TODAY’S TEARDROPS SPEAKS OF HEARTACHE TRANSFORMED INTO HOPE WHEN THE WORLD SEEMS UNRELENTINGLY BLEAK
“Today’s Teardrops,” recorded by Roy Orbison and released in 1960 as the B‑side to the “Blue Angel” single, arrived at a moment when Orbison was fast solidifying his reputation as one of popular music’s most singular voices. The record pairing reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with “Blue Angel” itself peaking at number nine, bringing “Today’s Teardrops” to the ears of an audience already captivated by Orbison’s remarkable vocal presence and emotional candor.
Though not an A‑side single in its own right, “Today’s Teardrops” occupies a curious and evocative niche in Orbison’s early catalog. It was included as part of later compilations such as The Monument Singles Collection, where it sits among B‑sides and rarities that illuminate the breadth of Orbison’s stylistic range beyond his most celebrated hits.
In the landscape of early 1960s pop and rock and roll, Roy Orbison stood apart from many of his peers with a voice that seemed to articulate the intimate confessions of the human heart. Where his monumental hits like “Only the Lonely” or “Crying” are marked by their powerful juxtaposition of monumental vocal leaps and emotional depth, “Today’s Teardrops” offers a gentler, more optimistic view of heartbreak. The lyrics—simple, almost aphoristic—propose a universal truism: tears shed today are but the prelude to rainbows shared tomorrow. This theme of transmutation from sorrow into hope resonates as a philosophical current beneath the song’s straightforward melodic charm.
Musically, the song reflects the early Monument Records sound that Orbison and his collaborators cultivated in Nashville: clean, unadorned arrangements that foreground the narrative voice. The melody is buoyant, propelled by a brisk tempo and a chorus that loops insistently on its central metaphor of tearful beginnings leading to shared joy. Within the context of Orbison’s oeuvre, this is not a lament but a pledge of redemption. In its structure and sentiment it resembles the classic pop narrative of overcoming emotional adversity, yet Orbison’s delivery, with its subtle quiver of vulnerability, infuses even the most optimistic lines with an undercurrent of lived experience.
The song’s lyricism reveals a poetic economy that contrasts with some of Orbison’s more expansive ballads. It distills emotional resilience into a phrase both memorable and poignant. Where many artists of the era leaned heavily on dramatic confessionals, “Today’s Teardrops” presents consolation as an act of gentle persuasion: dry your eyes, look forward to blue skies, and trust that sadness is not the final word. In doing so, it captures an essential quality of Orbison’s artistry—his ability to make the personal universal, and the fragile sound of tears into an emblem of hope.
Over decades, this B‑side has become a cherished piece among aficionados and collectors, emblematic of the quieter side of Orbison’s early years. Though it may not have the towering acclaim of his biggest hits, it underscores his versatility and deep emotional intelligence as both singer and interpreter of the human condition.