Woman

(For the other half of the sky)

Woman, I can hardly express
My mixed emotions and my thoughtlessness
After all, I'm forever in your debt
And woman, I will try to express
My inner feelings and thankfulness
For showing me the meaning of success

Ooh, well, well
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
Ooh, well, well
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo

Woman, I know you understand
The little child inside the man
Please remember my life is in your hands
And woman hold me close to your heart
However distant don't keep us apart
After all it is written in the stars

Woman please let me explain
I never meant to cause you sorrow or pain
So let me tell you again and again and again

I love you, yeah, yeah
Now and forever
I love you, yeah, yeah
Now and forever
I love you, yeah, yeah
Now and forever
I love you, yeah, yeah

I’ve always liked this Lennon tune, and heard it again for the first time in a long while, the other day on Spotify. It would be easy I suppose to assume this is just a tribute to Yoko Ono, but I read that John also considered it a tribute to women in general. Listening more closely to the lyrics, I had a feeling that he was not just speaking to one particular woman.

The song made me think about the gratitude I feel for women, broadly and specifically.

The fact that we are here at all is thanks to all of the amazingly strong women who over generations have carried us for months and risked their lives to birth and nurture us.

I’m grateful to all of the caring and intelligent women I have had romantic relationships with. Some of them have hurt me and some of them I have hurt. Some I am still friends with, and some, after being so close, I will never see again.

We are successful because of women on many levels, and they deserve to be treated equally and to have all the same privileges and rights granted to men. Now and forever.

---