I am Woman By: Helen Reddy

I am Woman Lyrics I am woman, hear me roar In numbers too big to ignore And I know too much to go back an' pretend 'cause I've heard it all before And I've been down there on the floor No one's ever gonna keep me down again CHORUS Oh yes I am wise But it's wisdom born of pain Yes, I've paid the price But look how much I gained If I have to, I can do anything I am strong (strong) I am invincible (invincible) I am woman

You can bend but never break me 'cause it only serves to make me More determined to achieve my final goal And I come back even stronger Not a novice any longer 'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul CHORUS I am woman watch me grow See me standing toe to toe As I spread my lovin' arms across the land But I'm still an embryo With a long long way to go Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise But it's wisdom born of pain Yes, I've paid the price But look how much I gained If I have to I can face anything I am strong (strong) I am invincible (invincible) I am woman Oh, I am woman I am invincible I am strong FADE I am woman I am invincible I am strong I am woman

Literary Criticism Back Hyperbole A Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement. “I am women, hear me roar” Helen is not actually saying that she is going to roar like a lion she is saying, Hey, I’m a women listen to what I have to say Back

Anaphora The deliberate repetition of words at the beginning of several successful verses or clauses or paragraphs. Back

Personification Giving human like qualities to animals or objects. “But its wisdom born of pain” this phrase is personification because wisdom can’t be born Back

Metaphor Back the comparison of two UNLIKE things But I'm still an embryo, With a long long way to go This phrase is a metaphor because when Helen wrote this she was a woman, but by saying she is an embryo she means that women were still young and did not have all the knowledge and wisdom that men had Back

Theme I think Helen wants us to understand that just because we are women does not mean that we can’t do anything we put our minds to. Back

Point of View “I am Women” was written from a women’s point of view, therefore it talks about the struggle and hardships that women had to endure in the 1960’s. However I bet the point of view and whole theme of this song would be different if it was written from a man’s point of view Back

Rhyme Scheme The Rhyme Scheme is A,A,B,C,C,B You can bend but never break me 'cause it only serves to make me More determined to achieve my final goal And I come back even stronger Not a novice any longer 'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul Back

Historical Reference Back “And I’ve been down there on the floor” This phrase in the song makes a reference towards how women were always in a lower class than men. Men thought that Women did not belong in politics Back

Historical Reference Back “I come back stronger, Not a novice any longer” This phrase is basically stating how women are stronger now because of the Women’s Movement and how back then they had less and unfair rights than men did. Back

Historical Reference Back “If I have to, I can do anything” this phrase relates to The 19th Amendment when women gained the right to vote. They wanted the right to vote so they put their minds to it and achieve that goal. Back

Historical Reference Back “In numbers too big to ignore” Makes a reference towards the 19th amendment about how they were thousands of women fighting for equal rights and the right to vote Back

Historical Reference Back “I've paid the price, But look how much I gained” Women paid the price by going on strikes and petitions, meeting all together and speaking and by doing that they gained the Right to Vote. Back

Historical Reference Back “I am woman watch me grow See me standing toe to toe” Watch me grow and standing toe to toe is relating to how there were so many women that they seemed to grow in numbers and they stood next to each other and didn’t back down. Back

Biography Helen Reddy was born in Melbourne, Australia. She grew up with a rich life style with both of her parents in the show business. She married a mailroom assistant boy named Jeff Wald. Her first song was “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” she never really liked it but her husband thought differently. So using only a telephone and a credit card, he worked day after day, phoning in radio stations trying to get air play for her song. After many days of hard work his effort finally paid off and he got the song to become a top 20 hit in 1971. After that her songs became even more popular and her career hit its climax with a song called “I am Woman”. She was the first Australian to win an award in Germany for the song “I am Women”. As she reached the climax of her career disaster struck, both of her parents died and she was diagnosed with an incurable disease. But with the help of her song “I am Woman” she realized that she can achieve anything that blocks her path. One of the awards that Helen achieved was a tulip was named after her in Holland. In 2002 Helen retired from the live audience and became a clinical hypnotherapist and a motivational speaker. Back

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