So Many Tears

Last updated
"So Many Tears"
SoManyTears.jpg
Single by 2Pac
from the album Me Against the World
B-side "If I Die 2Nite"
ReleasedJune 13, 1995
Recorded1994
Studio Soundcastle Studios, Los Angeles
Genre Conscious hip hop
Length3:58
Label
Songwriter(s) Tupac Shakur
Producer(s) Shock G
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). [1] It was released on June 13, 1995, as the album's second single. It was produced by Shock G, who used a sample 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. [2] 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". [3]

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. [4]

Charts

Chart (1995)Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 [5] 44
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [6] 21
US Hot Rap Songs ( Billboard ) [7] 6

Credits

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"

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"Runnin'" is a 1995 song written and performed by rappers 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Stretch, Dramacydal and reggae superstar Buju Banton. Recorded in 1993, the song holds significance as the only song 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. officially recorded together prior to hostility arising between the two rappers. The song, originally slated to appear on 2Pac's 1993-1994 shelved solo album that later turned to be Me Against The World, then on Thug Life's 1994 debut album, Thug Life, Volume I, was scrapped both times due to varying controversies. It was later featured on the 1995 One Million Strong compilation album. It charted at #81, #57 and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks & Hot Rap Singles charts, respectively.

References

  1. "Me Against The World | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone." Rolling Stone. Jan S. Wenner, 2 Feb. 98. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
  2. Simmons, Nadirah (June 15, 2017). "Seven Tupac samples you didn't know you needed".
  3. Coker, Cheo H. (March 10, 1995). "Me Against The World". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
  4. Farr, James (June 30, 2021). "Tupac's last concert, the House of Blues & the 22-year old who made it happen". Culture Honey.
  5. "2Pac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  6. "2Pac Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  7. "2Pac Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard.