ name comes up, so yes, I think that Etta came out with it first… Anyway, if you’re disappointed over this, then I feel sorry for whatever other things of life that you’ll discover. That’s just like saying that B2K stole Girlfriend from Nsync and whatnot. The term Cry Me A River is common as people have said above, and the songs do not sound anything alike. If the song indeed was written or whatever by Julie London, then Justin probably has never heard it before and if he did, he probably would’ve said he was inspired to write CMAR by her. What the hell lyrics did he steal I’d like to know, huh? Besides saying ‘cry me a river’ there is nothing that is verbatim. You know how much music is out there right now? Huh? You think people aren’t saying similar lines or even the same ones without ever hearing the others music? I write lyrics my own self and sometimes it’s funny because things that I’ve rhymed together come up in other songs on the radio.
Some are similar to Julie’s some are covers. The ones that I’ve heard that are similar are only similar in topic. Justin has taken it as his own, because it has his words, his melody, his arrangements. Therefore his song. Listen to break up songs, they usually have the same undertone, but like this the lyrics are different.
Justin has always been extremely unoriginal and has probably plagiarized before! Not surprising at all. And yet, Justin gets all the credit for his songs. God only knows how many songs he’s ripped off from Michael Jackson. One of the main reasons why I never fell for Justin’s publicity stunts. Another is that he used his girlfriend for his own media-whore needs.
^^I think you may be missing the point…’, ‘If a song is called “Cry Me A River,” which is a common phrase, what do you expect the song to be about? Yes the concept of the songs is the same, but it’s also a very common situation when experiencing a breakup. It’s not impossible that his personal experience could have been similar to Julie London or Etta James or Aaron Neville. Hell, I’ve had the same experience. That doesn’t all of a sudden mean that he stole the song or needs to give credit to anyone else. He wrote and arranged the song with Timbaland and Scott Storch. I highly doubt they sat around trying to figure out how to steal a 50 year old song from some British woman.