Four Women
Nina Simone Lyrics
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My arms are long
My hair is woolly
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
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 SAFFRONIA
My name is Saffronia
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 too rough
I'm awfully bitter these days
because my parents were slaves
What do they call me
My name is PEACHES
The song Four Women by Nina Simone explores the experiences and struggles of four black women with different skin tones, and thus, different social statuses and paths in life. The first woman, Aunt Sarah, introduces herself as a black woman with strong arms and a painful past. She is called Aunt Sarah, which is a term used to refer to the elderly black women who worked as nannies or housemaids. Her physical attributes show resilience and strength, but her name takes away her individuality and reduces her to a stereotypical image of the mammy figure that slaves were forced to play in white households.
The second woman, Saffronia, has a mixed race and a lighter complexion that allows her to "belong" between two worlds, but she still faces the trauma of being conceived after a sexual assault from a white man. Her name, Saffronia, is named after a yellow spice, and it also suggests a lack of identity and the association with the exotic and the other. She is trapped, unable to fully embrace her blackness or her whiteness.
The third woman, Sweet Thing, is light-skinned and considered attractive, but she is also objectified and exploited by men who use her body in exchange for money. Her name suggests she is seen as nothing more than a sweet, desirable object to be used and thrown away. Simone implies that her cultural identity and self-worth are reduced to her physical attributes.
Finally, Peaches is a dark-skinned woman who is openly angry and bitter. She has a tough exterior and is willing to take revenge on the first white person she sees. Peaches' parents were slaves, and her name suggests a connection to the fertile and commodified land of the South. Her bitterness is a reflection of a lifetime of oppression and struggle.
Line by Line Meaning
My skin is black
I am proud of my black heritage and identity.
My arms are long
I am capable of reaching far and achieving great things.
My hair is woolly
My hair is unique and beautiful, and I will not conform to Eurocentric beauty standards.
My back is strong
I am resilient and can withstand the hardships that come with being black in America.
Strong enough to take the pain
My strength allows me to endure the struggles and oppression that come with being black in America.
inflicted again and again
Society continues to impose discrimination and racism upon me, but I am strong enough to persist.
What do they call me
Society labels me based on their prejudices and biases.
My name is AUNT SARAH
The label they have given me is not my true identity, which is Aunt Sarah.
My skin is yellow
I am of mixed race, and my features reflect my dual identity.
My hair is long
My hair is a symbol of my mixed-ness, and it is long and straight due to my white heritage.
Between two worlds
I feel torn between two cultures due to my mixed race, and I do not fully belong in either.
I do belong
Despite feeling like an outsider, I still have a right to exist and take up space.
My father was rich and white
I am a product of rape, and my white father held power over my black mother.
He forced my mother late one night
My conception was not the result of love, but rather an act of violence and domination.
My name is SAFFRONIA
Society labels me based on my appearance and heritage, but my true identity is Saffronia.
My skin is tan
My skin is a lighter shade of brown, but I still face discrimination and prejudice for being black.
My hair is fine
My hair is seen as more traditionally attractive because it is closer to Eurocentric beauty standards.
My hips invite you
My body is objectified and sexualized by society because of my black features.
my mouth like wine
My words and presence are intoxicating and alluring to those who seek to exoticize and fetishize me.
Whose little girl am I?
I have been abandoned and exploited by the adults in my life, and I do not have a true sense of family or belonging.
Anyone who has money to buy
My worth is measured by my ability to be bought and sold, and I am seen as a commodity rather than a human being.
What do they call me
Society labels me based on my physical appearance and perceived value.
My name is SWEET THING
Society labels me based on their objectification of my black features, but my true identity is Sweet Thing.
My skin is brown
I am proud of my dark skin and see it as a symbol of my black identity.
my manner is tough
I have had to develop a hardened exterior to protect myself from the prejudices and violence of society.
I'll kill the first mother I see
I am so angry and hurt by the injustices I face that I am capable of great violence and retribution.
my life has been too rough
I have faced unspeakable hardship and pain due to my black identity and the legacy of slavery.
What do they call me
Society labels me based on their fear of my blackness and perceived threat to their power and privilege.
My name is PEACHES
Society labels me based on their own prejudices and biases, but my true identity is Peaches.
Lyrics Β© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: NINA SIMONE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@imaneammar4923
Lyrics:
My skin is black
My arms are long
My hair is woolly
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
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 SAFFRONIA
My name is Saffronia
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 too rough
I'm awfully bitter these days
because my parents were slaves
What do they call me
My name is PEACHES
@dayYdream2k
Nina simone was a powerful voice for the urban black community. She sang about real issues, that effect us today! The realest!!!
@jasondavila8318
Nina Simone a powerful revolutionary!
@emersonroker8933
Her words reach my heart n soul.
@starzin4123
Today no
@KatyGroves
Starzin - I am white, but I grew up in CIA child trafficking so I can testify from personal experience that yes, these issues do very much affect black people today.
@starzin4123
@@KatyGroves Well I meant by being racist. America is not as racist as it was in the 1960s
@chalkballoon2015
There's something eerie and unsettling about the sound of this tune, even in Jay-Z's sampling of it
@gregorywiederecht
Nina Simone frequently did that with her original compositions, making them musically unsettling so as to keep the audience uneasy
@gregorywiederecht
Like, her song Mississippi Goddam is structured like a show tune, but there's just something about it that is off, making it perfect for the subject matter
@philip_roa
@@gregorywiederecht This is the blues, but in jazz form.