Say the title “Crying in the Chapel” and plenty of people think of Elvis Presley. Fair enough, because that’s the gospel favourite most of us know. But in late 1989, Australian soul singer Peter Blakeley released a completely different song with the same title, and it turned into one of the biggest local hits of 1990. It won an ARIA Award, went platinum and put Blakeley’s gritty, soulful voice on radios everywhere. So what is this other “Crying in the Chapel” really about? It’s a story with a few surprising twists, so grab a seat and settle in for a proper music yarn. Let’s dig into the story, the mood and the meaning behind it.
Not the Elvis Song
Let’s clear this up first, because it trips people up. Blakeley’s “Crying in the Chapel” is not a cover. It’s an original, written by Blakeley with Aaron Zigman, and it shares nothing with the 1950s song except a title and the image of a chapel. If you go looking for the Elvis tune and land on this one instead, don’t worry. You’ve stumbled onto something just as interesting.
It was released in November 1989 as the lead single from Blakeley’s album Harry’s Café De Wheels, which came out the following year. The lead single was produced by Stewart Levine, who’d done plenty of work with Simply Red, so it’s no surprise that it has that polished, blue-eyed soul sheen.
The Hymn That Started It All
To understand why the title carries weight, it helps to know where it came from. The original “Crying in the Chapel” was written by Artie Glenn for his son Darrell, and Darrell’s 1953 recording reached number six on the Billboard chart. The story goes that Glenn was inspired after spinal surgery. When he left hospital he went to pray at the nearest chapel he could find, and he started shedding tears of joy.
Elvis recorded his own version in 1960 and it was finally released in April 1965, becoming his first million seller in years. That’s the history hanging over any song with this title. A chapel is a place of refuge and peace, and the tears are supposed to be happy ones.
A Different Kind of Tears
Blakeley flips the idea on its head. As far as the lyrics go, this narrator isn’t the one weeping. He’s the witness. He hears someone crying in a chapel on a bright, sunny day, and the contrast is quietly devastating. Everything outside looks cheerful, while something inside is clearly breaking.
Around that image, the song sketches a relationship that hasn’t been working out lately, with too many dreams lost along the way. There’s a sense of living in a tough, jungle-like world where some things never change, and a hint that even if the colours of a love fade, the narrator knows something he’s only just realised. It’s a reading, not an official explanation, but it fits the mood. This is a song about watching someone you care about hurt, and not quite knowing how to help.
The Man Behind the Voice
Peter Blakeley had been around for a while before this hit. He’d been lead singer of The Rockmelons in the mid-1980s, then launched a solo career in 1987. In 1988 he moved to Los Angeles to sign with Capitol Records, which tells you how seriously people took his talent. The album was produced by Peter Asher alongside Levine, and it featured plenty of heavyweight musicians.
His voice was the main event. Ian McFarlane’s Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop reports that Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun called him the finest white soul singer he’d ever heard. That’s high praise from the man behind the label that launched Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. Listen to the way Blakeley leans into a phrase and you’ll hear why.
A Proper Australian Hit
The numbers back it up. The single climbed into the top three on the ARIA chart and was certified platinum. It was one of the best-selling Australian singles of 1990 and earned Blakeley an ARIA Award for Single of the Year. He was also nominated for Best Male Artist and Song of the Year.
Overseas, it charted on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in the United States and picked up serious radio support across Europe. That’s no small thing for an Aussie singer in that era. It proved a song with a mournful heart and a smooth, soulful groove could connect with listeners far from home.
Why It Still Lingers
Part of what makes “Crying in the Chapel” so memorable is that it never tells you exactly how to feel. The production is warm and sunny, much like the day in the lyrics, but the story underneath has a lump in its throat. That tension between a bright surface and a heavy centre is a classic soul trick, and Blakeley uses it beautifully.
It’s also a reminder that titles can carry whole histories. By borrowing the name of a beloved hymn and giving it a new story, Blakeley invited listeners to compare the two. One chapel is a place of joy and relief. The other is where sorrow hides on a sunny afternoon. Both feel true, and that’s what keeps the song worth revisiting.
The Sound of the Era
Listen closely and you’ll hear how perfectly the song fits its moment. The late eighties were a golden time for polished, soulful pop, with acts like Simply Red proving that classic soul influences could sit comfortably on the radio. With Stewart Levine in the producer’s chair, “Crying in the Chapel” gets that same warm, glossy treatment, with smooth rhythms and a vocal that stays front and centre.
It also landed at a competitive time for Australian music. Among the top-selling Australian singles of 1990, it came in third, behind Craig McLachlan and Check 1-2’s “Mona” and Tina Arena’s “I Need Your Body”. That’s pretty good company, and it shows how many different flavours of pop were thriving in Australia back then.
Beyond the Hit
Blakeley didn’t stop with one single. Harry’s Café De Wheels spawned four singles in total, including “Quicksand”, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “You Never Heard It from Me”. Other album tracks carry titles like “Heaven Is Calling” and “Stranger in My Own Hometown”, which tell you plenty about the soulful, searching mood he was after. He followed up in 1993 with a new record, The Pale Horse.
If the title song gets you hooked, the rest of the album is well worth exploring. It’s a lovely snapshot of Australian pop and soul at the end of the eighties, made by a singer who could really sing.
Final Thoughts
Peter Blakeley’s “Crying in the Chapel” is a standout of Australian soul-pop, even if it doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. It borrows a famous title, tells a very different story, and wraps it all in a voice that sounds like it’s lived every word. It’s a song that rewards patience, and it proves that even a familiar title can hide something brand new and worth discovering. If you only know the Elvis version, give this one a proper listen. Notice the sunny arrangement, the quiet sadness beneath it and that unmistakable voice. Then ask yourself who’s crying, and why, and what you might have done in the narrator’s shoes.