"Woman Power" is a
single released by
Yoko Ono. It was originally released on September 24, 1973 through Apple.
John Lennon played guitar on the track in a performance that Ken Bielen and Ben Urish described as, "especially gritty."[1] Bielen and Urish described Lennon's
rhythm guitar solo as prefiguring his guitar playing on his last creative work, Ono's "
Walking on Thin Ice."[1] Lennon uses the alias "John O'Cean" for the song, possibly in reference to Ono's name translating as "Ocean Child" in Japanese.[2] A remix version was released on August 26, 2014 through Mind Train / Twisted. It reached number six on Billboard's
Hot Dance Club Play chart.
In 2018 Refinery29 contributor Courtney E. Smith claimed that "the immediacy and relevance of the song is startling" and stated that "Ono's call out to then-President Richard Nixon in the track to find his humanity...is just as applicable to current President Donald Trump."[3] According to Ono, the original version of the song was "very confrontational to guys" telling men that "We’ll teach you how to cook, we’ll teach you how to knit."[4] Looking back on the song in 2015 she felt men had learned these things and she was writing a new version about men and women getting together that she planned to sing at the
Modern Sky Festival that year.[4]
A revised version of the song was released on Warzone in 2018.[5] According to Pitchfork, this version "loses its sense of spontaneous play" as the "roaring electric guitars" and "commanding drumbeat" that gave the original version urgency fade behind Ono's voice in the 2nd half of the revised version and are eventually replaced by
string instruments.[5] Although an electric guitar returns at the end with what Pitchfork says that "it feels as though two visions of the future are competing: one in which women have already seized the power afforded to men, and one in which Ono mourns that power’s lack."[5]
Track listing
Remixes Part 1
"Woman Power (Alyson Calagna Vocal Mix)" – 5:43
"Woman Power (Alyson Calagna Dub)" – 5:40
"Woman Power (Dave Aude Radio Edit)" – 3:35
"Woman Power (Dave Aude Club Mix)" – 5:36
"Woman Power (Dave Aude Dub)" – 5:38
"Woman Power (Dave Aude Instrumental)" – 5:36
"Woman Power (Mike Cruz Power Mix)" – 5:47
"Woman Power (Mike Cruz Power Dub)" – 8:53
"Woman Power (Twisted Dee Anthem Mix)" – 7:37
"Woman Power (Twisted Dee Dub)" – 7:37
Remixes Part 2
"Woman Power (Pagano Club Mix) [feat. Yoko Ono]" – 5:42
"Woman Power (Tracy Young Club Mix) [feat. Yoko Ono]" – 7:00
"Woman Power (Ben Manson & Gerald Henderson Mix) [feat. Yoko Ono]" – 5:34
"Woman Power (JamLimmat & Dani Vars Mix) [feat. Yoko Ono]" – 6:04
"Woman Power (Severino &
Terry Farley Mix) [feat. Yoko Ono]" – 6:18
"Woman Power (Rosabel Club Mix) [feat. Yoko Ono]" – 7:02
"Woman Power (Bojan Club Mix) [feat. Yoko Ono]" – 6:10
