I started listening to Nina Simone in my 20s as I grew and survived some of my tough, lonely times. I suppose it was the time of my quarter life crisis when friendships were changing, I started a "career," and no longer had the social and familial safety nets that existed through college and grad school.
"Four Women" always stood out due to the power of Nina's voice, and the experiences of black womanhood that she gives voice to.
Always known to highlight four stereotypes of black women, I like to imagine these women as four generations. Aunt Sarah, whose skin is black and has taken the pain again and again, is the head of this matriarchal line. Part of the pain she references is rape, and from that rape, Safronia is born. Safronia's skin is yellow, and she tells of how her father is a rich white man who forced her mother late one night. Safronia's skin and hair make her stand out from both the black and white communities. While some of these physical attributes are prized, she is clearly alienated.
The next generation is the tan-skinned Sweet Thing, who belongs to "anyone who has money to buy." Sweet Thing asserts her physical attributes from which she makes a living. In fact, it seems that she can seduce anyone. Peaches, the daughter of Sweet Thing, emphasizes her brown skin, tough manner and bitterness, which stems directly from her (fore)parents being slaves. While most of the verses here are smoothly sung, Peaches doesn't just tell her story, she emphatically wills herself into existence and the popular landscape. The "Four Women" story crescendoes with the announcement of her name.
Last week, when I first heard Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J.," I was struck immediately. I appreciated the tale of how no matter what levels you rise to or your stated difference in this American space, you are still judged by your common denominator, which as Jay-Z says here is "still nigga." I also thought the minstrel-themed animation that accompanies the song was clever.
So, yes, all in all, I rock with the song, but I lament that black women serve as the background to a general tale of light, dark, faux, real, rich, poor, house and field blacks folks. In imagery and animation, the focus of this tune has shifted to black men. And stories of race all too often default to black men.
Nina appears in this video animated in a style that is distinctly her, but if you don't know her or her style, you won't recognize the piano player as distinctly important and the author of the original tune. She and these other vibrant women, like most of the black women organizers in the Civil Rights Movement, have become background characters. And that, unfortunately, is the exact opposite of what was intended with this original song.