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.
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
We make her paint her face and dance
If she won't be aslave, 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 is above us
Woman is the nigger of the world, yes she is
If you don't believe me take a look to the one you're with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Ah yeah, better scream about it
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
Woman is the nigger of the world, yes she is
If you don't believe me take a look to the one you're with
Oh woman is the slave to the slaves
Yeah, alright
We insult her everyday 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
Woman is the nigger of the world, yes she is
If you don't believe me take a look to the one you're with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Yes she is, if you believe me, you better scream about it
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
Yes she is, think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it, do something about it
We make her paint her face and dance
If she won't be aslave, 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 is above us
Woman is the nigger of the world, yes she is
If you don't believe me take a look to the one you're with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Ah yeah, better scream about it
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
Woman is the nigger of the world, yes she is
If you don't believe me take a look to the one you're with
Oh woman is the slave to the slaves
Yeah, alright
We insult her everyday 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
Woman is the nigger of the world, yes she is
If you don't believe me take a look to the one you're with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Yes she is, if you believe me, you better scream about it
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
Lyrics submitted by dollerspark
Woman Is the Nigger of the World Lyrics as written by Yoko Ono John Lennon
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The song meaning is pretty clear and I believe that it has the same meaning now as it used to when the song was written. Actually it is like that with all the songs Lennon had written. He speaks about what is the role assigned to the females in the society and that women are forced to conform otherwise as he states: "we say she's trying to be a man". One of the major ideas of the song is that this is so deep in our minds that we accepted for granted so much that we are not even able to see it.
I just have to disagree with LennonGenius! on the following points. He/She assumes too many things and from the comment I would assume that He/She is a white male from the US :)
I cannot speak for all the history since I am not too well prepared on the subject, but I agree that since the beginning of capitalism woman had been living in a very patriarchal society, I assume that it was like that long time before the emergence of capitalism, but I doubt it was on that large scale as it is now. Anyways I do not agree that women were not "threated like that" thru all the history. All history is not in any ways the history of capitalism;)
According to this sentence: "Blacks, as well as women (at least in America) are becoming much more accepted"
There are many nation-states that people with black/brown skin colour were always accepted and the values of the US society do not apply to all the world.
I do not think that the strong patriarchical society in many parts o the US is in any way less patriarchical in the last decades. Just can you imagine a woman presidential candidate from the republican party? Or any large-scale questioning of the authority of the founding FATHERS for example?
What I am meaning that the problems are still very strong not only in the US of course, but everywhere in the world. I agree that Lennon was kinda a genius since he showed us very clearly where are the problems of the contemporary society and gave us a roadmap how we should stand and fight against them.