The song is written in the key of E-flat minor. The lyrics, which Rolling Stone characterized as "biblically chauvinistic",[4] attribute all the works of modern civilization (the car, the train, the boat ("Like Noah made the ark"), and the electric light) to the efforts of men, but claim that it all would "mean nothing without a woman or a girl".[5] The song also states that man made toys for the baby boys and girls, and comments about the fact that "Man makes money" to buy from other men. Before the song's fade, Brown states that man is lost in his bitterness and in the wilderness. Brown's co-writer and onetime girlfriend, Betty Jean Newsome, wrote the lyrics based on her own observations of the relations between the sexes. Newsome claimed in later years that Brown did not write any part of the song, and she argued in court that he sometimes forgot to pay her royalties.[6] In May 1966, Record World magazine reported that Brown, King Records and Dynatone Publishing were being sued by Clamike Records for alleged copyright infringement of the Betty Newsome song "It's a Man's World (But What Would He Do Without a Woman)".[7]
The composition of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" developed over a period of several years. Tammy Montgomery, better known as Tammi Terrell, recorded "I Cried", a Brown-penned song based on the same chord changes, in 1963. Brown himself recorded a demo version of the song, provisionally entitled "It's a Man's World", in 1964. This version later appeared on the CD compilations The CD of JB and Star Time. Les Buie(guitar) and Bernard Odum(bass) performanced on 1964 song.
The released version of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" was recorded quickly, in only two takes, with a studio ensemble that included members of Brown's touring band and a string sectionarranged and conducted by Sammy Lowe. A female chorus was involved in the recording sessions, but their parts were edited out of the song's final master.[8]
"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" became a staple of Brown's live shows for the rest of his career. Its slow, simmering groove and declamatory vocal line made it suitable for long, open-ended performances incorporating spoken ruminations on love and loss and sometimes interpolations from other songs. It appears on almost all of Brown's live albums starting with 1967's Live at the Garden. Brown also recorded a big band jazz arrangement of the song with the Louie Bellson Orchestra for his 1970 album Soul on Top.
Cash Box described the song as a "slow-shufflin’ emotion-charged item which points out that men are quite incomplete without women to love ’em."[9]
Australian musician Renée Geyer recorded a version in 1974. The song was released in November 1974 as the second single from her second studio album, It's a Man's Man's World. The song peaked at number 44 on the Australian Kent Music Report, becoming her first Australian top 50 single.
British soul singer Joss Stone released a live version (recorded at Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., December 7, 2003) in 2004 as both a vinyl and CD B-side of the A-side single, "Super Duper Love". It was included in a commercial for Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle in 2012 starring Keira Knightley.[26]
British artist RAYE performed and subsequently released a live version of the song from her July 18, 2024 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The cover was a part of RAYE's second live album and was accompanied by 6 other songs. [31]
The band Napalm Death released the song "It's a M.A.N.S World!", which attacks and parodies the ideas of chauvinism and patriarchy ideas. These were on their 1988 album From Enslavement to Obliteration.
Uses in popular culture
The song was featured in the 1993 film A Bronx Tale, which starred actor Robert De Niro, who also directed the film.
^Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 124. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
^"My Night at the Grammys". IGN. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
.jpg)
