You See Me Crying
"You See Me Crying" is a power ballad by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released in 1975 as the last track on the band's breakthrough album Toys in the Attic. A shorter mix of the song was released as the third single from the album in November 1975, but failed to chart. Consequently, the original single (backed with "Toys in the Attic") is rather rare.
| "You See Me Crying" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Aerosmith | ||||
| from the album Toys in the Attic | ||||
| B-side | "Toys in the Attic" | |||
| Released | November 11, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | 1975 | |||
| Genre | Soft rock | |||
| Length |
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| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Steven Tyler, Don Solomon | |||
| Producer(s) | Jack Douglas | |||
| Aerosmith singles chronology | ||||
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Song structure
The song is a complex piano ballad and was heavily orchestrated. Aerosmith and producer Jack Douglas brought in a symphony orchestra for the song, which was conducted by Mike Mainieri. The song itself was written by lead singer Steven Tyler and outside collaborator Don Solomon. Some of the band members became frustrated with the song, which took a long time to complete, due to the many complex drum and guitar parts.
The band's label, Columbia Records, was nonetheless very impressed with the song and the recording process. Bruce Lundvall, then-president of Columbia, walked in on the recording sessions for Toys when the band was working on the song and remarked: "You guys got an incredible thing going here. I just came from a Herbie Hancock session and this is much more fun".[1]
Performance notes
Brad Whitford played lead guitar on this track instead of Joe Perry. The final version of the song was taken from takes 12, 14, and 15, and the single version of the song was edited down to 3:00.[2]
It has only been performed live once, on June 26, 2009, while in Wantagh, New York's Jones Beach Theater, during the Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour.
While Aerosmith were planning the Back in the Saddle Tour and recording the Done with Mirrors album during 1984, Boston DJ Mark Parenteau of WBCN-FM played the song. Tyler liked the song so much, he suggested his group record a cover version, only to be told by Perry, "It's us, fuckhead." Tyler was suffering from memory problems at the time due to heavy drug use.[3]
References
- Douglas, S. and Aerosmith: "Walk This Way", page 234. Avon, 1997
- Toys in the Attic 1993 Remastered Liner Notes
- Bienstock, Richard (2011). Aerosmith: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Boston Bad Boys. Voyageur Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-7603-4106-3.
