Guns N’ Roses – Don’t Cry

About The Song

“Don’t Cry” is a song by American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, two versions of which were released simultaneously on different albums. The version with the original lyrics is the fourth track on Use Your Illusion I (1991), while the version with the alternate lyrics is the 13th track on Use Your Illusion II (1991). Only the vocal tracks differ, and even then only in the verses; however, in those verses, not only are the words entirely different, but the meter and melody are also slightly different. There is also a third version, officially released only on the single for the song, which was recorded during Appetite for Destruction sessions in 1986.

Referred to as a power ballad, “Don’t Cry” reached the top 10 in many countries, including peaking at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In Ireland, “Don’t Cry” became Guns N’ Roses’ second number-one single, and in Finland, it became the second number-one hit from the Use Your Illusion albums. The song also topped Portugal’s music chart, reached number two in New Zealand and Norway, and peaked within the top five in Australia, Denmark, and Switzerland. Andy Morahan and Mark Racco directed its accompanying music video.

Stradlin and Rose wrote the song (with the working title “Don’t You Cry Tonight”) in March 1985, shortly after Guns N’ Roses was formed in Los Angeles. In fact, at a show in Atlantic City, NJ on September 12, 2021, Rose claimed it was “the first song that was written for Guns N’ Roses.” In the 1993 video Don’t Cry: Makin’ F@*!ing Videos Part I Rose says that “Don’t Cry” was their most Hanoi Rocks -influenced song. In the Special Collector’s Edition of Rolling Stone dedicated to the band, Kory Grow quotes Rose:

It was [about] a girl that Izzy had gone out with, and I was really attracted to her, and they split up. I was sitting outside the Roxy, and I was really in love with this person and she was realizing this wasn’t going to work – she wanted to do other things, and she was telling me goodbye and I sat down and just started crying, and she was telling me, ‘Don’t cry.’ The next night, we got together and wrote the song in five minutes.

Video

Lyrics

If we could see tomorrow, what are your plans?
No one can live in sorrow, ask all your friends
Times that you took in stride they’re back in demand
I was the one who’s washing blood off your hands
Don’t you cry tonight
I still love you, baby
Don’t you cry tonight
Don’t you cry tonight
There’s a heaven above you, baby
And don’t you cry tonight
I know the things you wanted, they’re not what you have
With all the people talkin’, it’s drivin’ you mad
If I was standin’ by you, how would you feel?
Knowing your love’s decided and all love is real, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby
And don’t you cry tonight
Don’t you cry tonight
Don’t you cry tonight
There’s a heaven above you baby
And don’t you cry tonight
I thought I could live in your world as years all went by
With all the voices I’ve heard something has died
And when you’re in need of someone, my heart won’t deny you
So many seem so lonely with no one left to cry to, baby
And don’t you cry tonight
And don’t you cry tonight
And don’t you cry tonight
There’s a heaven above you baby
And don’t you cry
Don’t you ever cry
Don’t you cry, tonight
Baby, baby, someday
Don’t you cry
Don’t you ever cry
Don’t you cry tonight