"The Crying Game" is a song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 written

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 by Geoff Stephens

Geoff Stephens

Geoffrey 'Geoff' Stephens , was one of the top British songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...

. It was first released by Dave Berry

Dave Berry (musician)

Not to be confused with English 1960s singer Mike Berry.Dave Berry is a British pop singer and former teen idol of the 1960s...

 in July 1964. It reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. Then-unknown session guitarist Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

 and Big Jim Sullivan

Big Jim Sullivan

Big Jim Sullivan is an English musician, whose career started in 1959. He is best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan was one of the most "in-demand" studio musicians in the UK, and performed in more than one thousand charting singles over his career...

 played guitar in this song.

Song history

The song was recorded by Brenda Lee

Brenda Lee

Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...

 in 1965 and also by Boy George

Boy George

Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

 in 1992, and both the latter and the original Dave Berry recordings were used as the theme to the Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan

Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.- Early life :...

 movie The Crying Game

The Crying Game

The Crying Game is a 1992 psychological thriller drama film written and directed by Neil Jordan. The film explores themes of race, gender, nationality, and sexuality against the backdrop of the Irish Troubles...

.

The Boy George version of the song was produced

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 by the Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

 and reached #22 on the UK Singles Chart in 1992, #15 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 in the U.S., and #1 in Canada on the RPM 100

RPM (magazine)

RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

 national singles chart the following year.

Hank Marvin

Hank Marvin

Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...

 did an instrumental of the song on his 1993 album Heartbeat.

In addition, the song has been used covered by artists such as The Associates, Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

, Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...

, Chris Spedding

Chris Spedding

Chris Spedding is an English rock and roll and jazz guitarist, best known for his session work. Allmusic states - "Spedding is one of the UK's most versatile session guitarists, and has had a long career on two continents that saw him tackle nearly every style of rock and roll, as well as...

, and crooner Alex Moore.

The Boy George version of the song was featured in the Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey

James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...

 film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Jim Carrey. It co-stars Courteney Cox, Tone Loc, Sean Young and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino....

. This was a joke reference to the film The Crying Game

The Crying Game

The Crying Game is a 1992 psychological thriller drama film written and directed by Neil Jordan. The film explores themes of race, gender, nationality, and sexuality against the backdrop of the Irish Troubles...

, with which it shared a plot point.

Track listing of the Boy George single

UK and European 7"

A. "The Crying Game"

B. "I Specialise in Loneliness" (edit)

US 7" (red vinyl)

A. "The Crying Game"

B. "Stand by Your Man" (by Lyle Lovett)

European and UK 12" and CD single

1.(A) "The Crying Game" (Extended Dance Mix)

2.(B1) "The Crying Game"

3.(B2) "I Specialise in Loneliness" (edit)

US 12" promo :

A1. "The Crying Game" (Digifunky String Mix)

A2. "The Crying Game" (Digifunky Diva Dub)

A3. "The Crying Game" (album version)

B1. "The Crying Game" (Third Floor Trance Mix)

B2. "The Crying Game" (Third Floor Trance Dub)

B3. "The Crying Game" (DJ EFX's Tribal as a Mofo Mix)

Chart performance

Chart (1992)	Peak position
German Singles Chart	68
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	22
Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	15