"No Woman, No Cry" is a

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

song performed 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''. The live recording of this song from the 1975 album '' Live!'' 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 Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s, including the greatest-hits compilation ''

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

''. It was recorded at the Lyceum Theatre in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 17 July 1975 as part of his '' Natty Dread Tour''. The live version of the song ranked No. 37 on ''Rolling Stone''s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2005, the live version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Writing and composition

Although

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

is widely believed to have written the song, 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 Kingston is the Capital (political), 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 spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, where Marley grew up (he specifically mentions the Government Yards of Trenchtown, a

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

project). The royalty payments received by Ford ensured his efforts would continue. The original studio version of the song used a

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

. Jean Roussel provided the arrangement and

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

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 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 influences from West African, Arawak, Spanish and other languages, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican ...

. The "nuh" is pronounced with a short schwa 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 ...

("weakened") form of "no".

Charts

Certifications

Fugees version

"No Woman, No Cry" was covered by American hip hop group Fugees. It was released in November 1996 as the fourth single from their second studio album, ''

The Score The Score may refer to: Films and television * The Score (1978 film), ''The Score'' (1978 film), a 1978 Swedish film, released in Sweden as ''Lyftet'' * The Score (2001 film), ''The Score'' (2001 film), a 2001 crime drama film starring Robert De Ni ...

'' (1996). The song was produced by Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. Fugees' version of the track features Jean on lead vocals and changes the lyric "in a government yard in Trenchtown" to "in a project yard in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

." An official remix of the track, featuring Stephen Marley, was included on the group's third release, '' Bootleg Versions''. Jean later recorded a solo version of the track for his 2003 anthology '' Greatest Hits''. Fugees' version was successful worldwide, peaking atop the New Zealand Singles Chart 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'' Hot 100 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 chart, peaking at number 38.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' wrote, "Fugees continue to offer the

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

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's present-day

, N.Y.- project-sensitive lyrics successfully bind new jacks to dancehall's reggae origins. The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the single continues the legacy: Lauryn Hill gets her unique vocal swerve on with the Melody Makers in scenes reminiscent of Rita, Judy, and Marcia's I-Three days, and early Wailers 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 derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

singer, Tems 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 List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

(MCU) film '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever''. It was produced by Ludwig Göransson and released on 25 July 2022 as the lead single off the EP. It received generally positive reception from fans who viewed the teaser trailer and it debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Song Sales chart.

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 1974 singles 1996 singles 2022 singles Bob Marley songs Joan Baez songs Fugees songs Tems 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 quotations Island Records singles Ruffhouse Records singles Hollywood Records singles