No Woman, No Cry | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
(G A B G)
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 | C Fsus2 C/E Gsus4/D C | C (G A B G) :||
Chorus 1
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 | C Fsus2 C/E Gsus4/D C | C (G A B G) :||
No, woman, no cry. No, woman, no cry.
No, woman, no cry. No, woman, no cry.
Verse 1
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 :||
Say, say, said I remember when we used to sit,
in the government yard in Trenchtown.
Oba, oba serving the hypocrites, and they would
mingle with the good people we meet.
Good friends, we had, or good friends we’ve lost,
along the way, yeah.
In this great future, you can’t forget your past,
so dry your tears, I say, and.
Chorus 2
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 | C Fsus2 C/E Gsus4/D C | C (G A B G) :||
No, woman, no cry. No, woman, no cry, yeah.
Hey little darlin’, don’t shed no tears. No, woman, no cry.
Verse 2
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 :||
Said, said, said, I remember when we used to sit,
in the government yard in Trenchtown.
And then Georgie would make the fire lights, I say,
a log wood burnin’ through the night.
Then we would cook cornmeal porridge,
of which I’ll share with you.
My feet is my only carriage,
so I’ve got to push on through, but while I’m gone, I mean.
Middle 8
||: C G/B | Am7 F :||
||: Everything’s gonna be alright, everything’s gonna be alright.
Everything’s gonna be alright, everything’s gonna be alright. :||
Chorus 3
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 | C Fsus2 C/E Gsus4/D C | C (G A B G) :||
No, woman, no cry. No, no woman, no cry.
Oh my little sister, don’t shed no tears, no, woman, no cry.
Solo
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 | C F C | C (G A B G) :||
Verse 3
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 :||
I remember when we used to sit,
in the government yard in Trenchtown.
And then Georgie would make the fire lights, and it was
a log wood burnin’ through the night.
Then we would cook cornmeal porridge,
of which I’ll share with you.
My feet is my only carriage,
so I’ve got to push on through, but while I’m gone.
Chorus 4
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 | C Fsus2 C/E Gsus4/D C | C (G A B G) :||
No woman, no, cry. No woman, no cry.
Oh, my little darling. Baby, don’t shed no tears. No woman, no cry, yeah.
(Little darling, don’t shed no tears. No woman, no cry).
(Little sister, don’t shed no tears. No woman, no cry)
End
| C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 | C Fsus2 C/E Gsus4/D C | C (G A B G) |
| C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 | C Fsus2 C/E Gsus4/D C | C |
No Woman, No Cry’s chords and progressions
The basic chords for Bob Marley‘s No Woman, No Cry are based on a descending movement in the key of C.
First, use chord I (C) – V/3 (G/B) – VI (Am7) – IV (F).
This is followed by a faster movement using chords I (C) – IV (F) – I/3 (C/E) – V/5 (Gsus4/D) – I (C). The pick-up bass line starts on chord V (G A B G).
Here’s the full intro/chorus progression:
||: C G/B | Am7 F | C F C/E Gsus4/D C | C (G A B G) :||
The verse and middle 8 are the same as the first two bars of the chorus:
||: C G/B | Am7 Fadd9 :||
The solo is a simplified version of the chorus, using less movement:
||: C G/B | Am7 F | C F C | C (G A B G) :||
Depending on if you play the electric guitar in a band, or the acoustic on your own, No Woman, No Cry’s chords will be different.
On the electric, you want to use small CAGED barre chords and don’t need to see a G/B, the bass plays the B, and any inversion of a G chord will work.
For the acoustic, you definitely need that G/B, and maybe even want to play an Fsus2/C, rather than F.
Members go deep here and get notation and TAB, setting you up to play No Woman, No Cry’s chords in the best way, depending on the situation.
The live version of No Woman, No Cry is still charting!
The famous live version of No, Woman, No Cry is from a compilation album called Legend (1984).
The album has sold an incredible 25 million copies and has stayed on the charts since the day it was released!
Only four albums have stayed on the charts for over 1000 weeks, Queen‘s Greatest Hits, ABBA’s Gold: Greatest Hits, and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac.
Marley’s Legend hasn’t tapped out yet, it’s still there, week after week. At the time of writing, this is almost four decades after its release.
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