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For Women Lyrics
Yeah, so we got this tune, called "Four Women," right?
Originally it was by Nina Simone
And uh, she said it was inspired by uh, you know
Down south, in the south they used to call her mother "Auntie"
You know, she'd say "No Mrs., no, just Auntie", you know what I'm sayin?
And uh, she said if anyone ever called her "Auntie" she'd burn the whole goddamn place down, you know what I'm sayin?
But you know, I'm over past that, you know what I'm sayin?
Comin' into the new millennium, we can't forget our elders
I got off the 2 Train in Brooklyn, on my way to a session
Said "Let me help this woman up the stairs before I get to steppin"
We got in a conversation, she said she a hundred and seven
Just her presence was a blessin', and her essence was a lesson
She had her head wrapped, and long dreads that peeked out the back
Like antenna to help her get a sense of where she was at
Imagine that, livin' a century, the strength of her memories, felt like an angel had been sent to me
She lived from "nigger" to "colored" to "negro" to "black" to "Afro" then "African-American", and right back to "nigger"
You figure she'd be bitter in her twilight, but she a'ight 'cause she done seen the circle of life
Yo, my skin is black like it's packed with melanin
Back in the days of slaves she'd be packin' like Harriet Tubman
And her arms are long and she moves like a song
Feet with corns, hands with callouses, but the heart is warm
And her hair is woolly, it attract a lot of energy, even negative
She gotta dead that the head wrap is a remedy
Her back is strong and she far from a vagabond
This is the back the master's whip used to crack upon
Strong enough to take all the pain that's been inflicted
Again and again and again and again flip it
To the love for her children, nothin' else matter
What do they call her? They call her "Aunt Sarah"
I know a girl with a name as beautiful as the rain
Her face is the same but she suffers an unusual pain
Seems she only deal with losers who be usin' them games
Chasin' the real brothers away like she confused in the brain
She try to get in where she fit in on that American Dream mission
Paid tuition for that receipt to find that her history was missin'
And started flippin', seein' the world through very different eyes
People askin' her what she'll do when it come time to choose sides
Yo, my skin is yellow, it's like her face is blonde word is bond
And her hair is long and straight just like Sleeping Beauty
See, she truly feel like she belong in two worlds
And that she can't relate to other girls
Her father was rich and white still livin' with his wife
But he forced himself on her mother late one night, they call it rape, that's right
And now she take flight through life with hate and spite
Inside her mind and keep her up to the break of light a lot of times
I gotta find myself, I gotta find myself, I gotta find myself
She had to remind herself
They call her Safronia, the unwanted seed
Blood still blue in her vein and still red when she bleed
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Teenage lovers sit on their stoops up in Harlem
Holdin' hands under the Apollo marquee dreamin' of stardom
Since they was born the streets is watchin' and schemin'
And now it got them generations facin' diseases that don't kill you, they just got problems
And complications that get you first
Yo, it's gettin' worse, when children hide the fact they're pregnant
'Cause they scared of givin' birth
How will I feed this baby? How will I surivive? How will this baby shine?
Daddy dead from crack in '85, Mommy dead from AIDS in '89
At 14 the baby hit the same streets they became her master
The children of the enslaved, they grow a little faster
They bodies become adult while they keep the thoughts of a child
Her arrival into womanhood was hemmed up by her survival
Now she's 25, barely grown, out on her own
Doin' whatever it takes, trippin', workin' out on the block, up on the phone
Talkin' about, "My skin is tan like the front of your hand
And my hair, well, my hair's alright
Whatever way I wanna fix it, it's alright, it's fine
But my hips, these sweet hips of mine, invite you daddy
When I fix my lips my mouth is like wine
Take a sip, don't be shy, tonight I wanna be your lady
I ain't too good for your Mercedes, but first you gotta pay me
You better quit with all them questions, sugar, whose little girl am I?
Why I'm yours if you got enough money to buy
You better stop with the compliments, we running out of time
You wanna talk? Whatever, we could do that, it's your dime
From Harlem is where I came, don't worry about my name
Up on one-two-five they call me 'Sweet Thang'"
A daughter come up in Georgia, ripe and ready to plant seeds
Left the plantation when she saw a sign even though she can't read
It came from God, when life get hard, she always speak to him
She'd rather kill her babies then let the master get to 'em
She on the run up north to get across the Mason-Dixon
In church she learned how to be patient and keep wishin'
The promise of eternal life after death for those that God bless
She swear the next baby she have will breathe a free breath
And get milk from a free breast, and love bein' alive
Otherwise they'll have to give up bein' themselves to survive
Bein' maids, cleanin' ladies, maybe teachers or college graduates
Nurses, housewives, prostitutes and drug addicts
Some will grow to be old women, some will die before they born
They'll be mothers and lovers who inspire and make songs
"But me, my skin is brown and my manner is tough
Like the love I give my babies when the rainbow's enough
I'll kill the first motherfucker that mess with me, I never bluff
I ain't got time to lie, my life has been much too rough
Still running with bare feet, I ain't got nothin' but my soul
Freedom is the ultimate goal
Life and death is small on the whole, in many ways
I'm awfully bitter these days
'Cause the only parents God gave me, they were slaves
And it crippled me, I got the destiny of a casualty
But I live through my babies and I change my reality
Maybe one day I'll ride back to Georgia on a train
Folks 'round there call me 'Peaches', I guess that's my name"
Originally it was by Nina Simone
And uh, she said it was inspired by uh, you know
Down south, in the south they used to call her mother "Auntie"
You know, she'd say "No Mrs., no, just Auntie", you know what I'm sayin?
And uh, she said if anyone ever called her "Auntie" she'd burn the whole goddamn place down, you know what I'm sayin?
But you know, I'm over past that, you know what I'm sayin?
Comin' into the new millennium, we can't forget our elders
Said "Let me help this woman up the stairs before I get to steppin"
We got in a conversation, she said she a hundred and seven
Just her presence was a blessin', and her essence was a lesson
She had her head wrapped, and long dreads that peeked out the back
Like antenna to help her get a sense of where she was at
Imagine that, livin' a century, the strength of her memories, felt like an angel had been sent to me
She lived from "nigger" to "colored" to "negro" to "black" to "Afro" then "African-American", and right back to "nigger"
You figure she'd be bitter in her twilight, but she a'ight 'cause she done seen the circle of life
Yo, my skin is black like it's packed with melanin
Back in the days of slaves she'd be packin' like Harriet Tubman
And her arms are long and she moves like a song
Feet with corns, hands with callouses, but the heart is warm
And her hair is woolly, it attract a lot of energy, even negative
She gotta dead that the head wrap is a remedy
Her back is strong and she far from a vagabond
This is the back the master's whip used to crack upon
Strong enough to take all the pain that's been inflicted
Again and again and again and again flip it
To the love for her children, nothin' else matter
What do they call her? They call her "Aunt Sarah"
Her face is the same but she suffers an unusual pain
Seems she only deal with losers who be usin' them games
Chasin' the real brothers away like she confused in the brain
She try to get in where she fit in on that American Dream mission
Paid tuition for that receipt to find that her history was missin'
And started flippin', seein' the world through very different eyes
People askin' her what she'll do when it come time to choose sides
Yo, my skin is yellow, it's like her face is blonde word is bond
And her hair is long and straight just like Sleeping Beauty
See, she truly feel like she belong in two worlds
And that she can't relate to other girls
Her father was rich and white still livin' with his wife
But he forced himself on her mother late one night, they call it rape, that's right
And now she take flight through life with hate and spite
Inside her mind and keep her up to the break of light a lot of times
I gotta find myself, I gotta find myself, I gotta find myself
She had to remind herself
They call her Safronia, the unwanted seed
Blood still blue in her vein and still red when she bleed
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Don't, don't, don't hurt me again
Holdin' hands under the Apollo marquee dreamin' of stardom
Since they was born the streets is watchin' and schemin'
And now it got them generations facin' diseases that don't kill you, they just got problems
And complications that get you first
Yo, it's gettin' worse, when children hide the fact they're pregnant
'Cause they scared of givin' birth
How will I feed this baby? How will I surivive? How will this baby shine?
Daddy dead from crack in '85, Mommy dead from AIDS in '89
At 14 the baby hit the same streets they became her master
The children of the enslaved, they grow a little faster
They bodies become adult while they keep the thoughts of a child
Her arrival into womanhood was hemmed up by her survival
Now she's 25, barely grown, out on her own
Doin' whatever it takes, trippin', workin' out on the block, up on the phone
Talkin' about, "My skin is tan like the front of your hand
And my hair, well, my hair's alright
Whatever way I wanna fix it, it's alright, it's fine
But my hips, these sweet hips of mine, invite you daddy
When I fix my lips my mouth is like wine
Take a sip, don't be shy, tonight I wanna be your lady
I ain't too good for your Mercedes, but first you gotta pay me
You better quit with all them questions, sugar, whose little girl am I?
Why I'm yours if you got enough money to buy
You better stop with the compliments, we running out of time
You wanna talk? Whatever, we could do that, it's your dime
From Harlem is where I came, don't worry about my name
Up on one-two-five they call me 'Sweet Thang'"
Left the plantation when she saw a sign even though she can't read
It came from God, when life get hard, she always speak to him
She'd rather kill her babies then let the master get to 'em
She on the run up north to get across the Mason-Dixon
In church she learned how to be patient and keep wishin'
The promise of eternal life after death for those that God bless
She swear the next baby she have will breathe a free breath
And get milk from a free breast, and love bein' alive
Otherwise they'll have to give up bein' themselves to survive
Bein' maids, cleanin' ladies, maybe teachers or college graduates
Nurses, housewives, prostitutes and drug addicts
Some will grow to be old women, some will die before they born
They'll be mothers and lovers who inspire and make songs
"But me, my skin is brown and my manner is tough
Like the love I give my babies when the rainbow's enough
I'll kill the first motherfucker that mess with me, I never bluff
I ain't got time to lie, my life has been much too rough
Still running with bare feet, I ain't got nothin' but my soul
Freedom is the ultimate goal
Life and death is small on the whole, in many ways
I'm awfully bitter these days
'Cause the only parents God gave me, they were slaves
And it crippled me, I got the destiny of a casualty
But I live through my babies and I change my reality
Maybe one day I'll ride back to Georgia on a train
Folks 'round there call me 'Peaches', I guess that's my name"
Last verse about the fugitive slave girl gets me. One of those songs Kwe does that almost brings me to tears
What a sad story of four women leading completly different lives but still struggling. One of my favorites from the album.