"No Woman, No Cry" is a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

song by

Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers, and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

. The song was recorded in 1974 and released on the studio album ''

Natty Dread ''Natty Dread'' is the seventh album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in 1974. Previously Marley had recorded with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer as the Wailers, and this was his first record without them. ''Natty Dread'' was most popularly ...

''. The

live recording An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

of this song from the 1975 album ''

Live! Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'' was released as a single and is the best-known version; it was later included on several

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s, including the greatest hits compilation ''

Legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

''. It was recorded at the Lyceum Theatre in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 17 July 1975 as part of his ''

Natty Dread Tour Natty may refer to: People with the given name * Natty Dominique (1896-1982), American jazz trumpeter * Natty Hollmann (1939-2021), Argentine philanthropist * Natty King (born 1977), Jamaican Reggae artist * Natty Zavitz, actor in ''Degrassi: Th ...

''. The live version of the song ranked No. 37 on ''Rolling Stone''s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Writing and composition

Although

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

is widely believed to have written the song (the lyrics are highly personalised and mention Georgie making cornmeal porridge, Marley's favourite dish), or at least the melody, a songwriter credit was given to

Vincent Ford Vincent Ford (c. 1940 – 28 December 2008), known as "Tata" or "Tartar", was a Jamaican songwriter best known for receiving writing credit for "No Woman, No Cry", the reggae song made famous by Bob Marley & The Wailers, as well as three othe ...

, a friend of Marley's who ran a

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the Hunger, hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoo ...

Trenchtown Trench Town (also Trenchtown) is a neighbourhood located in the parish of St. Andrew, part of which is in Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica. In the 1960s, Trench Town was known as the Hollywood of Jamaica. Today Trench Town is t ...

, the

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, where Marley grew up. The

royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...

payments received by Ford ensured his efforts would continue. The original studio version of the song used a drum machine.

Jean Roussel Jean Alain Roussel (born 1951 in Port Louis, Mauritius) is a Musician, Composer, Record Producer, Arranger, Educator and 'Music and Life Coach'. He is best known for keyboard work from the 1970s through today, playing regularly with Cat Stev ...

provided the arrangement and

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

parts for this recording, and this uptempo version used a drum machine for the percussion. 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 lyric is rendered "No, woman, nuh cry" in

Jamaican patois Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with West African influences, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican diaspora. A majority of the non-English wo ...

. The "nuh" is pronounced with a short

schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...

vowel (a "mumbled" vowel, often represented as "uh" in spelling) and represents a

clitic In morphology and syntax, a clitic (, backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a w ...

("weakened") form of "no". Marley mentions the Government Yards of

Trench Town Trench Town (also Trenchtown) is a neighbourhood located in the parish of St. Andrew, part of which is in Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica. In the 1960s, Trench Town was known as the Hollywood of Jamaica. Today Trench Town is t ...

, a public housing project in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

where he grew up. The lyrics also mention

cornmeal Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...

porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

, a popular

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...

in Jamaica.

Charts

Certifications

Fugees version

"No Woman, No Cry" was covered by American hip hop group

Fugees Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with its ...

. It was released in November 1996 as the fourth single from their second studio album, '' The Score'' (1996). The song was produced by

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

and

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

. Fugees' version of the track features Jean on lead vocals and changes the lyric "in a government yard in

" to "in a government yard in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

". An official remix of the track, featuring Stephen Marley, was included on the group's third release, ''

Bootleg Versions ''Bootleg Versions'' is a remix album released by R&B and Reggae Fusion group The Fugees. The album was released on November 26, 1996. The album features only eight tracks, including seven remixes, and one new recording. The album along with the ...

''. Jean later recorded a solo version of the track for his 2003 anthology ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

''. Fugees' version was successful worldwide, peaking atop the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

for two weeks, reaching number-two in the United Kingdom and becoming a top 40 hit in 13 additional countries. It did not chart on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

due to not receiving a physical release in the US, which at the time was a requirement for songs to appear on the Hot 100. It instead charted on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...

chart, peaking at number 38.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' wrote, "Fugees continue to offer the hip-hop masses a thorough musical history—this time targeting

's classic

hit "No Woman, No Cry". Steve Marley's heartwarming vocal similarity to his dad and

Wyclef Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

's present-day

, N.Y.- project-sensitive lyrics successfully bind new jacks to danceball's reggae origins. The video for the single continues the legacy:

gets her unique vocal swerve on with the

Melody Makers Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were a Jamaican-American reggae family group whose line-up consisted of the children of musicians, Bob Marley and Rita Marley, which includes lead singer Ziggy Marley with Sharon Marley, Cedella Marley, and ...

in scenes reminiscent of

Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, a ...

, Judy, and Marcia's I-Three days, and early

Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers, and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

footage interspersed with the collaborators' studio time supplies an overall tear-jerking, historic experience."

Track listings

* UK CD1 # "No Woman, No Cry" (LP version) - 4:03 # "No Woman, No Cry" (Remix) - 3:55 # "No Woman, No Cry" (Remix instrumental) - 3:55 # "Killing Me Softly" (Live) - 4:25 * UK CD2 # "Don't Cry, Dry Your Eyes" - 5:03 # "Don't Cry, Dry Your Eyes" (Instrumental) - 5:03 # "No Woman, No Cry" (LP version) - 4:03 # "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Live) - 6:04

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Tems version

"No Woman, No Cry" was covered by

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

singer,

Tems Temilade Openiyi (born 11 June 1995), known professionally as Tems, is a Nigerian singer. She rose to prominence after she was featured on Wizkid's 2020 single "Essence," which reached the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after the releas ...

and Marvel Music for the soundtrack of the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

(MCU) film '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever''. It was produced by

Ludwig Göransson Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (; ; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish composer, conductor and record producer. He has scored films such as ''Fruitvale Station'', the ''Rocky'' franchise entries ''Creed'' and ''Creed II'', ''Venom'', and '' Ten ...

and released on 25 July 2022 as the lead single off the EP. It received generally positive receptions from fans who viewed the teaser trailer and on debuted at number one on the Billboard ''

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific s ...

'' chart.

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 1974 singles 1996 singles 2022 singles Bob Marley songs Joan Baez songs Fugees songs Tems (singer) songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Song recordings produced by Salaam Remi Songs about poverty Songs about Jamaica Song recordings produced by Frank Farian Spunge songs 1973 songs Quotations from music 1974 neologisms Island Records singles Ruffhouse Records singles Hollywood Records singles