No woman, no cry

The Meaning of “No Woman, No Cry”
This is a very common point of confusion, even for native English speakers!
The misleading reading is: “If there is no woman, then there is no crying” — as if women are the source of trouble. This is actually a famous misunderstanding of the song.
The actual meaning comes from Jamaican Patois (the creole dialect Bob Marley grew up speaking). In Patois, the phrase means:
“No, woman — don’t cry.”
It’s a term of comfort, not a statement about women. Marley is speaking directly to a woman he loves, telling her not to be sad. The song itself confirms this — notice how the lyrics paraphrase the title in plain English:
“Little darlin’, don’t shed no tears”
That line is essentially a translation of the title into standard English.

What is the song about?
Marley is comforting a woman as he prepares to leave. He recalls their shared memories of poverty in Trenchtown (a tough neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica) — sitting in the government yard, cooking cornmeal porridge, good friends lost along the way. Despite the hardship, his message is hopeful:
“Everything’s gonna be alright”
It’s a deeply tender and nostalgic song — one of reassurance, not blame.