"So Many Tears"
Single by 2Pac
from the album Me Against the World
B-side"If I Die 2Nite"
ReleasedJune 13, 1995
Recorded1994
StudioSoundcastle Studios, Los Angeles
GenreConscious 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. The song was certified gold in just more than a week after the release and then went platinum in July 11, 1995 by the RIAA. It peaked at no. 14 at the Billboard 200.[2]

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]

Charts

Chart (1995) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 14
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[7] 5
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[8] 2

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[9] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Credits

  • (T. Shakur, G. Jacobs, R. Walker, E. Baker, S. Wonder; Joshua's Dream/Interscope Pearl Music/Warner-Tamerlane
  • Publishing Corp./ Grand Imperial Thug Music/Pubhowyalike Music, BMI/Triboy Music Publishing/Black Bull
  • Music/Jobete Music Co., ASCAP.)
  • Produced by D-Flizno Production Squad for Stayin' Biznizzy Productions
  • Engineered by Mike Schlesinger & Tim Nitz
  • Recorded and Mixed at Soundcastle Studios
  • Background Vocals: Thug Life, Digital Underground (appears courtesy of Tommy Boy Records) & Stretch
  • Keyboards: The Piano Man
  • Guitar: Eric "Kenya" Baker
  • Contains a sample from "That Girl" (Stevie Wonder; Black Bull Music/Jobete Music Co., Inc., ASCAP), as recorded by Stevie Wonder, under license from Motown Records. During the chorus, a slowed-down harmonica solo is heard.

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"

References

  1. ↑ "Me Against The World | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone." Rolling Stone. Jan S. Wenner, 2 Feb. 98. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
  2. ↑ "2Pac | Biography, Music & News". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  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, 2002. 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. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  8. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard.
  9. ↑ "American single certifications – 2Pac – So Many Tears". Recording Industry Association of America.


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