Woman is the Nigger of the World Lyrics

[Chorus]
Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes, she is, think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it, do something about it

[Verse 1]
We make her paint her face and dance
If she won't be a slave, we say that she don't love us

If she's real, we say she's trying to be a man
While putting her down, we pretend that she's above us

[Chorus]
Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes, she is
If you don't believe me, take a look at the one you're with
Woman is the slave of the slaves
Oh, yeah, better scream about it, yeah

[Saxophone Solo]

[Verse 2]
We make her bear and raise our children
And then we leave her flat for being a fat old mother hen

We tell her home is the only place she should be
Then we complain that she's too unworldly to be our friend

[Chorus]
Well, woman is the nigger of the world
Yes, she is
If you don't believe me, take a look at the one you're with
Oh, woman is the slave to the slave
Yeah, alright, hit it!

[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 3]
We insult her every day on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she's young, we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart, we put her down for being so dumb

[Chorus]
Oh, well, woman is the nigger of the world
Yes, she is
If you don't believe me, take a look at the one you're with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Yes, she is
If you believe me, better scream about it
Uh-huh, eh-heh

[Outro]
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance

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About

Genius Annotation

This song is the first track on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1972 album Some Time in New York City. The song sparked controversy at the time due to its title and subject matter. The title of the song owes much to influential African-American female author Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. In the novel, protagonist Janie Crawford says, “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see.”

In a 1971 interview on The Dick Cavett Show, Lennon stated that Irish revolutionary James Connolly was an inspiration for the song. John cited Connolly’s statement in his 1915 pamphlet The Re-Conquest of Ireland, “The worker is the slave of capitalist society, the female worker is the slave of that slave” in explaining the pro-feminist inspiration behind the song.

The song describes women’s oppression by men and male chauvinism across all cultures.

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