Godsmack’s Shannon Larkin: ‘Cryin’ Like a Bitch’ Was Inspired by NFL Player Philip Rivers

Is Godsmack's "Cryin' Like a Bitch" actually about NFL quarterback Philip Rivers?

Because the 2010 song is usually taken as a jab at Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx. In the summer of 2009, the Sully Erna-led rockers opened for Motley Crue on the Crue Fest 2 tour. Ever since then, talk persists about the quarrel that purportedly sprung up between the two bands on that trek.

Whatever happened with Godsmack and Motley Crue, the fallout has been the subject of much documentation. Beyond that, Erna's never hid his dislike for Sixx following the tour. But maybe the antagonist of the Smack's "Cryin' Like a Bitch" isn't as cut and dried as some listeners might think?

Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin revisited the topic in a recent video chat with That Jamieson Show (Watch it below). In discussing the song's inception, the drummer reminded rock fans that it was he who came up with the title of "Cryin' Like a Bitch." His inspiration for it came from watching Rivers shed a tear on the sidelines during a football game between the NFL's Raiders (then located in Oakland, Calif.) and the Chargers (with whom Rivers played at the time and were located in San Diego).

"I came up with 'Cryin' Like a Bitch' about Philip Rivers because I'm a Raiders fan," Larkin explained. "They needed to win in the playoffs. At the end, Philip Rivers threw, of course, he threw the interception, or whatever he did. So, there he is on the sideline with a tear glistening on his eye. So I told Sully, 'Oh my God, dude. Write a song called 'Cryin' Like a Bitch.'' And he [said], 'That's rad.' He loved it."

Further, the drummer indicated, the reported bad vibes on Crue Fest 2 probably weren't as bad as they were later made out to be.

"That Motley tour was fun for everybody," Larkin added. "Later on, Nikki Sixx [said Godsmack] didn't have fun on the tour. Whatever — we had fun. … Just there were certain things that pissed our guy [Erna] off, and so he pissed their guy [Sixx] off, and those guys are very strong-willed dudes."

Still, the song is in some ways about Sixx. Once Larkin coined the title, Erna wrote the lyrics to the track. As the drummer has suggested before, that leaves the tune's meaning more open to the listener's interpretation than being about any one individual. But to him, it's all about Rivers.

"Sully is a singer that likes to write all the lyrics and sing his own words," Larkin said in 2011, "so he went ahead and wrote that song. I don't want to speak for him but I know that certain lines were directed at Sixx and only because there were some clashes of egos on the … tour we did. There certainly were some words said. I think that's how the whole rumor started that the song was about Nikki, but in reality, the song was about Philip Rivers. Raiders, baby!"

Rivers, now in his 17th year in the NFL, is the current QB for the Indianapolis Colts.