Four Women - The Song

"Four Women" is a song written by singer, composer, pianist and arranger Nina Simone, released on the 1966 album Wild Is the Wind. It tells the story of four different African American women. Each of the four characters represents an African American stereotype in society. "An instantly accessible analysis of the damning legacy of slavery, that made iconographic the real women we knew and would become." –Thulani Davis, The Village Voice . 


Afriacan-American female archetypes.

• The first of the four women described in the song is "Aunt Sarah" a character who represents African American enslavement. Nina Simone's description of the woman emphasizes the strong and resilient aspects of her race, "strong enough to take the pain" as well as the long-term suffering her race has had to endure, "inflicted again and again".
• The second woman who appears in the song is dubbed "Safronia", a woman of mixed race forced to live "between two worlds". She is portrayed as an oppressed woman and her story is once again used to highlight the suffering of the black race at the hands of white people in positions of power ("My father was rich and white/He forced my mother late one night").
• The third character is that of a prostitute referred to as "Sweet Thing". She finds acceptance with both black and white people because "my hair is fine", but only because she provides sexual gratification ("Whose little girl am I?/Anyone who has money to buy").
• The fourth and final woman we meet is an embittered and volatile woman, a product of the generations of oppression and suffering endured by her people ("I'm awfully bitter these days/'cause my parents were slaves"). She is prone to violence ("I'll kill the first mother' I see!"). Simone finally unveils the woman's name after a dramatic finale during which she screams, "My name is Peaches!"

References: Wikipedia