"Somebody's Crying" by Chris Isaak

"Somebody's Crying" is a solid mid-90's song of the day. When the weather took a turn for the worse this past weekend I turned to the bluesy sounds of Chris Isaak, and this song is a gem.

Up until last year the only song that I knew from Chris Isaak was "Wicked Game," a song that was out in 1989, but remained popular through the 90's.  On my second trip to Seattle last year we spent some time hanging out in Fremont, a really hip, young section of town, and we were checking out some used CD's at "Jive Time Records," and came across the Chris Isaak album "Forever Blue." Whenever one of us picked it up my good friend Ron Cepek got the crazy look in his eyes that happens when he gets excited about music and even though I cant remember the details I am certain that Ron launched into a half a dozen different stories about the tracks on the album.  Ron has a great taste in music, and a gift at remembering specific details about songs and albums that he loves.  I've never been steered wrong by Ron's musical taste, so I picked up the album that day.   A few days later Ron, Christian, Ryan, and I took a trip out to the coast, a surprisingly long drive from the port town of Seattle, but it was a great time spent with good people listening to good music.  "Forever Blue" was definitely one of the best albums we listened to that day, and "Somebody's Crying" is a great track.

When I looked up some information on this song I found out it was written after a break up with a girl.  No surprise there of course with much of the great art of human history coming directly as a result of heart break.  The cool thing about the story I read was that Isaak was at a friends party after the break up, but he wasn't in the mood to party.  In my mind I imagine that night he was probably just going through the motions smiling and telling little dumb stories to friends all the while trying to keep it together on the inside.  At some point through the night he found himself alone in a walk-in closet with a guitar, and started writing "Somebody's Crying."

I found an interview with "Addicted to Noise," a 90's online music magazine that former Rolling Stone Editor Michael Goldberg founded, where they asked Chris a couple questions about writing this song.


Addicted To Noise: What were you thinking about when you wrote that?

Isaak: If you were looking at my life at the time, it looked like everything was okay. That I was having a good time. But in actuality, I was missing her more than ever. I like the first lines of the song: "I know somebody/ And they cry for you/ They lie awake at night." Not only are you saying that this is happening, but it's kind of in a secret way. It's like a little kid's way of saying things. Most of us are as terrified of love as little kids are terrified of the world. Little kids come up to you and say, "I know someone who loves you" or "I know someone who likes you." They say it like, I'm not going to really come out and say it. And for adults, it's probably the same way. They never really get beyond that fear."
 
This album was a great suggestion from Ron, and if you're feeling a little blue, id give it a shot. This is a good performance of the song in the video, and it gives you a good preview of his style of music, but I would check out some other songs to hear the range and power in his voice.  Enjoy.