WRITTEN:
By Jane's in early 1987.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS:
Perry at a live show at Cal State Northridge, May '87...
"How many of you people hate blacks? You know what, man? You can go ahead and hate whoever the fuck you want, but the way I see it, nobody's leaving, man, so you might as well get used to it."
A similar quote from Perry at a live show in L.A., '87...
"Now, you know what I'm talking about when I say: black people are not suppressed anymore. I'm happy as hell, man. There ain't no slavery. And whether you don't like black people or arabs, no body's leaving this city, man. Unless some mother fucking truck or a tank comes in, man, we're all here to stay. So you could be a fool and hate people or you could get used to it."
Guitar World, 9/91...
The most interesting guitar players today are those who work with texture rather than notes and scales.
DAVE: Right, right. I'm trying to get more into that. Unfortunately, there are times when I'm stuck into that thing of wanting to throw in a really quick riff. We have a song called "Then She Did...,"
which doesn't need a guitar solo, so there's no guitar solo on it. The rest of the guys wanted me to do one and I said no. Lyrically, the song is beautiful and emotional, and it's got a very airy, open, moody tune. If I put a guitar solo in there, it would totally cheese it up. But then in "No One's Leaving," which is a pretty fast song, I threw in some very fast riffs. It all depends.
From BAM magazine, 11/21/97 (about which songs they'd play on the Relapse tour.)
"There's a list of songs that we all love to play, so we went to that list first," Stephen explains. "The ones that fell off that list, we didn't really even tease too much."...
Perry: "The one where I sing,'I'm a white dread/I'm a white dread so/I'm a got a ring and I hang it from my nose' ['No One's Leaving']. I don't have dreads and a ring through my nose anymore."
LIVE:
Played a few times in mid 1987. Then played occasionally during '90 and '91.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
* According to the Australian version of Live & Rare, "No One's Leaving" was written entirely by Perry. But then again, it also credits "L.A. Medley" solely to 'Morrison'... so it can't really be trusted.
* A demo "No One's Leaving" was recorded in fall of 1987, prior to the Nothing's Shocking sessions, but the guys decided not to use it for the album.
* from BAM magazine, Issue 347, November 30, 1990...
"While the philosophy behind Ritual De Lo Habitual may be a mite exotic, the ideas behind the songs themselves are thoroughly down to earth . . . 'No One's Leaving' is a true-life tale of Perry's sister and her black boyfriend who were forced to sleep in the park by a disapproving family."
LYRICS:
I'm a white dread-- I'm a white dread, so?
I'm a got a ring and I hang it from my nose.
Got a little game and I take it to the park.
I don't care who plays as long as the game is on.
My sister and her boyfriend slept in the park.
She had to leave home 'cause he was dark.
Now they parade around in New York with a baby boy...
He's gorgeous!
Ain't nobody leaving!
No one's leaving...
Blacks call each other "brother and sis'"
Count me in 'cause I been missed.
I've seen color changed by a kiss.
Ask my brother and my sister.
My sister and her boyfriend slept in the park.
She had to leave home 'cause he was dark.
Now they parade around in New York with a baby boy...
He's gorgeous!
Ain't nobody leaving!
No one's leaving!
Yeah, that's right...
Yeah, that's so...
Wish I knew everyone's nickname,
all their slang and all their sayings.
Every way to show affection,
how to dress to fit the occasion...
Wish we all waved...
All waved... All waved...
I wish we all!
Wish we all!
Wish we all waved...
FAN INTERPRETATIONS:
From JimBO--
For years, this song struck me as a mosh song. "C'Mon in," I could just hear Perry thinking, "get into the crowd, turn on your autopilot, and let's PARTY! Cuz once we start man ... no one's leaving!"
That was my initial feeling about this song. I mean, think about it, the song is a thrash fiesta, the guitars fly left and right, the drums bounce forever in a weird, discombobulated synch that only the perfect hands of
perkins could rattle out, and the bass lays the ground for the whole thing.
Course then there's Perry, sing-songing like a kindergartner on acid.
What more could you want?
Oh. Meaning? Purpose?
Cool. Then here we go.
This is an anti-racism song. Remember when this song came out? White boys didn't have dreds then, man. This was before the big white dred phase Perry sorta frontlined. And the first words bring that into focus - "I'm a white dread -- I'm a white dread, so?"
Something else Perry got going is in the next line:
"Got a little ring and I hang it from my nose."
But now skip ahead, cuz this is where it gets deep. I've heard a lot of people ask whether Perry is racist or not, mainly cuz of the "way down low where the streets are littered, I found my place with the freaks and the {uh oh... check this out} niggers." in the song "Whores".
Well, skip ahead, I say, in "No One's Leaving", where Perry explains himself rather well...
"My sister and her boyfriend slept in a park. She had to leave home cuz he was dark"
hmmm.
"Now they parade around New York with a baby boy."
yeah.
"He's gorgeous."
"AIN'T NOBODY LEAVING!"
okay?
nuff said?
there's room in that park for EVERYBODY, according to Perry. And I think that's pretty cool.
So then, Perry expands on his desire for everybody to figure everybody else out.
"Blacks call each other 'brother and sis' - COUNT ME IN cuz I've been missed"
and here's the chills right here, man:
"I've seen color changed by a kiss. Ask my brother or my sister."
Man.
Let that sink in.
"I've seen color changed by a kiss."
Wow.
He goes on, though.
"Wish I knew everybody's nickname, all their slang and all their sayings. Every way to show affection, how to dress to fit the occasion."
Yup. The reason racism and hatred continues is strictly FEAR of the unknown. The line above appeals to kick that demon's ass. And instead of fighting. Instead of harboring fears. Hatred. Instead of unknown stuff. Instead of segregation and seperate but equal or just flat out apathy,
"Wish we all waved."
This song can kick your ass in the moshpit, but more importantly, it can kick your ignorant ass in the mind. I think this song is the bomb, and {waving} ...I wish we all waved, too, Perry.