Artist: Cassie Summers
Track: Cryin' on my Own
Length: 4:48
Genre: Country
Label: Demo
Written by: Cassie Summers
Personnel: Cassie Summers – Acoustic guitar and vocals ; Josh Meyer – Drums and percussion
IntroductionCryin' on my Own is the comeback single from famed blogger, columnist, magazine editor and winner of NBC's The Voice season 3 Cassie Summers. The 19-year-old California native has long been an infamous figure in the industry, with her antagonistic views and her controversial behaviour.
However, in recent times, the former Cosmic Beauty Contest and Big Light Show vocalist has had something of a coming of age, becoming much more mellow in her comments to others, and concentrating on her family and her professional ventures, which saw her become the second editor of the eternally popular Chaos Magazine. In the midst of 2012, following the birth of twins, her second and third children, Cassie decided to enter herself in NBC's The Voice. Reinventing herself on the show as somewhat of a country artist rather than the rock-based singer she once was, Cassie swept to victory, being voted in first place on every single live show until the final, and proving that she had more strings to her bow than anyone could ever have imagined.
Following on from the end of the show, Summers would then embark on a recording spree, looking to make some rough demo tracks that would prove that she had what it takes to take her country stylings to the next level, and become a full-time recording artist rather than just a karaoke style singer on another singing contest.
In January of 2013, the star signed a new recording deal with Studio 60 Records, after having sent a copy of her demo tape to her best friend, the label's top girl Gia Rose-Hilton. She would then disappear into the studio again, this time working with Blood of Wecz drummer Josh Meyer to produce her first country single that would relaunch her career and herself, washing away the past and showing her in a brand new light.
Cryin' on my Own represents a softer side of Cassie Summers that many may have thought she never possessed the ability to discover. The track is soft and gentle in nature, and sad in its theme. The quiet country musings represent the break up of Summers' marriage to metal heavyweight and Mind legend Jason Smith, who walked out on her when she was eight months pregnant with the couple's first kids together. For the first time in her career, the song allows her vocals and emotion to overcome the anger that epitomised her earlier years, and she allows her softer side to come to the fore along with her talented vocal skills.
The song will be released on Studio 60 Records on Sunday 17th February 2013.
Cassie says“This song is something that I felt I really had to do with my life, to prove not only to other people, but also to myself, that a person can be a lot more than they were in the past. I've moved from being someone who was angry, sad, alone and violent, to a girl who is happy and content, and has the ability to express myself in a new way. In the past, I have no doubt that I would have lashed out rather than giving myself what is a much more mature and expressive way to put my feelings across. I'm glad that I've found the ability to be able to talk about something bad that happened in my life like this, rather than to just hit out at everyone and everyone and blog about how I hate the world.
“Putting myself on the Voice was a big decision that I didn't take lightly. Obviously, I was well known before I went on there, but at the same time, I don't think anyone ever took me seriously as a singer and a vocalist, and that's partially my own fault. I mean, I only released one album and like 6 singles in the first few years of my career, and I think that made people see me as some sort of lazy person who wasn't dedicated enough. By going onto the show, I managed to show that I had the dedication and the effort required to really assert myself as a strong contestant. I never really expected to win the show, but I was ecstatic when I did. I worked very very hard in my three months on the Voice, and when I heard my name called out at the end of that finale, I just burst into tears, it was, besides the birth of my three kids, the best night I have experienced in life so far.
“It's important though that I don't rest on my laurels and that I take advantage of the opportunity that the show gave me. Since the win, I have gone into the studio to write and record some country songs that I think have allowed me to open up and express myself a lot more openly and honestly than I have ever done in the past. I was praised on the show for the way that I managed to connect with the lyrics of the songs I was singing, almost like I was telling a story to the audience, and that's definitely something that I want to bring to my own music and my own listeners. It's also something that I maybe didn't get to do in the past. I think the lyrics in my pop-punk stuff were part of the character that was Cassie at the time, as opposed to the real me. This music really is the real me. The emotions are real and I hope that that shines through.
“I had a blast working on this track over the last month or so. Josh Meyer was introduced to me by Gia's husband Scott, and he is the perfect drummer for this record I'm working on. He gave my song a consistency and a solidness that I think makes it sound really firm and tight. I loved working with him.
“In terms of this track itself, it's a theme that I thought at one time I would never have the strength to talk about. Ask anyone whose husband leaves them, and they'll tell you the same. You expect there to be anger and you think you'll lash out but you don't. You feel ashamed, embarrassed and like you have something to be sorry for. It leaves you exposed and you just want to fall into obscurity. That's why I wanted to talk about it, to show that I'm not ashamed any more. I did nothing wrong, and I want people to know that I'm recovering. This is my way to show that. And with the new style of my music, I think this is the fresh start and new chance that I've been looking for to relaunch my career and show everyone that I have more to me than meets the eye.
"I'm not the girl you thought you knew."
The TrackCryin' on my Own is a quiet and ambient country song, relying heavily on its lyrical themes and content, and the emotion that lies within both over the musical backing. The fantastic talent in Cassie Summers vocal is supported only by a gentle acoustic guitar and soft drum beats that act almost like punctuation rather than dominating the song as so many artists do, overly relying on the musical backing. The strengths of the track lie in the fact that it tells a story; the story is of a girl who was in love, only to have her heart broken by the one man who promised to love her and hold her forever. It carries the listener through the weeks and months that passed after Cassie's husband walked away from her and their children, and how her emotions went through a rollercoaster time, managing to pick herself up and try to recover, only to be slapped down once again by the simplest of things. The words are haunting, and sad. Most of all though, the song is dominated by a sense of honesty and truth that makes Cassie come across as an open book to be admired.
Throughout the track, the lyrics are sung with a sweet voice that will stand out as unique in the country scene. She has resisted the temptation to adopt a southern twang alien to herself, that would have made her fit in easier within the country music genre. Instead, Cassie showcases her vocals through her western-US coastal accent, retaining her own identity, and making her vocals sound like one of a kind; gentle, soft and almost forgiving, while also managing to retain a strong edge that says Cassie is gonna be fine, in spite of all the knocks she talks about in the track.
Each of the verses are very slowly sung. The guitar and drums are very quiet and offer just a whisper of noise that frames Cassie's vocals rather than accompanying them. She sings each of the line very slowly, her voice tailing off to the end of each one to become little more than a whisper itself. It allows her to sound vulnerable and alone, and lets the emotion of each and every section to flow out to the listener. The guitar that Cassie plays also sounds sad throughout the verse, her chords clean and gentle, minor in tone and emotion.
The pre-choruses are sung with a similar tone, but a little more strongly. Her voice doesn't tail off, and her chords have a little more choppy edge to them. While in the verses, the chords are almost unheard, in this section they make their presence known without ever being intrusive to the emotional side of the song that continues to push home. As it reaches the end, closer to the chorus, Cassie sings a little louder as she asks questions of the subject of the song, almost sounding a little anger amongst her sadness. Finally, the final two lines of this section, where she repeats "And I cried", is sung against a backdrop of silence, the music having totally stopped to make her sound lonely and isolated and keep up the notion of her sadness.
The chorus is the triumphant part of the song. These sections are where the guitar and drums come in more strongly, and Cassie's vocal sounds much more powerful as if to exemplify her more positive attitude when trying to get over the break up of her marriage. The guitar chords are still acoustic, and they still sound quite gentle, but they are louder and definitely happier in their tone. The drums are played with sticks as opposed to brushes for this section. Cassie is obviously feeling stronger herself during these parts, and she portrays emotion so well that the listener can almost hear her smiling through the pain at these interludes.
And finally, the last section of the track is very slow. Cassie acts alone during this outro, strumming the guitar once at the start of each line, her voice sounding weak and vulnerable as she sings them slowly, the final one without any music, slower and sadder than anywhere else in the song as it fades away quietly.
Country Weekly ReviewWhen Cassie Summers walked out onto the stage on the third season of The Voice last year, a few eyebrows were raised. This was a girl who had had the chance to prove herself as a musician on a number of different occasions in the past, and she had never particularly set the heather on fire. Her star always seemed to burn brightest when she was writing about other people, but boy did that change with her elongated appearance on the NBC show. She showed a maturity, a dedication and a set of lungs that there ain't no one knew she had in the past. It even got to the stage that by the end of the final show, when her name was announced as the winner of season three, that there were more than a few people in the country music scene chomping at the bit to hear what she could do on her own. And boy oh boy, are we impressed? Hell yeah we are.
To read her blog, it would be impossible to think that that same Cassie Summers would be able to do something quite as beautiful and emotive as this. She's done country music perfectly here. What do we need? A bit of sadness and despair, mixed in with a lil old bit of talent and a whole bunch of passion and feeling. If music was a recipe, someone would be askin' Cassie to write a cook book after this. She's made a song here that tells a tale. The music is minimalist, and only really acts as a backing, the way it should be. Her guitar is her companion rather than her boss, and she uses that sweet little voice to tell us all the story of how her husband left her.
It's hard to listen to a song like this and not feel like you're gonna drop a tear at some point. Will it appeal to the wider audience outside country music? I certainly hope it does, because it deserves to do so. However, if not, it most certainly will make an impact in country circles. If I didn't know better, I'd say this girl was from the south herself. She's certainly channelled the spirit of Tennessee and Texas into her debut single, and this is the way true country music should sound. It sounds exquisite, it sounds polished, and most of all, it just sounds wonderful. Cassie has truly managed brush away the cobwebs of her downtime from being a musician in this song to return in true style. This should announce her place among the talented and stylish stars that dominate the scene, but with a twist.
Cassie Summers will never be an Izzy Merjos or a Jennifer Armstrong. She doesn't have that sort of flashy edge that makes a pop star. What she does have though is a very impressive set of lungs, a fantastically sweet little voice, and plenty of stories to tell. Her music is certainly gonna make a lot of people cry in years to come. Her marriage may be over, but it'll be a case of capitalising on that experience. She's severed the apron strings, but now she's tugging on the heart strings. Welcome to country music Cassie Summers. And long may you stick around.
4/5
LyricsCalendar says that it's late in the summer
So why is my heart awash with cold
The band on my finger, the promise you made
To love me 'til I'm old
Don't seem to speak to you when it mattered
I paint my heart as stone
But it was the glass that you shattered
And now I'm fighting all alone
The day when you walked away
And I hated everything that you were
I thought it would never go away
And the bottom fell out of my world
Where were you?
You left me all alone
Why did you go?
Left me sittin' by the phone
And I cried
And I criedBut the memories of you
Can't make the tears fall any more
I won't be cryin' on my own
Cryin' on my own
And thoughts of yesterday will
No longer turn my heart to stone
I won't be cryin' on my own
Cryin' on my ownI allowed myself to become intoxicated,
So punch drunk on the thought of you,
My friends told me I was a stupid girl,
But if it was stupid to love you, then that was true,
You left me once and again, without a call,
And I have to answer,
All the questions, all the “told you so”
It's what will always hurt the most of all,
Once would have been a kick
A pot shot, a sucker punch
But I thought twice would make me tick
Like a little time bomb
Anger bubbling, but no
No anger
Only tears
I just cried
I just criedBut the memories of you
Can't make the tears fall any more
I won't be cryin' on my own
Cryin' on my own
And thoughts of yesterday will
No longer turn my heart to stone
I won't be cryin' on my own
Cryin' on my ownMemories can be more than just
Another reason to wipe my eyes
You took my pride, but look at what you gave
Their eyes so full of love and care
They call me mom, make me feel brave
Cos I can do this on my own
Hey look at me, my tears have dried
Let me sign off, time to move on
And don't think I'll ever let you do this to me againBecause the memories of you
Can't make the tears fall any more
I won't be cryin' on my own
Cryin' on my own
And thoughts of yesterday will
No longer turn my heart to stone
I won't be cryin' on my own
Cryin' on my ownMemories of you...
Don't make the tears fall any more...
I'm not....cryin...
No I'm not cryin....
Cryin' on my...own....