Althouse: "I am strong... I am invincible... I am woman."

September 30, 2020

"I am strong... I am invincible... I am woman."

Goodbye to Helen Reddy.

53 comments:

Qwinn said...: Now imagine a guy singing something like that, putting the emphasis on his being male for all his wonderfulness.

It would sound pathetic.

So do these lyrics, to my ears. Because I'm not outrageously sexist with implicit double standards and soft bigotry.; 9/30/20, 8:20 AM
Rick.T. said...: Tough day with both her and Mac Davis.; 9/30/20, 8:22 AM
Kai Akker said...: Look at those painfully bad lyrics.; 9/30/20, 8:34 AM
Static Ping said...: RIP.

I never thought "I Am Woman" was her best song by any stretch. It's okay, but the real attraction of it was as a novelty with a political bent to it, and even by that standard is not remotely as good as, say, "Imagine."

I was going to say that it was a "shame" that she is best known for a novelty song, but to a certain extent she was a novelty song singer. Her other two #1s are "Delta Dawn" and "Angie Baby," both involving insanity and the latter getting into supernatural horror tropes.; 9/30/20, 8:34 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I always remember "Angie Babie" because it was one of the first "music videos" I ever saw in an aminated segment of Wolfman Jack's "Midnight Special".

"I Am Woman" was catchy, but even back in the day kind of hokey. "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar" was kind of an instant ironic line to drop in conversation.; 9/30/20, 8:40 AM
mezzrow said...: Zappa knew a cultural icon when he saw one. From Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me

She was an office girl ("My name is Betty")
Her fav'rite group was HELEN REDDY
(They discussed the weather)

I thought this Grauniad piece would be good for those who have no memory of Reddy or the Seventies, or even for those who do still have a faint recollection.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/feb/02/cult-heroes-helen-reddy-i-am-woman-angie-baby-delta-dawn

With both Reddy and Mac Davis gone today, the seventies are taking a beating. It's something we're going to have to get used to, if we haven't by now...; 9/30/20, 8:42 AM
Big Mike said...: The song is a full half century old. Do feminists grasp that times have changed? Sometimes I wonder.

I can only imagine what Tanya Tucker would have done with that song.; 9/30/20, 8:45 AM
Expat(ish) said...: I HATED "Delta Dawn" - seemed like every choral class in parochial school we sang that as the secular song. I suspect the nuns though it was suicide due to premarital sex.

-XC; 9/30/20, 8:58 AM
ConradBibby said...: This leaves Linda Blair and Susan Clark as the only cast members of Airport 1975 still alive. Hard to believe.; 9/30/20, 9:00 AM
gspencer said...: Turns out that RBG, known for humming that tune when riding the SC elevators, wasn't so invincible.; 9/30/20, 9:02 AM
gspencer said...: Mac Davis,

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
When you're perfect in every way
I can't wait to look in the mirror
Cause I get better looking each day
To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man
Oh Lord It's hard to be humble,
But I'm doing the best that I can

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCsNunGnqE0; 9/30/20, 9:07 AM
D.D. Driver said...: "Now imagine a guy singing something like that, putting the emphasis on his being male for all his wonderfulness."

I'm pretty sure there are quite a few songs entitled "I'm the Man." But this one is clearly the best of the bunch.; 9/30/20, 9:08 AM
stevew said...: I am not a fan of her music but appreciate how good a singer and entertainer she was. RIP.; 9/30/20, 9:11 AM
mockturtle said...: RIP but what an awful song! A truly powerful woman wouldn't be proclaiming it. It smacks of weak, whiny feminism.; 9/30/20, 9:12 AM
Howard said...: Quinn: Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Bad to the Bone, Macho Man; 9/30/20, 9:17 AM
Iman said...: A handsome woman! Amazing that her coke-crazed, hilarious ex-husband ex-mgr Jeff Wald is still among the living.; 9/30/20, 9:20 AM
Wince said...: Looking back, I don't find the lyrics to "I Am Woman" to be chauvinistic.

Considering where women still were at the time, and in contrast to today's standards of whining, it was a good natured plea for equality.

With Mac Davis, a sad day for those "Lost 45s".; 9/30/20, 9:21 AM
Bill Owens said...: Imagine trying to sell that song and its message in the modern, infinite gender LGBT world:

"I am woman"!

"Yeah? Prove it!"; 9/30/20, 9:22 AM
madAsHell said...: It seems that many entertainers have a backstage Helen Reddy story, and they are not flattering.; 9/30/20, 9:58 AM
Joe Smith said...: Not so Reddy now, is she.

Too soon?

I always thought she was kind of cute, but man, what a horrible song. It did not age well (neither did she, apparently)...

Too soon again?; 9/30/20, 10:06 AM
Joe Smith said...: "It seems that many entertainers have a backstage Helen Reddy story, and they are not flattering."

Do tell...; 9/30/20, 10:07 AM
traditionalguy said...: She was special. She mixed a very attractive female into a challenge that no man could defeat her. Very tempting challenge for a man. I wonder how many took the gamble.; 9/30/20, 10:11 AM
Chris N said...: Bathos.; 9/30/20, 10:16 AM
Václav Patrik Šulik said...: Good bye - may she rest in peace.

I hope this is not too soon, but I can't hear this without thinking of the Gilda Radner (and Bill Murray) National Lampoon "I'm a Woman"

https://youtu.be/xJyehUzazeY; 9/30/20, 10:26 AM
Rick.T. said...: Qwinn said...
Now imagine a guy singing something like that, putting the emphasis on his being male for all his wonderfulness.
--------------
"Well my pad is very messy, got whiskers on my chin
Never had no problems 'cause I've always paid the rent
I got no time for lovin'
'Cause my time is all used up

"I stand outside creatin'
All the groovy kinds of love
I'm a man, yes I am and I can't help but love you so
I'm a man, yes I am and I can't help but love you so"

I'm good with either the original version of "I'm a Man" by The Spencer Davis Group with Steve Winwood on vocals original or The Chicago Transit Authority remake with Terry Kath on vocals.; 9/30/20, 10:28 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Now imagine a guy singing something like that, putting the emphasis on his being male for all his wonderfulness."

To the female chauvinists, the male version would be:

"Make me a sandwich, and why are you wearing shoes now that you're knocked up? That laundry isn't going to do itself. Oh yeah, beer me."; 9/30/20, 10:43 AM
Tom T. said...: Helen Deady.; 9/30/20, 10:55 AM
Rory said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/30/20, 11:03 AM
William said...: She was 78. That's a year older than Joe Biden. Funny how 78 is old for a pop singer, but that's when career politicians just start to reach their full potential.....I found the lyrics a bit schlocky, but I'm a guy so I would say that. I think it was a good song, very uplifting and worthy of placement on your exercise playlist.....A man, Ray Burton, was the co-writer. He crafted the melody and the arrangement. And no one will notice when he dies....The wiki article says she got criticized when she sang it at a Miss World competition, but they were feminists and would say that.; 9/30/20, 11:04 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Churchy LaFemme: said...
I always remember "Angie Babie" because it was one of the first "music videos" I ever saw in an aminated segment of Wolfman Jack's "Midnight Special".

"Angle Baby" is a very weird song. "The headlines say that a boy disappeared and everyone thinks he died, except a crazy girl with a secret lover who keeps her satisfied." A deranged girl seduces and keeps a teenage Peeping Tom as her sex slave and nobody notices?

Mind you, lots of teen boys would love it if a neighbor girl kept them as sex slaves. It would be tough to hide a 16 year old boy in your bedroom without dad and mom finding out, though. I mean, their grocery bill would be tripled in no time. "Hey, Angie, what happened to that loaf of bread, gallon of milk and half a pan of leftover lasagna?"; 9/30/20, 11:30 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "I am strong, I am invincible." That's 2nd generation feminism. It's as passe as judging people by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

Third-generation feminism is: "I am weak, I am fragile. I will cry and scream if you disagree with me. I want space spaces and coloring books."; 9/30/20, 11:34 AM
Joe Smith said...: @Tom T.

Good one...but it's 'Deddy.'

: ); 9/30/20, 11:34 AM
Jaq said...: I am not going to get into the meaning of the song, just feel a little bittersweet nostalgia for the times and sadness for the loss.

OK, I guess I will bite:

""Now imagine a guy singing something like that, putting the emphasis on his being male for all his wonderfulness.”

My Way, Frank Sinatra. The maleness is completely understood.; 9/30/20, 11:40 AM
MadisonMan said...: Like many singers of her generation, she was trapped by the horrible songs of the 1970s. Angie Baby. Delta Dawn. (shudder) "It's so nice to be insane...no one asks you to explain" WTH?

I am Woman was a song of its time, but it's meaning and impact are probably lost on youngsters.

I liked her voice though. It was smooth and mellow. She used it well.; 9/30/20, 11:47 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: A deranged girl seduces and keeps a teenage Peeping Tom as her sex slave and nobody notices?

The setup is that (for unexplained magical/horror-movie reasons) she can shrink and then lifesize him with the volume knob. Presumably this is also kind of like suspended animation, so she doesn't have to feed him etc.

Um, don't think too hard about it!; 9/30/20, 11:58 AM
Jaq said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/30/20, 12:03 PM
Seamus said...: I always thought she was kind of cute, but man, what a horrible song. It did not age well (neither did she, apparently)...

I used to roll my eyes at it, but it's really kinda catchy. And it's a damn sight better than "Imagine," if you want to talk about 70s social anthems.; 9/30/20, 12:14 PM
n.n said...: I am strong. I am invincible. I am man... equal in rights and complementary in Nature. Baby steps, I suppose. RIP; 9/30/20, 12:14 PM
Anthony said...: I am strong. . . . .I am invincible. . . . .as long as no one criticizes me. Or looks at me in a way I don't like. Or doesn't praise me and everything I do constantly. In that case, I am a sobbing mass of whininess running to the fainting couch or to Big Daddy Government to make the Bad Man stop it.; 9/30/20, 12:30 PM
FWBuff said...: Helen Reddy and Mac Davis were both 78 -- the same age as Joe Biden.; 9/30/20, 1:09 PM
Jim at said...: I remember that song as a kid growing up. Insufferable even at the age of 10.; 9/30/20, 1:17 PM
Rory said...: "...she was trapped by the horrible songs of the 1970s. Angie Baby. Delta Dawn...."

Don't Cry Out Loud.; 9/30/20, 1:38 PM
Rick.T. said...: Convergence! From Wikipedia:

Helen Reddy's version* was the first commercial recording of the song, and it was featured as the B-side of her first American hit, "I Don't Know How to Love Him," which became a hit in February of 1971.

* Of Mac Davis' "I Believe in Music."; 9/30/20, 1:55 PM
Rick.T. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/30/20, 1:57 PM
Sally327 said...: I listen to a clip like this and think, this is before auto-tune and she sounds so good, what a great voice.; 9/30/20, 2:04 PM
West Texas Intermediate Crude said...: Ms. Reddy was strong, invincible, and able to roar due to technological and pharmaceutical advances made in the 20th century, almost entirely the work of white men.

We can also do the Notorious RBG if you want.; 9/30/20, 2:22 PM
SGT Ted said...: I saw her at Harrahs in South Lake Tahoe in the 1970s. Definitely a period piece. It was a good show.; 9/30/20, 2:23 PM
n.n said...: I used to roll my eyes at it, but it's really kinda catchy. And it's a damn sight better than "Imagine,"

Another good one from that era: Abortion... War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.; 9/30/20, 2:46 PM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: That was a big song that year. It was on par with maybe Love Will Keep us Together or Mandy as a hit during that era. But not quite Delta Dawn or Aquarius level.; 9/30/20, 2:51 PM
Nichevo said...: Qwinn said...
Now imagine a guy singing something like that, putting the emphasis on his being male for all his wonderfulness.

https://youtu.be/POCUgBSVENQ; 9/30/20, 3:46 PM
MadisonMan said...: " Love Will Keep us Together"

Sedaka is back!; 9/30/20, 4:27 PM
Static Ping said...: To follow up on Churchy, there is also an implication in the song that she has "friends" in her room that disappear whenever someone opens the door. This is prior to the boy next door showing up. So the boy may not be the only one trapped in there, or perhaps she does have a friend who is not quite human that is enabling her. It's very Twilight Zone-ish.

It's also possible that Angie is simply insane and what she thinks is happening is not reality. The boy's body may be dumped somewhere no one can find it. Or perhaps her parents did the honor of dumping the body and this is how she explains what happened. Or perhaps there is no boy. The story is partially from Angie's perspective and Angie is unreliable so there is a lot of room for interpretation. But pretty much any interpretation is creepy, which is the point.; 9/30/20, 6:16 PM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: ""Love Will Keep us Together"

Sedaka is back!"

I had forgotten he wrote that song but as soon as you reminded me I realized it sounded just like him.; 9/30/20, 7:31 PM