Pity Party (song)

Last updated
"Pity Party"
Melanie martinez pity party single cover.png
Single by Melanie Martinez
from the album Cry Baby
ReleasedJune 2, 2015 (2015-06-02)
Genre
Length3:24
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) CJ Baran
Melanie Martinez singles chronology
"Carousel"
(2014)
"Pity Party"
(2015)
"Soap"
(2015)
Music video
"Pity Party" on YouTube

"Pity Party" is a song by American recording artist Melanie Martinez based on the 1963 Lesley Gore hit "It's My Party". It was released as the lead single from her [lower-alpha 1] debut album, Cry Baby (2015), on June 2, 2015. [1] The music video was released on June 1, 2015. [2] It impacted contemporary hit radio on March 22, 2016. [3]

Contents

Background and composition

An alt-pop [4] and electro track, [5] the song uses the chorus from Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" released in 1963, as an interpolation, and also employs the iconic repeating-note horns hook from the original song as the recurring theme throughout. [6] On July 28, 2016, the song was certified Gold by the RIAA, having sold 500,000 copies. [7]

Regarding the song, Martinez said, "This was during my second session with Kara DioGuardi. It was awesome to write that song because I love music from the 50s and 60s. When I was singing, Kara said my voice reminded her of Judy Garland and artists from that time. I really wanted to write about no one showing up to my birthday party and the song is perfect inspiration for this theme. I love samples, especially older songs because they can put a fresh new take on an old song. So we were really inspired by that and we sampled it for the first line of the chorus and that is how 'Pity Party' came about". [8]

Mike Wass of Idolator noted how both "Pity Party" and Grace's single "You Don't Own Me" are based on Lesley Gore songs, saying "there seems to be a revival of the late [Gore's] music afoot". [9]

Music video

The music video for "Pity Party" was released on June 1, 2015. [2] However, the video was leaked 3 days prior to the official release. [10] The video was directed by Melanie herself, describing it as a "fun experience for her", considering she's the only person featured in the video. [8]

A behind the scenes video was released June 17, 2015. [11]

Track listing

Digital download and streaming [1]
No.TitleLength
1."Pity Party"3:24
Remixes EP [12]
No.TitleLength
1."Pity Party" (Madison Mars Remix)4:45
2."Pity Party" (Kayliox Remix)4:43
3."Pity Party" (XVII Remix)4:01
4."Pity Party" (K Theory Remix)4:58
5."Pity Party" (The Feels Remix)4:32
6."Pity Party" (Myles Travitz Remix)3:02
7."Pity Party" (Kassiano Remix)4:04

Charts

Chart (2016)Peak
position
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100) [13] 65
Finland (Suomen virallinen radiosoittolista) [14] 36
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100) [15] 70
UK Singles (OCC) [16] 175
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles ( Billboard ) [17] 4
US Mainstream Top 40 ( Billboard ) [18] 40

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [19] Platinum80,000
Poland (ZPAV) [20] Gold25,000
United Kingdom (BPI) [21] Silver200,000
United States (RIAA) [22] 2× Platinum2,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

RegionDateFormatLabelRef.
United StatesJune 2, 2015 Digital download [1]
United Kingdom [23]
South Africa [24]
Australia [25]
United StatesMarch 22, 2016 Contemporary hit radio Atlantic [3]
ItalyOctober 21, 2016 Warner [26]

Pity Party EP

Pity Party EP
EP by
ReleasedMay 6, 2016
Length15:32
Label
Melanie Martinez chronology
Cry Baby
(2015)
''Pity Party EP''
(2016)
Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP
(2016)

Pity Party EP is Melanie Martinez's second EP, released digitally on May 6, 2016 in Ireland, Mexico and the UK. [27]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
1."Pity Party"
Baran3:24
2."Dollhouse"
Kinetics & One Love3:52
3."Dead to Me"
  • Martinez
  • Dussolliet
  • Sommers
Kinetics & One Love3:30
4."Bittersweet Tragedy"
Robopop4:49
Total length:15:32

Notes

  1. Martinez uses she/her and they/them pronouns. This article uses she/her pronouns for consistency.

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Lesley Sue Goldstein, better known with her maternal surname as Lesley Gore, was an American singer and songwriter. At the age of 16, she recorded her first hit song "It's My Party", a US number one in 1963. She followed it up with ten further US Billboard top 40 hits including "Judy's Turn to Cry" and "You Don't Own Me". Gore said she considered "You Don't Own Me" her signature song.

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References

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