The Cups Song (You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone)
For those of you that don't know, back in 2011 a two person group called Lula and the Lampshades combined the "Cups Game" of moving plastic cups to music with a newer take on an old song called "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone". It would sweep the internet and reach a highet of popularity when Anna Kendrick preformed it in the movie "Pitch Perfect" . It would soon become a fad, make the rounds of YouTube, be parodied, and finally fade from memory. It's a shame it's been forgotten, because there are a bunch of interesting things going on with this.
Just the Videos
For those that just want the videos
| Date | Title | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | When I'm Gone | The Carter Family | First Recording |
| 1937 | Miss Me When I'm Gone | Mainer and Mountaineers | Second Recording |
| 1987 | Screen Door | Rich Mullins | First attributed use of the "Cups Game" for percussion |
| 2009 | Your're Gonna Miss Me | Lulu and the Lampshades | Put it all together and Add some Lyrics. |
I Want All the Details
Let's start with the easy stuff and just cut and paste from Wikipedia.
"Cups" incorporates lyrics from the 1931 song "When I'm Gone" by the Carter Family. Written by A. P. Carter, J. E. Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers reworked "When I'm Gone" into an Appalachian folk song in 1937 and retitled it to "Miss Me When I'm Gone". British musicians Heloise Tunstall-Behrens and Luisa Gerstein, who performed under the group name Lulu and the Lampshades, reworked the Carter Family's version and introduced the cup game as the song's percussion. Their version of the song was uploaded to YouTube in 2009 with the title "You're Gonna Miss Me". In 2011, Anna Burden covered Lulu and the Lampshades' rendition of "When I'm Gone" and uploaded it to YouTube; her video went viral after it was uploaded to Reddit, leading other musicians to record cover versions using the cup clap technique. Anna Kendrick discovered the song after watching a video post on Reddit. Kendrick performed the song in the 2012 American musical comedy film Pitch Perfect (2012). - Wikipedia
And then add some information from Midnight Music "The cup routine itself is attributed to performer Rich Mullins and it started life as a rhythmic accompaniment for his 1987 song Screen Door." It then made the rounds in summer camps and music classes even showing up on the 1980s sitcom Full House but without the music.
So this is what we get.
| Date | Image | Title | Performer | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 |  | When I'm Gone | Carter Family | Written by A. P. Carter and recorded in 1931 by the Carter Family. Needless to say this is OLD country. It would probably be considered Bluegrass now. |
| 1937 |  | Miss Me When I'm Gone | J.E. Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers | Six years later this would be re-recorded. A bit faster tempo and even more of a Bluegrass feel with the fiddle and the strumming style on the guitars. |
| 1987 |  | Screen Door | Rich Mullins | An entirely different song, but it's the first attributed use of the "Cups Game" for percussion. While the song itself would fade from memory outside of church youth groups, the game would live on. |
| 2009 |  | Your're Gonna Miss Me | Lulu and the Lampshades | And now to combine both the song and the Cups Game, with a major rework and addition to the Lyrics. I'm always upset when the reference pages only mention combining the Song and Game without mentioning the new Lyrics. |
| 2011 |  | Your're Gonna Miss Me | Anna Burden | Nothing new to the formula, but a fantastic rendition. She slows it down just a bit and is simply slow with both the singing and cups. |
| 2012 |  | Cups | Anna Kendrick | After song was a hit the movie "Pitch Perfect" it was released as a single and music video. Professional production values, but I think Burden sings it better. |
What Can I Add?
For my addition I would like to add these four more.
| Date | Image | Title | Performer | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  | The Cup Song with Overly Attached Girlfriend | Laina | Parody. You know it's a hit after you start to get the parodies. |
| 2013 |  | Cups | Unknown | I saved this video Years Ago and can't find it again so I have no information. You know it's a worldwide fad when a group of Japanese schoolgirls perform it at a Halloween party. |
| 2013 |  | Cup of Love | Leigh Ann Smith | And past Parody and Fads, you get to a something new. Keep the Cups game and the music but change the lyrics to create an entirely new song. |
| 2013 |  | Cups | Sam Tsui, Alex G, Kina Grannis, Kurt Schneider | And finally, back to the original music and cups. But this time ramp up all of the music with harmony and add complexity with the cups moment. And while you are at it, do everything with an insane level of production values. Simply a high class performance from start to end. |
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Some Other References
A Great article by "Vulture" from which I got much of this information
A Comprehensive History of the Cups Phenomenon
Midnight Music
The Complete Guide to the Cup Song
April 2022