"The Tracks of My Tears" is a

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

song originally recorded by

the Miracles The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most ...

on Motown Record's Tamla subsidiary label . It was composed by Miracles members

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

, Pete Moore, and

Marv Tarplin Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...

. This million-selling, multiple award-winning R&B hit has been inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame, has been ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America and The National Endowment for the Arts at 127 in its list of the "Songs of the Century" – the 365 Greatest Songs of the 20th Century, and has been selected by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' as No. 50 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", among many other awards. In 2021, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the Miracles' original recording of "The Tracks of My Tears" as "The Greatest Motown Song of All Time".

The Miracles original version

Background

"The Tracks of My Tears" was written by Miracles members

(lead vocalist), Pete Moore (bass vocalist), and

(guitarist). In the five-LP publication ''The Motown Story'', by Motown Records, Robinson explained the origin of this song in these words: "'Tracks of My Tears' was actually started by

, who is a young cat who plays guitar for our act. So he had this musical thing ings melody you know, and we worked around with it, and worked around, and it became 'Tracks of My Tears'." Tarplin's guitar licks at the song's intro are among the most famous in pop music history. "The Tracks of My Tears" was a No. 2 hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

, and it reached No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On initial release in the UK in 1965 it did not chart, but like several other Motown singles reissued there in 1969, it became a Top Ten hit in the summer, reaching No. 9, credited to "Smokey Robinson and the Miracles". This song is considered to be among the finest recordings of The Miracles, and it sold over one million records within two years, making it The Miracles' fourth million-selling record. ''

'' described the song as a "first rate teen ballad with pulsating dance beat." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as "a slow-shufflin’ pop-r&b tearjerker about a gal who has several regrets about losing her guy." The Miracles can be seen performing "The Tracks of My Tears" on their 2006

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

release, '' The Miracles' Definitive Performances''.

Awards and accolades

"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 50 years, and has won numerous industry awards and accolades. The Miracles' original recording of "The Tracks of My Tears" ranked at No. 50 on ''

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

in 2004; the track was also a 2007 inductee into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. On May 14, 2008, the track was preserved by the

United States Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers copyright law ...

as an "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significance" to the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

. The song "The Tracks of My Tears" was also awarded "The Award of Merit" from The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

) for Miracles members/composers Pete Moore,

, and

. Ranked by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

and the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

at No. 127 in its list of the ''

Songs of the Century The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America's musical an ...

'' - the 365 Greatest Songs of the 20th Century - "The Tracks of My Tears" was also chosen as one of

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

. Additionally, the song ranked at No. 5 on the "Top 10 Best Songs of All Time" by a panel of 20 top industry songwriters and producers including

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David was born and raised in New ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

Jerry Leiber Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

, and others as reported to Britain's ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

'' music magazine. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked The Miracles' original recording of "The Tracks of My Tears" as "The Greatest Motown Song of All Time."

Personnel

The Miracles

– lead vocals, co-writer *

– guitar, co-writer *

Claudette Rogers Robinson Claudette Annette Rogers Robinson ( Rogers; born June 20, 1942) is an American singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Miracles from 1957 to 1972. Her brother Emerson "Sonny" Rogers was a founding member of the group, which befo ...

– background vocals * Pete Moore – background vocals, vocal arranger, co-writer *

Ronnie White Ronald Anthony White (April 5, 1938 – August 26, 1995) was an American baritone singer, best known as the co-founder of the Miracles and its only consistent original member. White was also known for bringing Stevie Wonder to the attention of ...

– background vocals *

Bobby Rogers Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a founding member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Mira ...

– background vocals * Other instrumentation by

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

and the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Linda Ronstadt version

Background

In 1975,

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

recorded a cover version of "The Tracks of My Tears" for her studio album '' Prisoner in Disguise'' that became a pop

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hit in the US. The single was produced by

Peter Asher Peter Asher (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and re ...

and issued on

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

as that album's second single. Ronstadt's version of the song was a success peaking at No. 25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' C&W chart in tandem with its B-side: the

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

duet "The Sweetest Gift", and No. 42 in 1976 on the UK Singles Chart. Ronstadt later scored another of her biggest hits with her 1978 single " Ooh Baby Baby", which was a remake of the Miracles' hit single preceding "The Tracks of My Tears". Ronstadt and Smokey Robinson performed both "The Tracks of My Tears" and "Ooh Baby Baby" on the '' Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever'' special broadcast on May 16, 1983.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

* In 1967, "The Tracks of My Tears" was covered by

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is a retired American musician. He achieved commercial success and popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential art ...

. His version of the song reached No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and No. 8 in Canada. *

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

recorded the song for her '' Soul '69'' album from which it was issued as a single although as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. Franklin's version of "

The Weight "The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album '' Music from Big Pink''. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian ...

" became the favored track with "Tracks of My Tears" peaking at No. 76 Pop and No. 21 R&B. *

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

included the song on his

These Foolish Things (album) ''These Foolish Things'' is the debut solo studio album by Bryan Ferry, who at the time was still Roxy Music's lead vocalist. The album was released in October 1973 on Island Records in the United Kingdom and Atlantic Records in the United States. ...

covers album in 1973. * Shirley covered the song in 1977, reaching No. 20 in Australia. * A 1982 version by

Colin Blunstone Colin Edward Michael Blunstone (born 24 June 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Blunstone came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band the Zombies, which rel ...

reached No. 60 in the UK Singles Chart. * English pop duo Go West covered the song as "Tracks of My Tears" and released it as a single on September 20, 1993. Their version reached No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 38 on the Icelandic Singles Chart, and No. 82 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart. *

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

covered "Tracks of My Tears", which was part of her 2008 comeback album '' Backwoods Barbie''.

References

Bibliography

External links

See The Miracles perform the song on YouTube

List of cover versions of "The Tracks of My Tears"
at SecondHandSongs.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Tracks of My Tears, The 1965 songs 1965 singles 1967 singles 1969 singles 1975 singles 1993 singles 2007 singles Motown singles United States National Recording Registry recordings Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients The Miracles songs Aretha Franklin songs Johnny Rivers songs Linda Ronstadt songs Colin Blunstone songs Go West (band) songs Songs written by Smokey Robinson Songs written by Warren "Pete" Moore Songs written by Marv Tarplin Songs about loneliness Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson Tamla Records singles Song recordings produced by Peter Asher Chrysalis Records singles Asylum Records singles Breakup songs