The Philosophy of Modern Song: the Little White Cloud that Cried

Posted on January 9, 2026 by Tony Attwood

 

There is an index to all our current series and some of our recent series of articles on the home page.    We also have a very active Facebook page.   Links to the previous songs from Dylan’s book, which we have looked at in this series, are given at the end of this piece.

——————

By Tony Attwood

This is part of a series of articles in which I take a look at the songs Bob selected for his post-doctorate volume, “The Philosophy of Modern Song.”   A recording of each song is provided, along with my own thoughts on the songs selected.

The Little White Cloud that Cried by Johnnie Ray

This song was the B side of Johnny Ray’s most famous song, “Cry”, and Bob has cited Johnny Ray as one of his prime early influences.  The quote runs, “He was the first singer whose voice and style, I guess, I totally fell in love with. There was just something about the way he sang ‘When Your Sweetheart Sends A Letter’…that just knocked me out. I loved his style, wanted to dress like him too.”

That “When your sweetheart” phrase, however, is not another song, as it might appear above, but a misquote of the opening of Cry.

“Cry” is an interesting choice as it appeared as a B-side, and it is openly emotional in a very simple manner, saying as it does, the bad times will pass and always remember the lesson provided here.  As such it seems the antithesis of Dylan’s own work.

But I suppose it is the fact that the message comes from a “little white cloud that cried” that makes it hard to imagine Bob finding inspiration in this message, as it is so far away from anything that we find in Bob’s own writing.   Indeed, even if we go back to his early songs (for example, those from 1959 to 1961) there doesn’t seem to me to be anything there that shows any reflection of, or inspiration from, this song or this type of song.   It is, in short, a childhood memory.

The song was published in 1951, and Bob was born in 1941 – thus, he might have been 10 or 11 on hearing this on a gramophone at home, so yes, it is possible that at that age the song had a profound impact, especially with the record being played at home, which gave Bob the chance to play it over and over.

And it does seem to me an important point, as I feel Bob is simply reflecting on a song that impressed him in his early years, rather than a song that has a musical value of its own.  For it has been known since the days of the earliest folk music that songs with simple messages can indeed influence children as well as adults, and stay with people for life.  Indeed I can remember for example, from my childhood, the song,  “The Thing,” recorded by Phil Harris in 1950 – I am not sure why we had a copy of that song on a 78rpm at home, but we did, and I can still recall it.

So maybe that is the reason Bob remembers this song – he just heard it a lot at home.  Maybe, just as with “The Thing” in my family house during my early years, its inclusion has nothing to do with this being a fine piece of music, but simply something recalled from childhood.  And I suspect most of us have some recorded music from those early days that stays with us.

Here are the lyrics.

I went walking down by the riverFeeling very sad insideWhen all at once I saw in the skyThe little white cloud that cried

He told me he was very lonesomeAnd no one cared if he lived or diedAnd said sometimes the thunder and lightningWould make all the little clouds hide

He said, "Have faith in all kinds of weatherFor the sun will always shineNow do your best and always rememberThe dark clouds pass with time"

He asked me if I'd tell all my worldJust how hard those little clouds tryThat's how I know I'll always rememberThat little white cloud

——————-

Previously in this series

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *