Cry About It Later
It is a mid-tempo break-up pop song written by Perry, Noonie Bao, Sasha Sloan, and the track's producer Oscar Holter.
However some critics pointed out how the next album track, "Teary Eyes", is identical in subject matter to "Cry About It Later" – postponement of sorrow in favor of short-term pleasure.
It's like you know it's letting go of old love and then going to the club and then it continues on this emotional journey of [some sort of] rebirth and then ending with this strength of what makes a woman, so there's actually a little bit of a story line in the track listing of course.
"[13] Billboard's Heran Mamo sees also a Dracula reference in the visual, with their conclusion on the video being "singer flips the script by shedding the damsel in distress trope to become the female heroine whose love interests follow no heteronormative happy endings.
"[15] It is second remix of the song of Perry's fifth studio album Smile featuring a Latin singer, following "Resilient," and it is second collaboration between Sonza and Martini.
"[15] Emily Mackay of The Guardian called "Cry About It Later" "cool and sultry," however later she added that with "Teary Eyes" both songs feel "forgettable and anonymous.
[20] Among many other songs, Craig Jenkins from Vulture criticised the track since it "sell motivational boilerplate, waving away passing clouds but never describing what the storm felt like.
"[21] Nick Malone from PopMatters magazine compared the song to work of Tove Lo and Robyn saying it is "surprisingly dark, claustrophobic thriller about dancing one’s troubles away — but its distance from an essential Katy-Perry-ness gives it an odd fit.
"[24] Commenting on Oscar Holter's production, Alexa Camp of Slant Magazine said "the same rollicking freneticism he and Max Martin brought to the Weeknd's "Blinding Lights".
She also added that "Cry About It Later" "doesn't elicit any sort of emotional response," explaining that "a true crying-in-the-club anthem revels in its devastation without being overtly explicit about it; the weight of the lyrics are meant to cause a pulsing ache in your chest as the production swells to a climax.
"[3] Andrea Dresdale from ABC News Radio talking about release of the song within Scorpio SZN EP said that "it's not spooky, but it is about partying all night, with angel wings and a devil's grin.
