The Crying Game

"The Crying Game" is a song written by Geoff Stephens. It was first released by English rock singer Dave Berry in July 1964. It reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. The song was covered by Boy George which reached number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Canada in 1992. Three versions of the song, by Dave Berry, Kate Robbins and Boy George, were used in the film titled after the song The Crying Game directed by Neil Jordan. Background The song was written by Geoff Stephens. Stephens thought the main attraction of the song was the title; to him the title "seemed the perfect seed from which to grow a very good pop song." The sentiment of the song inspired the lyrics and the tune, which according to him, arrived in his "head simultaneously". He thought the line "One day soon, I'm going to tell the moon, about the crying game" was particularly effective. The line "I know all there is to know" was inspired by his father, according to Stephens. Stephens recorded a demo with fellow songwriter John Carter at the Southern Music studio in Denmark Street, and gave a copy to Decca producer Mike Smith. Mike Smith liked the song and arranged for Dave Berry to record the song. The song was included in Dave Berry's self-titled debut album, where session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan played lead guitar on the tracks, and Jimmy Page supported. On "The Crying Game", Sullivan experimented a DeArmond pedal to change the sound of his guitar.