In 1992, country music group Restless Heart released “When She Cries” as the first single off the band’s album Big Iron Horses. This is their first album without lead singer Larry Stewart, who then started his solo career – drummer John Dittrich sings the lead in his place.

“When She Cries” then reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and also managed to crossover, reaching No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. This is the band’s highest-peaking crossover single so far.

The Story Behind The Song

Written by Sonny LeMaire and Marc Beeson, “When She Cries” tells the tale of a man’s pursuit filled with so much trial and error. Though he has fallen on his face several times, he managed to pick himself back up to try again. But what makes his journey even more difficult is watching the one she loves cries on such an exhausting ride.

“When she cries at night. And she doesn’t think that I can hear (her). She tries to hide all the fear she feels inside. So I pray this time. I can be the man that she deserves. ‘Cause I die a little each time. When she cries,” the song goes.

One of its songwriters, Marc Beeson, gave a glimpse of how the song came to fruition. He revealed that “When She Cries” was actually the first song he and the band Exile’s Sonny LeMaire wrote together.

LeMaire even had to come down to Nashville for this collaboration. And in the middle of their discussion, while grabbing some lunch, Beeson shared a piece of melody he’d been hanging onto for a long time.

“I started playing this melody. We don’t remember who spit out this title, but I played this chorus thing, and one of us said ‘When she cries.’ We just knew how to write that, right away,” Beeson said.

Though they don’t have any plan in mind, the moment that phrase was spit, they already knew exactly what the song’s story was going to be. 

“It’s one thing to deal with everything you have to go through, but when you drag somebody else into your life — especially in the beginning when there’s really nothing to believe in,” Beeson added. “That was really the heart of that song. You want to be successful for somebody who shows faith in you early on like that.”

You can listen to “When She Cries” in the video below.