Released March 26, 2001 Length 3:56 | Genre Country Label Curb | |
Writer(s) Tom Douglas
Steve Seskin Producer(s) Byron Gallimore
Tim McGraw
James Stroud | ||
"Grown Men Don't Cry" is a song written by Tom Douglas and Steve Seskin, and performed by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released in April 2001 as the first single from McGraw's Set This Circus Down album. The song reached Number-One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart and peaked at number 25 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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Background and writing
One of the songwriters, Tom Douglas told The Boot the story behind the song. "I had gone to the grocery store one day, had parked my car and was walking into the store when I saw this woman talking on a pay phone. She had mascara tears running down her face, and her little boy was weaving in and out of her legs while she was talking on the phone and she looked like an ice cream cone, melting. I went in the store, got my groceries, came back out, and wondered what happened to them. And then I passed by a car, and they were in it. And in the back of the car were newspapers and Chef Boyardee cans. And I thought, what should I do? And I did nothing except get back in my car and go home. And I was haunted by my paralysis and inability to do anything about that. And that feeling started this song when I sat down to write with Steve. I had that first verse, and actually the second vignette was more Steve's life than it was mine ... about putting the rose on the grave and talking to the wind. And then the third verse was kind of a combination of both of our lives, but being tied together by singing, 'I don't know why / They say grown men don't cry.'"
Critical reception
Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an A grade, saying that the positive review is due to the "combination of the vivid imagery and McGraw’s plaintive vocal performance." He goes on to say that the second verse "is so well-crafted, and McGraw delivers it so masterfully that it always surprises me, no matter how many times I hear it."
Chart performance
"Grown Men Don't Cry" debuted at number 30 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the chart week of March 24, 2001.