THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

56-Bob Marley and the Wailers-No Woman, No Cry.

1975-Number 22 single. When it was re-issued in 1981 following Bob Marley’s death it peaked at Number 8.

Best Bit-At 3.19. There are 996 studio recordings in this countdown, but only four live tracks, (see also best songs 924-214 and 155) and here is the highest placed of them.

Bob Marley (see also best songs 618) was born Robert Nesta Marley on February 6th, 1945, in Nile Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Colony of Jamaica, he died from skin cancer on May 11th, 1981, at the age of 36. The discography of Bob Marley and the Wailers includes 13 studio Albums released between 1965-1983, and 133 singles issued between 1962-2016. In the UK, 16 of those singles have reached the top 40, with the 1999 ‘Funkstar De Luxe’ remix of ‘Sun is Shining’ charting the highest at Number 3. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart he has never had a top 100 chart entry. In 1984, around three years after Marley’s death a compilation Album called ‘Legend’ was posthumously issued, which has gone on to become the best selling Reggae Album of all time, with sales worldwide currently in excess of 25 million copies.

The original version of ‘No Woman, No Cry’ first appeared on Bob Marley and the Wailers seventh studio Album ‘Natty Dread,’ released in October 1974. In it’s original form ‘No Woman, No Cry’ runs for 3.46, and is a far more uptempo recording than the live version which runs for 7.07. In 1975 Bob Marley went on tour to promote the Album, which was called the ‘Natty Dread Tour,’ the tour dates took place in America, Canada, and England, which included two dates at the ‘Lyceum Theatre’ in London. On July 17th, 1975, the Lyceum concert was recorded for a future Album release. The Album which was issued on December 5th, 1975, was called ‘Live,’ and ‘No Woman, No Cry’ was chosen for release as a single in all of it’s seven minutes performance, it is this live recording which is also the version chosen for inclusion on the ‘Legends’ Album.

‘No Woman, No Cry’ was co-written by Bob Marley, and Vincent Ford, (1940-2008) and produced by Bob Marley and the Wailers, Steve Smith, and Chris Blackwell. Vincent Ford probably had very little input in to the writing of the song, but he and Marley had been life long friends, and when Marley had been a child, he and his family had been recipients at a soup kitchen in Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, that had been run by Ford, so the royalties from the song could go to help in his charitable works. Chris Blackwell who was born on June 22nd, 1937, was the founder of ‘Island’ records in 1969, and is the single person most responsible for introducing ‘Reggae’ music to the masses (see also best songs 291.)

‘No Woman, No Cry’ is actually pronounced ‘no woman ‘nuh’ cry’ in ‘Jamaican Patois,’ the ‘nuh’ actually means ‘don’t.’ In the song the narrator is telling his woman not to cry and not to worry because he has to go, but things will turn out better in the end. Marley mentions the ‘Government Yards’ of ‘Trench Town’, which is a public housing project in Kingston where he grew up. The lyrics also mention cornmeal porridge, which is a popular breakfast in Jamaica. Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett who was one of the ‘Wailers,’ and played bass on the song has said,’The song is about the strength in the mama of course, strength in the ladies, and we love a woman with a backbone, something like a wishbone! They have to be like a she lion! Woman strong, you know, not depending on the man. Of course the man is there to help you, then for every successful man, there is a good woman.’

‘Seh, seh, seh I remember when we used to sit in the government yard in Trenchtown Oba observing the ‘ypocrites, as they would mingle with the good people we meet. Good friends we have, oh, good friends we’ve lost along the way. In this great future, you can’t forget your past, so dry your tears, I seh.’