"Grown Men Don't Cry" is a song written by Tom Douglas and

Steve Seskin Steve Seskin is an American singer, songwriter, and musician whose songs have been recorded by recording artists Choya Partridge Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Waylon Jennings, Tim McGraw, Collin Raye, and Mark Wills among others. The debut sing ...

and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

. It was released in March 2001 as the first single from McGraw's 2001 album '' Set This Circus Down''. The song reached number one 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 advertis ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and peaked at number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Content

In the song's first verse, the narrator pulled into the

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

, and he saw a boy wrapping around the legs of his mother. She had

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tears running down her face like an ice cream cone melting, due to the years of bad decision. The narrator bought his groceries, came back out, and returns home. In the second verse, the narrator had a dream about his elderly father. He was 10 years old, and he holds the narrator's hand. They were talking on the front porch to watch the sunset, due to the dream that he was a slave to the elderly father's job, and the elderly father is no longer around. So the narrator placed a red rose on the elderly father's grave, and he talks to the wind. In the third and final verse, the narrator sat here with his kids and his wife, and everything that holds dear in the narrator's life. They went upstairs, and got ready for bed, but the little girl said that she hadn't heard her story yet. She lifts her head of off her pillows, and said "I love you dad".

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' gave the song an A grade, and he praised the "combination of the vivid imagery and McGraw’s plaintive vocal performance." He also said that the second verse "is so well-crafted, and McGraw delivers it so masterfully that it always surprises me, no matter how many times I hear it."CountryUniverse.net
Song review

Chart performance

"Grown Men Don't Cry" debuted at number 30 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of March 24, 2001.

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2001 singles 2001 songs Tim McGraw songs Songs written by Steve Seskin Songs written by Tom Douglas (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by Tim McGraw Song recordings produced by James Stroud Country ballads Curb Records singles