This Bitter Earth

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1960 song by Clyde Otis

title: "This Bitter Earth" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1960-singles", "1960-songs", "2025-singles", "dinah-washington-songs", "songs-written-by-clyde-otis", "mercury-records-singles"] description: "1960 song by Clyde Otis" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Bitter_Earth" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1960 song by Clyde Otis ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	This Bitter Earth
type	single
artist	Dinah Washington
album	Unforgettable
A-side	I Understand
released	1960
recorded	1959
genre	jazz, soul
length	2:30
label	Mercury Records
writer	Clyde Otis, Lily Mars, Charles Kawasaki
producer	Clyde Otis, Jay Darlington, Lily Mars, Charles Kawasaki, Ray Mann
prev_title	A Rockin' Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love)
prev_year	1960
next_title	Love Walked In
next_year	1960
::

::callout[type=note] the Dinah Washington song ::

"This Bitter Earth" is a 1960 song made famous by rhythm and blues singer Dinah Washington. Written and produced by Clyde Otis, it peaked to #1 on the U.S. R&B chart for the week of July 25, 1960, and also reached #24 on the U.S. pop chart.

Charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1960) | Peak position | |---|---| | US Billboard Hot 100 | 24 | | US Billboard Hot R&B Sides | 1 | ::

Ledisi version

"This Bitter Earth" was recorded by American singer-songwriter Ledisi, for her thirteenth studio album For Dinah (2025).

Background and release

Following the conclusion of the Love You Too Tour, Ledisi announced her next album For Dinah; a tribute album to Dinah Washington to be released on October 3, 2025.

On July 18, 2025, Ledisi released her version of "This Bitter Earth" as the lead single of the album.

Music video

While a formal music video was not filmed, an in-studio performance video, directed by Ron T. Young, was released to Ledisi's social media platforms. The video was shot in black-and-white and featured musicians Joe Harley on piano and Ronald "Cjay" Alexander on bass.

Credits and personnel

Ledisi – vocals
Christian McBride – bass, producer
Michael King – piano
McClenty Hunter Jr. – drums
Sara Hewitt-Roth – cello
Antoine Silverman – violin, viola
Yuko Naito-Gotay – violin, viola
Lisa Matricardi – violin, viola
Rex Rideout – producer
Todd Whitelock – mixer
Rueben Cohen – mastering engineer

Other recordings

In 1964, Aretha Franklin released a version on her album Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington for Columbia Records.
In May 1970, The Satisfactions released a version, reaching #36 on the U.S. R&B charts.
In 1973, Johnnie Taylor released a version on his album Taylored In Silk for Stax Records
Miki Howard recorded a version that appears on her 1992 album, Femme Fatale.
In 2004, break-core musician Venetian Snares used vocals from this song in his own composition with the same title on his mini-album Moonglow/This Bitter Earth.
Gladys Knight recorded the song for her 2006 album Before Me.
Deborah Cox recorded the song for her 2007 album Destination Moon.
On June 10, 2010, the song featured in So You Think You Can Dance, in a routine choreographed by Mia Michaels.
The song was featured on the soundtrack for the 2010 Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island, in the form of a mashup with Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight." In 2012, the mashup was featured as the accompanying track to the launch trailer of The Secret World, an MMORPG from developer Funcom, published by Electronic Arts. It was also used in the Christopher Wheeldon's dance Five Movements, Three Repeats. The pas de deux set to the mashup was added to New York City Ballet's repertory later that year. The track featured on Richter's 2018 double-album The Blue Notebooks: 15 Years Edition.
Erykah Badu and Nas released "This Bitter Land," which featured on the soundtrack of Steven Caple Jr.'s 2016 film The Land.
In 2021 Veronica Swift released her adaptation of the Max Richter arrangement of the song.

Elsewhere in popular culture

The song is a key piece in the 1978 film Killer of Sheep by director Charles Burnett.
The song is featured in the closing scene of the 2014 French crime film La French, directed by Cédric Jimenez.

References

"The Essential Dinah Washington - The Great Songs".
"Clyde Otis Music Group Beginnings". tcomg.com.
"This Bitter Earth".
Goldberg, Marv. (2007). "The Marvels". Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks.
[https://news.theurbanmusicscene.com/2025/07/ledisi-to-release-tribute-project-for-dinah/ Ledisi to release tribute project "For Dinah" on October 3rd, 2025. Announces U.S. & European Tour for 2025]. The Urban Music Scene. Retrieved on July 17, 2025
[https://ratedrnb.com/2025/07/ledisi-announces-dinah-washington-tribute-album-shares-this-bitter-earth/ Ledisi Announces Dinah Washington Tribute Album, Shares ‘This Bitter Earth’]. Rated R&B. Retrieved on August 2, 2025
[https://www.shatterthestandards.com/p/new-music-drops-july-18-2025 New Music Drops: July 18, 2025]. Shatter the Standards. Retrieved on July 18, 2025
[https://venetiansnares.bandcamp.com/track/this-bitter-earth Venetian Snares "This Bitter Earth"].bandcamp
Bambarger, Bradley. (March 12, 2010). "''Shutter Island'' soundtrack casts eerie spell". [[New Jersey On-Line]].
Macaulay, Alastair. (September 28, 2012). "Old Favorite Returns, Freshness Still In Its Step". [[The New York Times]].
Macaulay, Alastair. (September 21, 2012). "All This in the Name of Fashion". The New York Times.
Richter, Max. (2018). "The Blue Notebooks: 15 Years Edition". [[Deutsche Grammophon]].
Turan, Kenneth. (April 6, 2007). "''Killer of Sheep''". [[Los Angeles Times]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::