So Many Tears

Last updated
"So Many Tears"
SoManyTears.jpg
Single by 2Pac
from the album Me Against the World
B-side
ReleasedJune 13, 1995
RecordedSeptember 1994 [1]
Studio Soundcastle Studios, Los Angeles
Genre Conscious hip hop
Length3:58
Label
Songwriter(s) Tupac Shakur
Producer(s) D-Flizno Production Squad
2Pac singles chronology
"Dear Mama"
(1995)		"So Many Tears"
(1995)		"Temptations"
(1995)
Music video
"So Many Tears" on YouTube

"So Many Tears" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his third studio album, Me Against the World (1995). [2] It was released on June 13, 1995, as the album's second single. It was produced by Shock G, who used samples of Stevie Wonder's "That Girl", and is often described as one of the album's best. A music video was made for "So Many Tears" and there were also numerous live performances of this song on Saturday Night Live and on Shakur's House of Blues concert, his last recorded show.

Contents

Composition

The song was produced by Shakur's longtime mentor, Shock G, who produced it using a sample of the song "That Girl" by Stevie Wonder with a slowed down harmonica solo heard during the chorus. [3] The song's lyrics are autobiographical with Rolling Stone's Cheo H. Coker noting the track "finds an almost vulnerable 2Pac not only dealing with the senseless violence that marked his childhood but with the internal demons that threaten to consume him, snapping at his conscience like hellhounds on a bluesman’s trail". [4]

Live performances

Shakur performed "So Many Tears" during his Saturday Night Live appearance on February 17, 1996. He also performed the song on his House of Blues concert and it is included on the Live at the House of Blues live album. [5]

Music video

Similar to the music video for "Dear Mama", many shots use a lookalike of 2Pac, mixed with previously released footage of the artist. Tupac himself was serving his four-and-a-half-year prison sentence. He released this song, and the associated album, while being sentenced. While in prison his album quickly climbed the charts. The demand for a video grew: the video was released while he was in prison and for that reason could not be in the video. No other video was made when he was released. [6] The music video features cameo appearances by Spice 1, E-40, B-Legit, Big Syke and Treach.

Track listing

Maxi-single
  1. "So Many Tears"
  2. "So Many Tears" (Key of Z Remix)
  3. "So Many Tears" (Reminizim' Remix)
  4. "Hard to Imagine" by Dramacydal
  5. "If I Die 2Nite"
Promo single
  1. "So Many Tears"
  2. "So Many Tears" (Key of Z Remix)
  3. "So Many Tears" (Reminizm' Remix)
  4. "If I Die 2Nite"

Credits

Charts

Chart (1995)Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 [7] 44
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [8] 21
US Hot Rap Songs ( Billboard ) [9] 6

Certifications

Certifications for "So Many Tears"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ) [10] Gold15,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "THUG LIFE: VOLUME 1 [OFFICIAL ALBUM], OCTOBER 11, 1994". 2PacLegacy. November 28, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Me Against The World | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone." Rolling Stone. Jan S. Wenner, 2 Feb. 98. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
  3. ↑ Simmons, Nadirah (June 15, 2017). "Seven Tupac samples you didn't know you needed".
  4. ↑ Coker, Cheo H. (March 10, 1995). "Me Against The World". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
  5. ↑ Farr, James (June 30, 2021). "Tupac's last concert, the House of Blues & the 22-year old who made it happen". Culture Honey.
  6. ↑ Crowe, Jerry (17 April 1995). "Tupac Shakur's third album off to a hot start...while he chills in jail". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
  7. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  9. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard.
  10. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – 2Pac – So Many Tears". Radioscope. Retrieved April 2, 2025.Type So Many Tears in the "Search:" field.
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