Don't Cry for Me Argentina

About Don't Cry for Me Argentina

"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is a song recorded by Julie Covington for the 1976 concept album Evita, and was later included in the 1978 musical of the same name. The song was written and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice while they were researching the life of Argentinian leader Eva Perón. It appears at the opening and near the end of the show, initially as the spirit of the dead Eva exhorting the people of Argentina not to mourn her, and finally during Eva's speech from the balcony of the Casa Rosada. Covington was signed by the songwriters for the track, based on her previous work in musicals. The Evita album had taken 3–4 months to record, since Rice was not satisfied with the intensity of the initial recordings. The song had a number of different titles before "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was chosen as the final one. The song shares its melody with "Oh What a Circus" from the same show and lyrically consists of platitudes where Eva tries to win the favour of the people of Argentina. It was released in the United Kingdom on 12 November 1976 as the first single from the album, accompanied by national and trade advertising, full-colour posters, display sleeves as well as radio interviews. more »