King of Reggae, Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley and The Wailers released No Woman, No Cry in 1974 through the studio album Natty Dread, but his 1975
album, ‘Live!’, the greatest hits compilation Legend made the song more popular.
“No woman no cry, I remember when we use to sit, in the government yard in
Trenchtown, And then Georgie would make the fire lights, as it was, log would
burnin' through the nights. Then we would cook cornmeal porridge, of which I'll
share with you. My fear is my only courage, so I've got to push on thru, oh,
while I'm gone ...”
These lyrics are quite inspiring. If one is passing through a challenging
moment, it would teach you to keep pushing forward because challenges would
only last for a moment.
Originally, the song is "No, Woman, Nuh cry." According to Thom - Plymouth, United Kingdom, Nuh is Jamacian word for
"don't," so what Marley meant by the lyric is No, Woman, Don't cry... It
is believed that Marley dedicated
this song to his wife, Rita Marley, who was solidly behind him in both time of
hardship and affluence, especially, when they were living in a slum. So he was assuring her that things
would alright.
Rita played
the role of a back-up singer for Marley in this song including two other women
namely: Judy Mowatt and Marcia
Griffiths.
Born February,
1945, this Jamaican singer, songwriter and musician, though dead still lives on
through the legacy he left behind, which are his songs. His sojourn in music
world for 18 years (1963 – 1981) brought both spiritual and mental emancipation
from slavery to his fans. His Rastafari movement and ideology will never fade
as his faithful all over the world are still adhering to his beliefs. He died
of cancer in 1981 at the age of 36. It is believed that he might have written No Woman, No Cry, but songwriter credits were given to Vincent Ford, a friend of Marley who
ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown, the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica where Marley
grew up and the royalty checks received by Ford ensured the survival and
continual running of his soup kitchen.
It is
shocking to know that some men misinterpreted this song to mean “Without women,
men won’t cry, meaning women are the cause of men’s tears. Marley used this
song to encourage men to appreciate their wives.
The Prophet,
(as some of his fans called him), loved playing guitar, so he used instruments
like piano, guitar and band moderately, that is why his voice was audible and
people can easily understand and sing along whenever this song is being played.
But it is a
bit surprising that he sang: “...Oh,
little sister, don't she'd no tears, No woman, no cry.” Someone may think
he was referring to his sister, not Rita his wife. His other songs include
Redemption Song, One Love One Heart, Is This Love and Three Little Birds.
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