Four Women
1965 Nina Simone
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I am emphatically against the injustices of black people, of third world people. "Four Women" came to me after conversations I had with black women. It seemed we were all suffering from self-hatred. We hated our complexions, our hair, our bodies. I realized we had been brainwashed into feeling this way about ourselves by some black men and many white people. I tried to speak to this in the song. And do you know, some black radio stations wouldn't play it? It is true what they say: the truth hurts.
-Nina Simone I Got Thunder In the soundtrack of Black Music in America: From Then Till Now (Robertson, 1971) and For Colored Girls (Perry, 2010). |
| Recording sessions |
My skin is black my arms are long
My hair is whooly my back is strong
Strong enough to take the pain
My hair is whooly my back is strong
Strong enough to take the pain
Inflicted again and again
What do they call me
My name is Aunt Sarah
My name is Aunt Sarah Aunt Sarah
My skin is yellow my hair is long
Between two worlds I do belong
My father was rich and white
He forced my mother late one night
What do they call me
My name is Safronia
My name is Safronia
My skin is tan my hair is fine
My hips invite you my mouth like wine
Whose little girl am I
Anyone who has money to buy
What do they call me
My name is Sweet Thing
My name is Sweet Thing
My skin is brown my manner is tough
I'll kill the first mother I see
My life has been rough
I'm awfully bitter these days
Because my parents were slaves
What do they call me
My name is Peaches
(Lyrics transcription by Roger Nupie)
What do they call me
My name is Aunt Sarah
My name is Aunt Sarah Aunt Sarah
My skin is yellow my hair is long
Between two worlds I do belong
My father was rich and white
He forced my mother late one night
What do they call me
My name is Safronia
My name is Safronia
My skin is tan my hair is fine
My hips invite you my mouth like wine
Whose little girl am I
Anyone who has money to buy
What do they call me
My name is Sweet Thing
My name is Sweet Thing
My skin is brown my manner is tough
I'll kill the first mother I see
My life has been rough
I'm awfully bitter these days
Because my parents were slaves
What do they call me
My name is Peaches
(Lyrics transcription by Roger Nupie)
2008 [5:23] DVD 2 Live in '65 & '68 Reelin' in the Years 2.119014 (US)
2005 [4:34] DVD 6 The Soul of RCA/Legacy 82876 71973 2 (US)

