Chaka Khan - A Woman In A Man's World 7"

This post comes in response and celebration of actually getting a comment on the Lesley Gore post a couple days ago. I don't get too many comments and so I have to celebrate when I do. So I thought I'd follow the Lesley post with something somewhat in the same vain, the fabulous Chaka Khan.

I don't remember this "A Woman In A Man's World" being a hit in any world that I was a part of back in the late 70's. That isn't to say that it wasn't a hit, but I just didn't know it. I was was still listening to whatever my parents listened to, which was a lot of Frank Sinatra. The radio dial pretty much never ventured to the local R&B stations.

On the surface this is just another disco song from the former vocalist with Rufus, but underneath that surface there is a woman singing passionately about her place in the world. She sings:

It's a losing game I play

In a dog eat dog showbiz town

I've got a dream of my own

And I carry my own weight

But still they try to drag me down

I'm a woman in a man's world

Not your usual fair for a disco song.

I'm not sure, but I would be surprised to learn that the title of the song is in reference to James Brown's "It's a Man's World". If anyone has any insight there feel free to comment.

As you would expect Chaka sings amazingly and by the end she is just belting out the chorus at the top of her lungs. She feels it. She's living it.

The B-side "I'm Every Woman" is also another dance track with plenty of 70's disco in it. It also carries a strong fem-power theme to it. In fact the song sing about her almost supernatural woman abilities. She sings about reading minds in the lyric:

I'm every woman

It's all in me

I can read your thoughts right now

Every one from A to Z

Then later she sings this great verse:

I can sense you needs

Like rain on to the seeds

I can make a rhyme

Of confusion in your mind

And when it comes down

To some good old fashioned love

That's wheat I've got plenty of, 'cause

I'm every woman.

Then in the bridge she declares definitively:

I ain't braggin' 'cause I'm the one

You just ask me ooh and it shall be done

And don't bother to compare

'Cause I've got it

I've got it, I've got it, yeah

No one else can deliver this lyrics like Chaka. I believe every word. She just gives off this "don't mess with me" vibe when she sings. And by the end she's just screaming out notes all over the place. You just have to sit back and take cover as she lets out her vocal assault.

Enjoy!

01 A Woman In A Man's World.mp3

02 I'm Every Woman.mp3