Cry Lyrics – Charlie Puth | from “Whatever’s Clever!”

Charlie Puth is leaning into something more open-hearted on his fourth album Whatever’s Clever!, set to drop March 27, 2026, via Atlantic Records, and Cry—with that smooth Kenny G feature—lands like the emotional anchor fans have been waiting for since his Professor Puth whiteboard teases.

This track sits as track three, co-written and produced by Puth himself with Kenny G adding those signature saxophone lines that float through the instrumental bridge and weave into the choruses. It’s classic Puth pop with a gentle, adult-contemporary glow—warm keys, layered harmonies, and a mid-tempo pulse that gives space for the message to breathe. The sound feels like a quiet conversation: reassuring, almost paternal, drawing from real-life wisdom (he nods to his dad in the first verse) while keeping it universal.

Themes center on letting emotions out—life’s push and pull, the rain needed for growth, and how crying isn’t weakness but part of being human. Lines like “It doesn’t matter, you don’t have to ever keep it all inside” hit direct, turning vulnerability into permission. Kenny G’s sax adds this nostalgic, soothing layer that elevates the whole thing from confessional to cathartic.

He teased it casually in Ep 2 last month, strumming a rough chord progression while chatting production tricks, saying it came from a late-night voice memo after a tough call with an old flame. No collaborators named yet, but knowing Puth, it’ll carry that solo-vocal intimacy he honed on Charlie.

This one’s poised to kick off Whatever’s Clever!’s 12-track arc, a project he’s framing as clever takes on love’s curveballs—from the playful rebounds to the ones that leave you wrecked. The whiteboard reveal spilled partial details: Cry leading into something called Heart on Hold around track [three], with a mid-album breather teased as Laugh Lines that flips the script to lighter vibes. The whole thing’s shaping up as his most narrative-driven since Voicenotes, clocking around 45 minutes of polished pop with surprises like a string section on the closer.

Puth is riding this wave of reinvention right now, three years past his self-titled pivot that stripped back the gloss for something realer, and fresh off those intimate theater runs where he unpacked songwriting scars onstage. At 33, with a hand in producing for half of TikTok’s soundtracks, he’s less the teen-pop wunderkind and more the guy who gets how vulnerability sells out rooms. Whatever’s Clever! looks like him leaning further into that, trading some polish for punches that land personal.

X perked up after Ep 2 aired, with clips of the whiteboard zooming in on Cry’s spot and fans theorizing it’s his next Slow Hands-level earworm, threads full of “professor dropping bars disguised as lessons.” If Charlie was the reset, this album might just be the revelation.

Dive into the Cry lyrics below and unpack its raw narrative. Don’t miss other Whatever’s Clever! tracks for more of Charlie Puth’s tender sting.