tracks of my tears

from the album Going To A Go-Go A-side The Tracks of My Tears B-side "A Fork in the Road" Released June 1965 Format vinyl record (7" 45 RPM) Recorded Hitsville USA (Studio A); 1965 Genre Soul Length 2:57 Label Tamla

T 54118 Writer(s) William Robinson, Jr., Warren Moore, Marvin Tarplin Producer Smokey Robinson The Miracles singles chronology "Ooo Baby Baby"

1965 "The Tracks of My Tears"

1965 "My Girl Has Gone"

1965

"The Tracks of My Tears" is a 1965 hit single by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label. It is considered among their best recordings, and is listed on the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. An all-time classic, this million-selling song is also a 2007 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.

The Miracles' original version of this song was also ranked #50 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Overview 2 Cover versions 3 Awards and Accolades 4 Other uses 5 Credits- The Miracles: 5.1 Other Credits 6 References //

Overview

Like a number of Miracles songs, "The Tracks of My Tears" finds Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson as a man hiding the sadness of a bad breakup behind a false smile and laugh. "Outside I'm masquerading/Inside, my hope is fading", he sings. "If you look closer, it's easy to trace/The tracks of my tears."

Written by Robinson, Pete Moore, and Miracles guitarist Marv Tarplin, "The Tracks of My Tears" was a #2 hit on the Billboard magazine R&B singles chart, and reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also was a Top 10 hit in England, reaching #9 on the UK singles chart.

On the Motown five-LP release The Motown Story, Robinson explains the origin of the song: "Tracks of My Tears" was actually started by Marv Tarplin, who is a young cat who plays guitar for our act. So he had this musical thing - [singing melody] – you know, and we worked around with it, and worked around, and it became "Tracks of My Tears."

In a 2006 poll for a Channel 5 program Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs, it was voted sixteenth. In early 2007, the Miracles' original version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

This song strongly inspired Pete Townshend to write the 1966 hit song Substitute because of Robinson's use of that word.

Cover versions

"The Tracks of My Tears" is The Miracles' most honored and most covered song. It has been ranked at or near the top of many "best of" lists in the music industry over the last 40 years. Singer Linda Ronstadt did a successful cover version of the song in 1976, eventually hitting #11 on the Billboard country singles chart. "The Tracks of My Tears" also became a hit for Johnny Rivers and Aretha Franklin. Go West covered it for their "best of" album in 1993 and released it as a single, reaching #16 on the UK Singles Chart. Johnny Rivers (1967); reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Aretha Franklin - Soul '69 (1969) Pat Kelly (1969)