Tony the Tour Guy's Mostly 1970s NYC History Blog: Another Musical Horror: "I am Woman"

Tony the Tour Guy's Mostly 1970s NYC History Blog

Welcome to Tony the Tour Guy's blog! Here we feature Tony's rants about various topics in New York City history, with particular emphasis upon that typically unappreciated decade, the Seventies. For our purposes, the era began roughly at the time when Jimi Hendrix died (9/18/70) and ended with the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the freedom of the Iran hostages (1/20/81). We cover everything from Pet Rocks to the Moonies to Checker Taxicabs here, and welcome your participation.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Another Musical Horror: "I am Woman"

Check out that haircut!

During the 70s Helen Reddy had a string of hits. She was one of those middle-of-the-road, middle-American pop singers who offended nobody. But that didn't mean she didn't have a Cause. In 1973 she released "I am Woman," what she no doubt thought would become an anthem for those of the female persuasion. Pure schlock, it was the 70s' answer to the protest song. Get reddy, folks...

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

2 Comments:

Zee said...: Gee, I very much enjoyed reading your posts. It brought up a lot of fading memories.
Thanks!; 11:01 PM
Tony the Tour Guy said...: Thanks. That's why I do this blog. Actually, reviewing the lyrics to "I am Woman" shows two things about the Seventies.

First: the tune is essentially pointless. It's not a protest song, or an anthem that really says anything specific about the rights of women. That's the Seventies: stripped-down politics. Like when the oil companies all started telling us how ecologically aware they were.

Secondly, there's the whole "I can do anything" self-help attitude. Let's face it. Nobody's invincible. Nobody can do anything. Sorry, Tony Robbins. Self-help really took off in the 70s.; 9:03 PM