Your Woman


"Your Woman" is a song by British one-man band White Town. It was released in January 1997 as the lead single from the album Women in Technology. It features a muted trumpet line taken from "My Woman" by Al Bowlly. The song peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, the single reached No. 1 in Iceland and Spain, peaked within the top 10 on the charts of at least 12 countries and reached No. 23 in the United States.
In the booklet of their 1999 album 69 Love Songs, The Magnetic Fields' frontman Stephin Merritt described "Your Woman" as one of his "favourite pop songs of the last few years." In 2010, the song was named the 158th best track of the 1990s by Pitchfork.

Background and writing

White Town's sole band member and writer of "Your Woman", Jyoti Prakash Mishra had garnered some notoriety within England's underground music scene in the years leading up to the mainstream release of "Your Woman". The song was heard by BBC Radio 1 DJ Mark Radcliffe, who played it on the radio station in 1997, helping Mishra gain recognition in a short space of time.
Mishra has stated that the lyrics could stem from or be related to multiple situations. He says "When I wrote it, I was trying to write a pop song that had more than one perspective. Although it's written in the first person, the character behind that viewpoint isn't necessarily what the casual listener would expect".
Mishra wrote that the themes of the song include: "Being a member of an orthodox Trotskyist / Marxist movement. Being a straight guy in love with a lesbian. Being a gay guy in love with a straight man. Being a straight girl in love with a lying, two-timing, fake-arse Marxist. The hypocrisy that results when love and lust get mixed up with highbrow ideals." Mishra admitted that being signed to a major label didn't allow him to express creative control, and the loss of his anonymity due to the song's popularity drove him "mad".
The '>Abort, Retry, Fail?_' message that appeared on some inlay cards was explained by the artist: "Well, this cheerful message became a kind of shibboleth for me and sort-of characterizes what's been going on for me the last few years." The song was created using free MIDI sequencing software for the Atari ST and a cheap multitrack cassette tape recorder.

Composition

J'na Jefferson of Billboard summarized the song's production as a juxtaposition of the sampled track's, "despondent sound with upbeat, enduring energy", which Mishra said was inspired by the 1970s BBC drama-comedy series Pennies From Heaven. She labeled it "alt-pop", adding that it combines the Bowlly sample with "George Clinton-style funk from the '70s, Depeche Mode-inspired '80s electro pop, and '90s boom-bap hip-hop."
The song's lyrics contain various perspectives about love and relationships, and is, according to Mishra, a "flip" of Bowlly's original "anti-woman" theme. Regarding the song's concept and the perspective of which it is sang from, Mishra said "When you love somebody, it's not logical, it's not rational, and you think 'This is ridiculous, I can never be with you, I can never be the person you need, why am I even feeling these feelings?' So, I was trying to write from all these different sides… I wanted people to go 'this is catchy' and sing it, but then be like, 'What the hell?' at the same time".

Critical reception

from Billboard wrote that "the lines dividing electronic dance music and hip-hop are blurred on this instantly infectious ditty, Actually, the real creative inspiration here appears to come from "Good Times" and other classic hits by Chic. It's evident in the jangly guitar licks and the bounce of the backbeat." He added that "those with no historical reference will probably find the distorted vocals and mind-numbing horn samples good fun." Dave Fawbert from ShortList said, "It’s one of those classic, not-quite-sure-why-it-works-but-it-definitely-does tunes, so lo-fi that the song was actually on an Atari ST." Gina Morris from Smash Hits commented that "what's cool is that he recorded his debut single in his own room and then watched it go to number one."

Music video

The music video was produced in black and white silent film style. Most of the outdoor scenes were filmed in Derby.
In the video, there are numerous elements of acting, cinematography and editing that suggest an old fashioned film style. The exaggerated gestures of Chloé Treend, the hat wearing woman, helpless and fearful, and those of her quick tempered lover hint at the acting style from 1920s expressionist films. The ostensive metaphors, such as the use of hypnosis on the woman by the man or the recurring shots of crossroad signs bearing names of romantic relationship related attitudes, remind of the 1920s and 1930s efforts to express subjectivism in film.
The use of circular masks, as to emphasise focal points or for a mere elegant look, also belongs to the aforementioned period. At the point where the woman first enters the man's bedroom and in the final rope scene, match cuts are used in a manner resemblant of that from silent experimental films. Mishra can be seen for brief moments on television screens in the background.
There is also a scene where the woman closes the door on the man's arm, as she tries to escape from his advances. This is a direct reference to scene from Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel's surrealist film Un chien andalou.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Tyler James version

British singer songwriter Tyler James released a cover of the song. It was released as the third and final single from his debut studio album, The Unlikely Lad. It was released as a digital download in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2005. The song peaked at No. 60 on the UK Singles Chart.

Track listings

Charts

Release history

Princess Chelsea version

New Zealand musician Princess Chelsea released a cover of the song in 2009. It was released as her first single, and was a non-album single. It was released as a digital download.

Other covers