Pity Party (song)

This article is about the song by Melanie Martinez. For other songs, see Pity Party (disambiguation) § Music.

"Pity Party" is a song by American recording artist Melanie Martinez based on the 1963 Lesley Gore hit "It's My Party". It was released as the lead single from her^[a] debut album, Cry Baby (2015), on June 2, 2015.^[1] The music video was released on June 1, 2015.^[2] It impacted contemporary hit radio on March 22, 2016.^[3]

"Pity Party"
Single by Melanie Martinez
from the album Cry Baby
Released	June 2, 2015 (2015-06-02)
Recorded	April 2014
Genre	Alternative pop electro
Length	3:24
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Christopher Baran Kara DioGuardi John Gluck Wally Gold Seymour Gottlieb Melanie Martinez Herb Wiener
Producer(s)	CJ Baran
Melanie Martinez singles chronology
"Carousel" (2014) "Pity Party" (2015) "Soap" (2015)
Music video
"Pity Party" on YouTube

Background and composition

An alt-pop^[4] and electro track,^[5] the song uses the chorus from Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" released in 1963, as an interpolation, and also employs the iconic repeating-note horns hook from the original song as the recurring theme throughout.^[6] On July 28, 2016, the song was certified Gold by the RIAA, having sold 500,000 copies.^[7]

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".^[8]

Mike Wass of Idolator noted how both "Pity Party" and Grace's single "You Don't Own Me" are based on Lesley Gore's songs, saying "there seems to be a revival of the late Lesley Gore's music afoot".^[9]

Music video

The music video for "Pity Party" was released on June 1, 2015.^[2] However, the video was leaked 3 days prior to the official release.^[10] 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.^[8]

A behind the scenes video was released June 17, 2015.^[11]

Track listing

Digital download and streaming^[1]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Pity Party"	3:24

Remixes EP^[12]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Pity Party" (Madison Mars Remix)	4:45
2.	"Pity Party" (Kayliox Remix)	4:43
3.	"Pity Party" (XVII Remix)	4:01
4.	"Pity Party" (K Theory Remix)	4:58
5.	"Pity Party" (The Feels Remix)	4:32
6.	"Pity Party" (Myles Travitz Remix)	3:02
7.	"Pity Party" (Kassiano Remix)	4:04

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[13]	65
Finland (Suomen virallinen radiosoittolista)[14]	36
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[15]	70
UK Singles (OCC)[16]	175
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)[17]	4
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[18]	40

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[19]	Platinum	80,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[20]	Gold	15,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[21]	Gold	25,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[22]	Silver	200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[23]	2× Platinum	2,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
United States	June 2, 2015	Digital download	Atlantic Warner	[1]
United Kingdom				[24]
South Africa				[25]
Australia				[26]
United States	March 22, 2016	Contemporary hit radio	Atlantic	[3]
Italy	October 21, 2016		Warner	[27]

Pity Party EP

Pity Party EP
EP by Melanie Martinez
Released	May 6, 2016
Length	15:32
Label	Atlantic
Melanie Martinez chronology
Cry Baby (2015) Pity Party EP (2016) Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP (2016)

Pity Party EP is Melanie Martinez's second EP, released digitally on May 6, 2016 in Ireland, Mexico and the UK.^[28]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer	Length
1.	"Pity Party"	Melanie Martinez Christopher Baran Kara DioGuardi John Gluck Wally Gold Seymour Gottlieb Herb Wiener	Baran	3:24
2.	"Dollhouse"	Martinez Jeremy Dussolliet Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	3:52
3.	"Dead to Me"	Martinez Dussolliet Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	3:30
4.	"Bittersweet Tragedy"	Martinez Daniel Omelio	Robopop	4:49
Total length:				15:32

Notes

1. Martinez uses she/her and they/them pronouns. This article uses she/her pronouns for consistency.