Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

This Bitter Earth

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A-side
  
"I Understand"

Format
  
Vinyl, 7" (45 rpm)

Genre
  
jazz, soul

Released
  
1960

Recorded
  
1959

Length
  
2:30

"This Bitter Earth" is a 1960 song made famous by rhythm and blues singer Dinah Washington. Written and produced by Clyde Otis, it peaked to #1 on the U.S. R&B charts for the week of July 25, 1960, and also reached #24 on the U.S. pop charts. The song is a key piece in the 1978 film Killer of Sheep by director Charles Burnett.

Other recordings

  • In 1964, Aretha Franklin released a cover on her album Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington for Columbia Records.
  • In May 1970, The Satisfactions released a version, reaching #36 on the U.S. R&B charts.
  • In 1992, R&B/soul singer Miki Howard recorded a version that appears on her 1992 album, Femme Fatale.
  • In 2004, break-core musician Venetian Snares used vocals from this song in his own composition with the same title on his mini-album Moonglow / This Bitter Earth.
  • In 2006, Gladys Knight released her début album for the Verve Records label, Before Me, including this song as the sixth track.
  • In 2007, R&B/Dance singer Deborah Cox made a remake of this song on her album Destination Moon.
  • On June 10, 2010, this was danced to on So You Think You Can Dance, in a routine choreographed by Mia Michaels.
  • In February 2010, this song was featured on the soundtrack for the Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island, in the form of a mash-up with Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight".
  • In 2012 the Max Richter mashup was featured as the accompanying track to the launch trailer of The Secret World, an MMORPG from developer Funcom, published by Electronic Arts.
  • Pedro Ruy-Blas (2014)

    • References

    This Bitter Earth Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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