Paddy McAloon originally wrote the song in April 1990[2] for a proposed biographical album about Michael Jackson, whom he was fascinated by. In this version, the song's verses listed unhappy events in Jackson's life,[2] while the chorus was "only the boogie music will never, ever let you down".[3][4][5] McAloon was prompted to rewrite the song by George H. W. Bush's references to a new world order during the Gulf War.[2] The final lyrics concern the plights of people around the world, and ask why they cannot be helped.[6] McAloon felt that "no matter how well-regulated you make the world, no matter how well-regulated our affairs are, disasters are kind of there" and described "The Sound of Crying" as "a 'Why does God allow this?' song".[2]
Release
"The Sound of Crying" received significant airplay on BBC Radio 1,[7] and became Prefab Sprout's first top 30 hit on the UK Singles Chart since "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" reached number 7 four years earlier. It peaked at number 23, and remains the band's second highest-charting single to date. A music video featuring the band was produced and was included on the VHS release "A Life of Surprises: The Video Collection".
Reception
Upon release, Jim Lawn of the Lennox Herald called "The Sound of Crying" "Paddy McAloon's best chance of a hit single in ages".[8]The Times' Alan Jackson commented that the song's "lush production and glorious melody" were used "to sneak one of the oldest debates in Christendom before millions of Radio 1 listeners"[9] while David Cavanagh of Select praised how the song "manages to include ice-cool phraseology like 'the music of the spheres' while still being catchy enough to be this week’s third most played single on Radio 1".[7]
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