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~*
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 :)
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.
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.
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
http (colon)//www (dot).shmoop.com/four-women/meaning (dot)html
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 :)
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.
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.