Song
No Woman No Cry
Bob Marley
Album:
Live
Song Meaning of No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley, and what it is about
"No Woman, No Cry" is a reggae song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. The song was recorded in 1974 and released on the studio album Natty Dread.
The live recording of this song from the 1975 album Live! was released as a single and is the best-known version;
The “government yard in Trench Town” refers to the Jamaican public-housing project where Marley lived in the Fifties.
He gave a songwriting credit to his childhood friend Vincent “Tata” Ford to help keep Ford’s Kingston soup kitchen running.
Bob Marley is widely believed to have written the song (the lyrics are highly personal and mention Georgie making cornmeal porridge, Marley's favourite dish), or at least the melody, songwriting credit was given to Vincent Ford, a friend of Marley's who ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown, the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica, where Marley grew up.
The royalty payments received by Ford ensured his efforts would continue.
The original studio version of the song used a drum machine. Jean Roussel provided the arrangement and Hammond organ parts for this recording.
The title and main refrain, "No Woman, No Cry", means "Woman, don't cry".
The lyric is sometimes misunderstood outside Jamaica to mean "if there is no woman, there is no reason to cry".
The song reached number 25 in the UK in 1975.
No Woman No Cry lyrics by Bob Marley
No woman, no cry
No woman, no cry
No woman, no cry
No woman, no cry
'Cause, 'cause, 'cause I remember when we used to sit
In the government yard in Trenchtown
Oba, observing the hypocrites, yeah
Mingle with the good people we meet, yeah
Good friends we have had, oh good friends we've lost along the way, yeah
In this bright future you can't forget your past
So dry your tears I say, yeah
No woman, no cry
No woman, no cry, eh, yeah
Little darling don't shed no tears
No woman, no cry
Eh, said, said, said I remember when we used to sit
In the government yard in Trenchtown, yeah
And then Georgie would make the fire light, I say
A log wood burning through the night
Then we would cook corn meal porridge, I say
Of which I'll share with you, yeah
My feet is my only carriage
And so I've got to push on through
But while I'm gone
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
So no woman, no cry
No woman, no cry, I say
Oh little, oh little darling, don't shed no tears
No woman, no cry, eh
No woman, no woman, no woman, no cry
No woman, no cry
One more time I've got to say
Oh little, little darling, please don't shed no tears
No woman, no cry
Release Date
1975
Songwriter/s
Vincent Ford, Bob Marley (uncredited)
Producer/s
Bob Marley and the Wailers, Steve Smith, Chris Blackwell
Label/s
Island
