"Pity Party" is a song by American recording artist

Melanie Martinez Melanie Adele Martinez (born April 28, 1995) is an American Puerto Rican-Dominican singer and songwriter. Born in Astoria, Queens, and raised in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York, Baldwin, New York, Martinez rose to fame in 2012 after appearing ...

based on the 1963

Lesley Gore Lesley Gore (born Lesley Sue Goldstein, May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. At the age of 16, she recorded her first hit song " It's My Party", a US number one in 1963. She follow ...

hit "

It's My Party "It's My Party" is a song recorded by American singer Lesley Gore on her debut studio album '' I'll Cry If I Want To'' (1963). It was released as a single on April 5, 1963, by Mercury Records. The song was written by Herb Wiener, John Gluck Jr. ...

". It was released as the lead single from her debut album, '' Cry Baby'' (2015), on June 2, 2015. The music video was released on June 1, 2015. It impacted

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

on March 22, 2016.

Background and composition

An alt-pop and electro track, the song uses the chorus from

's "

" released in 1963, as an

interpolation In the mathematics, mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one ...

, and also employs the iconic repeating-note horns hook from the original song as the recurring theme throughout. On July 28, 2016, the song was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

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 ...

, having sold 500,000 copies. Regarding the song, Martinez said, "This was during my second session with Kara DioGuardi. It was awesome to write that song because I love music from the 50s and 60s. When I was singing, Kara said my voice reminded her of Judy Garland and artists from that time. I really wanted to write about no one showing up to my birthday party and the song is perfect inspiration for this theme. I love samples, especially older songs because they can put a new take on an old song. So we were really inspired by that and we sampled it for the first line of the chorus and that is how 'Pity Party' came about". Mike Wass of Idolator noted how both "Pity Party" and

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uni ...

's single "

You Don't Own Me "You Don't Own Me" is a pop song written by Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White and recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963, when she was 17 years old. The song was Gore's second most successful recording and her last top-ten single ...

" are based on Lesley Gore's songs, saying "there seems to be a revival of the late Lesley Gore's music afoot".

Music video

The music video for "Pity Party" was released on June 1, 2015. However, the video was leaked 3 days prior to the official release. The video was directed by Melanie herself, describing it as a "fun experience for her", considering she's the only person featured in the video. A behind the scenes video was released June 17, 2015.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

Release history

''Pity Party EP''

''Pity Party EP'' is Melanie Martinez's second EP, released digitally on May 6, 2016 in Ireland, Mexico and the UK.

Track listing

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2015 singles 2015 songs Melanie Martinez songs Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Melanie Martinez Songs written by Wally Gold Songs written by Kara DioGuardi Torch songs Songs written by CJ Baran Songs about birthdays Songs about birthday parties Songs about parties Songs about loneliness