"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Cry Me a River" by Ella Fitzgerald. Modest rise and fall. balanced composition. Mood: introspective, melancholy, reflective. Visual style: 2000s digital editorial aesthetic. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."
Easy, low-key calm, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for focus.
72
BPM
Cry Me a River by Ella Fitzgerald is 72 BPM — Adagio (slow).
Half-time 36 BPM · Double-time 144 BPM
Fan image for "Cry Me a River"
An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.
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Song DNA
Notes: Smooth jazz ballad with soft, controlled vocal shifts from vulnerability to defiance, supported by gentle instrumentation in 6/8 time. Predictable phrasing and flowing waltz-like rhythm create a calming, non-jarring sensory experience.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: anxiety relief deep listening relaxation
A jazz ballad where Ella Fitzgerald delivers a tale of heartbreak and empowerment with impeccable phrasing and emotional depth.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: introspective, melancholy, reflective
Traditions: jazz
Quiet Track
"Cry Me a River" sits at 72 BPM. Built for stillness.
This is well below typical speech rhythm. The body reads slow tempo as permission to rest. Smooth texture and dynamic vocals keep the foreground spare. Good candidates for use: falling asleep, processing a hard day, slow mornings, study sessions where the music must not pull at you. Avoid for any task that needs alertness — the piece works against it.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 5/10 is within the normal pop-mix band. There is variation between verse and chorus, but it's the kind of variation most listeners encounter routinely.
Sudden changes: mild. There are one or two transitions worth knowing about, though they're musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
Texture: smooth.
Predictability is high — the song telegraphs what it will do next. A sensory-sensitive listener can usually guess where it's going without close attention.
Vocal style: dynamic vocals.
Where this sits in Ella Fitzgerald's catalog
We have 38 songs from Ella Fitzgerald in the library. Of those, 30 are rated Safe, 7 Moderate, and 1 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 5/10 sits below the artist average of 5.3, making it the #18 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Explore by mood and tradition
Traditions
jazz · 890Guides that may help
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm — A guide for sensory-sensitive li…
How fast is "Cry Me a River"?
72 BPM — Slow (downtempo / ballad)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.
For daily life
Sleep, meditation, reading, focus work.
Browse more songs at 72 BPM.
When "Cry Me a River" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
~
Focus / studying
Maybe — fine for routine work, but the mid-song changes may pull attention during deep focus.
✗
Running / workout
No — 72 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
✓
Driving / road trip
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
✓
Cooking / dinner background
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
✓
Emotional release / catharsis
Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Best Headphones for Sensory Sensitivity: A Buyer's Guide
How to choose headphones for sensory-sensitive listening. Noise cancellation, clamping pressure, and comfort guidance for ears that notice e…
The 10 Calmest Albums Ever Recorded — A low-intensity Listening Guide
The 10 Calmest Albums Ever Recorded — A low-intensity Listening Guide — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Why this rating
We rate this song Safe because its dynamic range stays within our low-variance band, there are no unsignaled changes, and the texture and vocal style are both in the low-fatigue range. Our methodology uses an AND rule for Safe — a song has to clear every dimension to earn the rating.
This song in the Music Studio
33/100 intensity
See how “Cry Me a River” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
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Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-14. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.
Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.
By the numbers: how this song compares
Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.
Where it sits in 19,000 songs
On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 22% of songs, calmer than the other 78%. Its intensity reading of 33/100 comes from a dynamic range of 5/10, smooth texture, mild shifts, and dynamic vocals. Relatively few songs occupy this exact corner of the spectrum.
What makes it unusual
What stands out most about this song is a slow, unhurried pace: more extreme on that axis than 90% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on full chaos — sudden changes, huge quiet-to-loud swings, and relentless energy — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
Even Me — Mahalia Jackson · 99%Ring of Fire — Johnny Cash · 99%Coming In From The Cold — Bob Marley & The Wailers · 99%Thumbs — Lucy Dacus · 98%
Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.
What it’s good for
Sleep5/10
Focus9/10
Workout2/10
Dinner8/10
Party / hype2/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
Mixes smoothly with
Even Me — Mahalia JacksonRing of Fire — Johnny CashComing In From The Cold — Bob Marley & The Wailers
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity33
Dynamics44
Tempo18
Surprise25
Density0
Predictability0
Vocal force75
Trigger load0
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Cry Me a River"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Cry Me a River" by Ella Fitzgerald?
"Cry Me a River" by Ella Fitzgerald has a tempo of 72 BPM (Adagio (slow)). At half-time that is 36 BPM, and at double-time 144 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Cry Me a River" by Ella Fitzgerald?
"Cry Me a River" by Ella Fitzgerald rates as Low-Intensity. Dynamic range 5/10, mild sudden changes, smooth texture. Our Low-Intensity rating means no single dimension triggers the higher-intensity thresholds.
How loud is "Cry Me a River" — what is its dynamic range?
"Cry Me a River" has a dynamic range of 5/10. Within normal pop-mix variation. Movement between verse and chorus but nothing dramatic.
Does "Cry Me a River" have sudden or surprising changes?
"Cry Me a River" has mild sudden changes — one or two transitions worth knowing about, but they are musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
What is "Cry Me a River" best for?
In our library "Cry Me a River" is recommended for: anxiety relief, deep listening, relaxation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
What is the emotional mood of "Cry Me a River"?
We tag "Cry Me a River" as introspective, melancholy, reflective. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Cry Me a River"?
The vocal style is dynamic vocals.
Is "Cry Me a River" good for running?
Not really — at 72 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Cry Me a River" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (5/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Cry Me a River" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Contains transitions that will wake you up.
Should I listen to "Cry Me a River"?
If you want gentle, low-arousal music, "Cry Me a River" is a solid pick — Low-Intensity across every sensory dimension.
Songs with the same DNA
smooth texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.