Woman is the nigger of the world
Woman Is the Nigger of the World is a piece written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and released in New York City in September 1972 on the album Some Time and previously as a single on May 12, 1972. It had previously been released as a single with Sisters, O Sisters . Lennon himself described it as the "first song of the women's movement ".
Significance and origin
The title of the play goes back to a 1968 interview with Yoko Ono that she gave to the British women's magazine Nova . Lennon used Ono's provocative thesis to present his increasingly feminist views to the public. His text is about the oppression of women in a male-dominated society. According to Lennon, he was inspired by the Irish revolutionary James Connolly and his statement “the female worker is the slave of the slave”.
In March 1972 he recorded the piece with the New York group Elephant's Memory, whose saxophonist Stan Bronstein helped shape the recording. The song was produced by Phil Spector .
Effect and criticism
After the piece premiered live on Dick Cavett's American TV show, it was particularly criticized for the use of the curse word " nigger " in the title. Various radio stations boycotted the broadcast of the song.
literature
- Peter Kemper : John Lennon . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-518-18223-9 , ( Suhrkamp Basis Biographie 23).
- David Sheff: The Ballad of John and Yoko. The last big interview . Hannibal, Höfen 2002, ISBN 978-3-85445-202-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ release date
- ↑ David Sheff: The Ballad of John and Yoko - The Last Great Interview . Hannibal, 2002, p. 220
- ↑ Unsafe For Radio: John Lennon, NWA And A History Of Controversial Songs . From: Music.cbc.ca , accessed August 26, 2015.
- ↑ Interview of May 11, 1972. The Dick Cavett Show: John and Yoko collection [video recording] DVD, 2005. ISBN 0-7389-3357-0 .
- ↑ YouTube video of the performance