What is Cups?
‘Cups (Pitch Perfect’s When I’m Gone)’ is also known by just ‘Cups’. ‘Cups’ is a song performed by actress Anna Kendrick in the movie ‘Pitch Perfect’. The song was originally performed by Kendrick’s character Beca as her audition piece, she sang the song “When I’m Gone” accompanied by a yellow cup on the stage floor as percussion… genius, right?
Even though this performance was not written in the script of “Pitch Perfect” it was included in the movie once the producers found out that Kendrick could do it. She said she learned the song after seeing Anna Burden’s Youtube cover on Reddit.
A Timelline to the making of ‘Cups (Pitch Perfect’s When I’m Gone)’:
- 1931: Carter Family recorded an old-time folk song ‘When I’m Gone’
- 1937: J. E. released the version ‘Miss Me When I’m Gone’
- 1938: Country singer Charlie Monroe recorded ‘You’re gonna miss me when I’m Gone’
- June 9th, 2009: British band ‘Lulu and the Lampshades’ (now known as ‘Landshapes’ uploaded ‘Cups (You’re Gonna Miss Me)’ on Youtube, their cover version of the Carter Family old-time folk song ‘When I’m Gone’. This version included of course the now famous “cups”.
- June 8th, 2011: Anna Burden posted on Youtube her cover of ‘Lulu and the Lampshades’ – ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me (Cups)’. Her videos went viral and made it to the front page of Reddit.
- Anna Kendrick finds Anna Burden’s video on Reddit and decided to spend an entire afternoon learning how to play the song ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me (Cups)’
- Anna Kendrick gets cast as Beca for the acapella themed movie ‘Pitch Perfect’. Someone in the creative department found out that she could do the ‘Cups Song’ and it made it in the movie.
- October 5th, 2012: The movie ‘Pitch Perfect’ is released in theaters
- March 15th, 2013: After spending 11 weeks on the chart, ‘Cups (Pitch Perfect’s When I’m Gone)’ was finally released on the radio. It debuted at #40 on the Pop Songs chart.
- April 12th, 2013: ‘Cups (Pitch Perfect’s When I’m Gone)’ music video is released on Anna Kendrick’s Vevo Channel.
There are three versions of the song:
- 1:17 – Cups (Movie Version)
- 2:07 – Cups (Single Version)
- 3:07 – Cups (Video version)
‘Cups (Pitch Perfect’s “When I am Gone”)’ has sold over 1,300,000 copies in the United States and has reached number 10 in the Billboard Hot 100.
It has been announced that ‘Cups (Pitch Perfect’s “When I am Gone”)’ will be the official song for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Also you might like to visit our Fun Facts to find out more interesting facts about this song… like the original performer of the song, the cup beat, and more…
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