No woman, don't cry
A reggae song by Bob Marley in which he is comforting a woman that is going through hard times. Because of the song’s tittle, the meaning of the song is often misunderstood by persons not familiar with Jamaican Patois. Persons unfamiliar with patois may think that the song’s title means that if you don’t have a woman, you won’t cry but that is the total opposite of what the title means.
In Jamaican Patois, the word “no” (or nuh) when used in a specific context means “don’t”; hence the English translation of “No woman no cry” would be “No woman, don’t cry ”. In the song, Bob Marley is telling the woman not to cry because everything is going to be alright. The section of the lyrics below from the song “No woman no cry” below further illustrates this fact;
“So woman no cry, no, no woman no cry
Oh, my little sister
Don't she'd no tears “
Patois: “No woman nuh cry” a one a mi favorite song dem
English: “No woman no cry” is one of my favorite songs
All fruits ripe , Babylon , Bad like yaz , Bashy ,
The Rastafarian language is actually much easier to learn than Jamaican Patois because it’s mostly a play on English words (e.g. “overstand” for “understand”,“downpress” for “oppress”,“ I-ditate” for “meditate” etc…) rather than being an entirely separate dialect as with Jamaican Patois.
Read more »Learn Jamaican Patois & Get more of the Jamaican Vibe with our easy to follow video lessons.
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