When the Children Cry

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"When the Children Cry"
Single by White Lion
from the album Pride
B-side"Lady of the Valley"
Released1988
GenreGlam metal[1][2]
Length
  • 4:18 (album version)
  • 4:04 (single version)
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Michael Wagener
White Lion singles chronology
"Tell Me"
(1988) 		"When the Children Cry"
(1988) 		"All You Need Is Rock 'n' Roll"
(1989)

"When the Children Cry" is a power ballad[3][4] performed by Danish-American glam metal band White Lion. It is the third single and 10th and final track on their 1987 album, Pride. It peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, number two in Canada, and number 88 in the United Kingdom.

Background[]

The song was written immediately after Live Aid, and was partly influenced by singer Mike Tramp's childhood. He said, "“I was around five or six when my father left us. My mom was left with three boys. So without a doubt my own story is in that song."[5]

He also said,

Even though the words are simple, it has a very powerful lyric. Imagine being a kid from Copenhagen, Denmark, sitting there in Staten Island and writing, “No more presidents, and all the wars will end" at the time when Ronald Reagan is the president. But it was how I felt at the time. That song began by just sitting around and playing. Then Vito changed it to the fingerpicking style.[6]

Track listing[]

7-inch single[7]

  1. "When the Children Cry" – 4:04
  2. "Lady of the Valley" – 6:38

Personnel[]

Charts[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Bowar, Chad. "Best 20 Hair Metal Ballads of the '80s and '90s". LiveAbout. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Every Rose Has Its Thorn: A Tribute to the Syrupy-Sweet Sounds of '80s Hair-Metal Ballads". SPIN. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  3. ^ "The 10 worst power ballads ever written". Louder. 19 November 2016.
  4. ^ November 9, Joe DiVitaPublished; 2016. "Top 30 Hair Metal Albums". Loudwire. Retrieved 19 June 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Elliott, Paul (10 November 2015). "White Lion: I was tired of the other guys, or maybe just the guitarist". Louder Sound. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  6. ^ Wood, James (5 September 2012). "Interview: The 'Pride' of Mike Tramp". Guitar World. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  7. ^ When the Children Cry (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). White Lion. Atlantic Records. 1988. 7-89015.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ "RPM 100 Singles" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 49 no. 17. 25 February 1989. p. 6. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  9. ^ "White Lion – When the Children Cry". Singles Top 100.
  10. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  11. ^ a b "White Lion Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ "Top 100 Singles of '89". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1989". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
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