No More Cryin'

Album: Traces (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This soulful rock ballad starts as an anti-love song partially inspired by the death of Steve Perry's girlfriend Kellie Nash in 2012.

    I'm so free, I need nobody
    No more lies, no surprises, no confrontations
    It's a peaceful life behind closed doors.


    However as the song builds, it lands somewhere completely different.

    When you told me you really want me
    I was all by myself, oh-oh, oh-oh
    Then you told me that you loved me
    And there is nobody else


    Steve Perry explained to Louder Sound: "It seems as though the subject is isolating himself from romance to avoid pain. But in the dark of the night there's nowhere to run; you're in the world, you might as well love anyway."
  • For two decades until the release of Traces, Steve Perry made few public appearances, preferring to isolate himself from his fans. He explained in a press release that this song has a secondary meaning about his "own relationship with past isolation."
  • Perry co-wrote the song from Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson, who's also worked with Adele, The Dixie Chicks among others. The former Journey singer recalled that Wilson sketched the song one afternoon at his condominium. Perry played bass and Wilson "the rolling guitar part." That became "a symphonic bed" for producer Thom Flowers' guitar solo.
  • Booker T Jones supplied the Hammond organ parts, which was a fulfillment of a dream for Perry as "Green Onions" is the ringtone of his phone.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.