Nina Simone’s ‘Four Women’: Giving the marginalised a voice, no matter the consequences
“It is true what they say: the truth hurts.” – Nina Simone
‘Four Women’ was written overnight, but its story spans decades. A thunder in the crest of Simone’s impassioned outcry for racial justice, the song submerges the restlessness of Black womanhood into four vivid portraits, representing different aspects of generational trauma and defiance in a history that rallies to silence their voices.
Simone wrote ‘Four Women’ swiftly in the mid-1960s but kept it to herself for four months, fearing it was too raw and vulnerable to share. The song emerged from conversations she had about the varied experiences of Black women, where she recognised a common thread of self-hatred, a condition she believed was “brainwashed” into them by both “Black men and many white people”.
Reflecting on its purpose, Simone said, “‘Four Women’ tried to speak to this,” but its unflinching honesty sparked controversy: “Some Black radio stations wouldn’t play it. It is true what they say: the truth hurts.” Her aim to give a voice to the silenced and marginalised was met with resistance, with stations and audiences finding her portrayal of racial identity and experiences uncomfortable as censorship veiled a narrative that was never intended to be delivered softly.
Following the stories of four women—Aunt Sarah, Saffronia, Sweet Thing, and Peaches—draws in the different stereotypes attached to each woman, with a subtle, almost unnoticeable increase in intensity with each passing story. Some reflect on the physical dysphoria developed by many Black women in relation to their “complexions, our hair, our bodies,” like Aunt Sarah, who is said to be a depiction of American slavery.
In the song, the Aunt Sarah character reflects on the perceived negative aspects of her appearance, saying, “My arms are long” and “My hair is woolly,” before touching upon a more overt display of resilience in the face of suffering, singing about having “strong arms” and a back that can endure inflicted pain “again and again”.
Simone also draws in the different nuances of each woman, like Saffronia, who lives “between two worlds” because her father is “rich and white” while her mother, a Black woman, constantly suffers at his forceful hands, which results in her own oppression. Even as the song reaches its climax with Peaches’ story, Simone continuously hits out at the power of racism and stereotyping to force women to lose their identities and worth, with just four women representing a broader issue of global systemic racism.
Consequently, Simone’s ploy was met with one of the largest waves of opposition in music history—not only because many perceived her demeanour as unkempt but also due to widespread hostility toward the weight and seriousness of her message. Some even failed to acknowledge the satire of her tone, reading her accounts of the different lives of four Black women as Simone’s own stereotyping, which was the exact opposite of her intention.
However, this was also in America in 1966, which saw significant advancements in the Civil Rights movement but also intense periods and instances of racism and racial tension. Despite the outcomes of several marches and rallies, the country became a place plagued by race riots across many major cities, while many white people, particularly in the South, resisted desegregation and equal rights for Black people.
In the midst of all of this, Simone released ‘Four Women’, a piece that sparked intense controversy, addressing not just racial stereotyping but the unique experiences of intersectionality and how racism converged with sexism in the 1960s. Unlike other protest songs, it also addressed its themes with disdain and melancholy, revealing a more authentic exposition and one that sparked a wave of Black music that soundtracked and supercharged the broader movement towards greater racial justice.
