The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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
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
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I think first the song is about the need for freedom in different ways.
Verse 1 - Aunt Sarah My skin is black...My back is strong / Strong enough to take the pain / It's been inflicted again and again
That is probably a reference to slavery and the post-slavery situation most blacks faced where only menial, laborious jobs coupled with little respect were available to them. "It's been inflicted again and again" means the pain is not only physical, but also emotional, and it manifests itself in different ways over different generations.
Verse 2 - Saffronia 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
I think the correct name is "Saffronia", not "Siffronia" as stated in the current lyrics. The name Saffronia would be a play on the word Saffron (the spice). When cooked, saffron gives food a golden-yellow hue. Her skin is yellow, so the Saffron reference is fitting.
Saffronia also seeks freedom; as a person of mixed birth or mulatto, she is trapped between two worlds -- not quite black and not quite white, and is accepted by neither. Her birth was the result of her mother being forced, and therefore not being free ("My father was rich and white / He forced my mother late one night").
Verse 3 - Sweet Thing
My hips invite you / And my lips are like wine / Whose little girl am I? / Well yours if you have some money to buy
Sweet Thing is promiscuous and it might be said sexually liberal. In reality, however, she is in sexual slavery -- she is like property -- she "belongs" to whoever has enough money that night to "buy" her.
Verse 4 - Peaches
Peaches (not "Egypt" as the lyrics state) looks around and sees how persons in her generation and also persons who came before her were treated.
My manner is tough / I'll kill the first mother I see / Cos my life has been too rough / I'm awfully bitter these days / because my parents were slaves
It's not that Peaches is an inherently violent person, but she must have a tough exterior to survive and overcome the treatment that is meted out on her. She still sees slavery in its many forms today and is bitter, because her parents (i.e. ancestors) were slaves, and that by virtue of that history and the color of her skin, she is basically relegated to that position today.
Well, that's what I think. <3 Nina Simone stephanie elise~*
http (colon)//www (dot).shmoop.com/four-women/meaning (dot)html<br /> <br /> This is a link for an excellent analysis of the song...right down to every character Simone created. It's fascinating reading....well, at least it was for me :)
I agree and I love this song on many levels. I do wish Nina has thought to put a white woman within the lyrics. Even though white women were not seen as a minority, at this particular period in history they were repressed...displaced homemakers; unequal wages and opportunities; often unable to secure credit; loans; and ownership; difficulty in admissions; higher drop out rates; etc. I wish more people would begin to see that prejudice effects every group at one time in history or another, including white males who are still the majority.