Songfacts®:

• In 2015, Imelda May split with her partner and longtime musical collaborator Darrel Higham, the father of her 4-year-old daughter. That earth-shattering event inspired songs such as this emotionally wrought tune, which reflects the emotions she felt after saying farewell to him. She co-wrote the tune in Nashville with Kings of Leon producer Angelo Petraglia.
  
  "I came up with the title first; It was after having a difficult goodbye and I came home and just caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and noticed my face was streaked with my mascara running," the Irish singer-songwriter recalled to Billboard magazine. "I have a book I use for each album where I write ideas, and I just wrote 'Black Tears.' And when I showed it to Angelo he thought that was an interesting idea and we ran with it."
• The song features Jeff Beck. May previously sung on the English guitar legend's 2010 album, Emotion & Commotion. "I asked Jeff if he would play on my album, 'cause he's been so good to me," she said. "He said, 'Yes, send me some songs, ' so I sent him a few and he heard 'Black Tears' and said 'I want to play on that.' So I went down to his house and he played a few amazing solos. He was working on his 17th album at the time, so we had a great day having a few drinks and listening to each other's albums."