Roy Orbison and Joe Melson wrote this song together, as they did many of Mr. Orbison's "greatest hits." It hit #2 on Billboard in 1961. It made it to #25 in
1966 when Jay and the Americans redid it. Don McLean fared a bit better in 1981 as his version reached #5.
For the real killer versions, however; I'd suggest the 1992 release on Mr. Orbison's King of Hearts where he does a duet with k.d. lang. Then, once you've used up a few tissues on that one, find the Spanish a cappella version by Rebekah Del Rio, arranged by Angelo Badalamenti, in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. In the film, a close-up of the singer's face shows a single tear drop colorfully painted beneath her right eye. It's called Llorando, but sounds like Jorando (which, I'm told, is how it should be pronounced). It is so heart-wrenching that it will curl your toes. The scene in the movie is one you'll never forget, but you could just "borrow" the song from an on-line source and listen to it and fully enjoy it without ever seeing the movie.
Lynch has said that his discovery of Rebekah del Rio was a "happy accident." A music-agent friend brought her over to his recording studio, and "four minutes off the street, she hadn't even had her coffee," Del Rio belted out a stunning a cappella Llorando. Lynch wrote her and that very recording into the film. In Lynch's mind, this was all a product of destiny. In his own words, "In 1985, going through Central Park, I heard Roy Orbison's version of 'Crying' on the radio. I was riding with Kyle MacLachlan, and we were going down to start shooting Blue Velvet, and I said, 'I gotta get that song!' I got an album with Roy's greatest hits, and I listened to 'Crying,' but listening to it again, it didn't marry with the film. I was a little bit depressed, but I kept listening, and I heard In Dreams, and instantaneously, every note, every nuance married to the film. It was 'Crying' that led to 'In Dreams,' and years later, it comes back but in a completely different way."
I'd suggest downloading all the versions and playing them back to back, over and over, a few times if you want to feel a real grownup version of teen angst.
I was alright for a while.
I could smile for a while.
Then I saw you last night;
You held my hand so tight
When you stopped to say "hello."
You wished me well;
You couldn't tell
That I'd been crying
Over you.
Crying
Over you.
Then you said "so long,"
Left me standing all alone;
Alone and crying.
Crying.
Crying.
Cry--ing.
It's hard to understand
That the touch of your hand
Can start me crying.
I thought that I was over you,
But it's true, so true;
I love you even more
Than I did before.
But, darling, what can I do?
For you don't love me.
And I'll always be
Crying over you.
Crying over you.
Yes, now you're gone,
And from this moment on
I'll be crying.
Crying.
Crying.
Cry--ing,
OOOver you.