Big Girls Don't Cry (Fergie song)

Background

"Big Girls Don't Cry" was written by Fergie (credited as Stacy Ferguson) and Toby Gad. The song was recorded at the Metropolis Recording Studio in London, England. will.i.am produced the song as well as playing the bass, supervising in programming the drums and engineering the song. In discussing the album with Clover Hope of Billboard, Adams described the production of this song to be his most challenging yet, saying that "I did an Edie Brickell type of production." He was aided by Neil Tucker and Tal Herzberg, who also provided additional editing with the use of Pro Tools technology. The song features a large number of instrumentalists on the song. On the basses are Trey Henry and Mike Valerio while Keith Harris plays the drums, keyboard bass and keys. George Pajon Jr. plays the guitar. "Big Girls Don't Cry" features eighteen violinists, four people on the violas and four people on the celli. The strings were arranged and conducted by Ron Fair, who also produced the additional vocals on the song. They were recorded by Allen Sides at the Signet Sound. The song was mixed at Ocean Way Recordings in Hollywood, California by Jack Joseph Puig and Dean Nelson. A&M Records, in association with will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records, sent the song to contemporary hit radio on May 20, 2007 in the United States.

Composition

"Big Girls Don't Cry" has a length of 4 minutes and 28 seconds. It incorporates elements from different genres such as acoustic folk and is composed by simple drums, synthesizers, violins, strings, viola, and celli. The song is written in the key of G major and is set in time signature of common time with a moderate pop tempo of 113 beats per minute. Fergie's vocal range spans from the high-tone of C₅ to the lower register of G₃. The song has a basic sequence of G–Csus2–D5 as its chord progression. The song is a ballad about the end of a relationship and dealing with personal issues. James Simon of CHARTattack describes the song as "[an] emotive acoustic sentimentalism" while Dan Gennoe compared the song to Pink's style of music, calling it and Voodoo Doll "pure Pink!".

Critical reception

"Big Girls Don't Cry" received general acclaim. Spence D. of IGN writes that the album's aura diminishes as "Big Girls Don't Cry" plays and comments "Listening to this song it begins to dawn on you that by this juncture the album has strategically delivered a song tailor made for each of the varying commercial radio formats." Mike Joseph of PopMatters praised the song for permitting her vocal ability to shine. Bill Lamb of About.com rated the song four out of five stars, praising the mood, lyrics and vocals as "mellow, still sexy", "intelligent" and "strong". He noted however that there could be a moment in the song where it all catches fire. Lamb further added that the simple, gentle back lets the track unfolds on its own and that the song represents artistic growth on Fergie and will.i.am's part after time off from the Black Eyed Peas. Kelly Smith of The Maneater felt differently about the song, finding it disappointing and the lyrics. Alex MacGregor of UKMix.org compared the single to Gwen Stefani's "4 in the Morning", stating that they both have a timeless, Cyndi Lauper feel to them; he gave a four-star rating to "Big Girls Don't Cry".

Chart performance

On May 5, 2007, "Big Girls Don't Cry" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 41, becoming the week's highest debut, and the Hot Digital Songs chart at number 21. In its sixth week on the chart, it entered the top 10 tier at number eight. The following week it moved up four places to number four. After 12 weeks of fluctuating in the top five, the song reached the summit of the Hot 100 on the week of September 8, 2007, replacing Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls". The song became Fergie's third number one single in the United States as a solo artist as well as the fourth top five single from The Dutchess album. The song earned her the accolade of being the first female artist to attain three number one US singles from an album since 2000, when Christina Aguilera did so with her third single, "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)", from her eponymous debut album.

The song also charted at number one on the Radio Songs chart, the Pop Songs chart and the Adult Contemporary chart. The song was certified platinum on December 6, 2007 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its digital download sales stand at 3,549,000, becoming her first single to surpass sales of three million downloads. "Big Girls Don't Cry" is Fergie's most downloaded song, ahead of "Fergalicious", "Glamorous", "Clumsy", and "London Bridge". In Canada, the song debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 17 on the issue dated June 2, 2007. "Big Girls Don't Cry" entered the top five in its third week and reached number one in its seventh week on the chart. It logged three consecutive weeks at the summit and a total of 53 weeks on the chart.

In Australia, "Big Girls Don't Cry" debuted and peaked at number one on the issue dated July 22, 2007. It ended Rihanna's six-week hold at the top position with "Umbrella" and barred the song from entering the position for three weeks. The song logged nine weeks at the top position, from July 22 to September 16, 2007, and continued to chart for 32 weeks. It became her highest charting single in the country as well as her longest charting and highest selling single there, beating out her previous single "Glamorous". The song has been certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 140,000 units. On May 28, 2007, the song entered the chart in New Zealand at number 28. The song entered the top three in its fourth week on the chart. "Big Girls Don't Cry" reached number one on the issue dated July 23, 2007 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for sales of 15,000 units.

The song also achieved chart success in the European market. "Big Girls Don't Cry" first entered the UK Singles Chart on June 17, 2007 at number 60. It quickly rose into the top 10 region and peaked at number two in its fifth week on the chart. The song reached number three in Switzerland in its 11th week and logged 34 weeks on the chart. In Sweden, the song entered the top 20 of the Singles chart on July 19, 2007, rising from number 54 the previous week. On August 23, 2007, the song peaked on the chart at number four and maintained that position for two non-consecutive weeks. It was later certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Sweden). The song was also certified gold in Norway and reached the top position of the chart on the issue dated September 11, 2007, lasting three consecutive weeks at its peak position.

Music video

The music video was directed by Anthony Mandler and began production on March 30, 2007. The video had a 'First Look' on MTV's TRL on May 16, 2007 and peaked at #5 on May 24, 2007. The video topped VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2007 list. Milo Ventimiglia plays Fergie's love interest. The video begins with Fergie getting out of her car (a red 1969 Mustang fastback) and going inside a warehouse where she meets her band and practices. Meanwhile, she is seen singing next to her boyfriend, who is sleeping. She starts walking through the house, and is then watching herself and her boyfriend from a different point of view getting out of her car. They go into the house, and her boyfriend gets out a guitar and starts playing, while Fergie is singing. Later on, she sees her boyfriend out the window with several guys, one of whom passes him a small package, which is presumably drugs, and it upsets her. Fergie then starts singing the chorus while she is taking her clothes off a clothes line and putting them into a suitcase. As the third verse begins, Fergie is walking around a warehouse singing while wearing a tan-gray baby doll dress. At the end of the song, she is seen getting into her car and driving down the road.

There are other music videos for this song as well. The one described above is the so-called "Personal" version; it is approximately 5 minutes in length and the song is played once. There is also the so-called "Extended" version; it is approximately 9 minutes in length and the song is played twice. It begins with Fergie driving to the warehouse, then uses flashbacks which include the plot scenes run in sequence. At the conclusion of this first playing of the song, Fergie has arrived at the warehouse and, with her band, the song is played again, this time with all of the warehouse scenes run in sequence.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Dutchess, A&M Records, Will.i.am Music Group, Interscope Records.

Track listing

1. "Big Girls Don't Cry" (Personal) [Remix featuring Sean Kingston] - 3:53

1. "Big Girls Don't Cry" - 4:28
2. "Pedestal" - 3:23

1. "Big Girls Don't Cry" - 4:28
2. "Pedestal" - 3:22
3. "Finally" (Live) - 3:50
4. "Big Girls Don't Cry" (Music Video) - 5:08