It's a Man's Man's Man's World

This article is about the song. For the album, see It's a Man's Man's Man's World (album). For other uses, see It's a Man's World (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song written by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966, in a New York City studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2][3] Its title is a word play on the 1963 comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
Single by James Brown
from the album It's a Man's Man's Man's World
B-side	"Is It Yes or Is It No?"
Released	April 1966 (1966-04)^[1]
Recorded	February 16, 1966
Studio	Talent Masters, New York City
Genre	Soul
Length	2:52
Label	King
Songwriter(s)	James Brown Betty Jean Newsome
Producer(s)	James Brown
James Brown singles chronology
"Ain't That a Groove Part 1" (1966) "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (1966) "Money Won't Change You" (1966)
Audio sample
"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" This file has been proposed for deletion and may be deleted after Sunday, 7 April 2024. Click on file page link to object. file help
Music video
"James Brown - It's A Man's Man's Man's World" on YouTube

Song

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.

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 section arranged 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]

In 2004, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" was ranked number 123 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

In 2010, the 1966 recording of the song by James Brown on King Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.^[10]

Personnel

• James Brown – lead vocal

with studio band:

• Dud Bascomb – trumpet
• Waymon Reed – trumpet
• Lamarr Wright – trumpet
• Haywood Henry – baritone saxophone
• Ian Bridle – piano
• Billy Butler – guitar
• Bernard "Pretty" Purdie – drums

Other players, including trombone, bass and strings, unknown

Arranged and conducted by Sammy Lowe^[11]

Chart positions

Chart (1966)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[12]	14
France (SNEP)^[13]	49
US Billboard Hot 100^[14]	8
US R&B Singles (Billboard)^[15]	1
UK Singles (OCC)^[16]	13
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[17]	25

Renée Geyer version

"It's a Man's Man's World"
Single by Renée Geyer
from the album It's a Man's Man's World
A-side	"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
B-side	"Once in a Lifetime Thing"
Released	November 1974
Recorded	August 1974
Studio	Bill Armstrong Studios, Melbourne, Australia
Genre	Soul
Length	3:42
Label	RCA Records
Songwriter(s)	James Brown Betty Jean Newsome
Producer(s)	Tweed Harris
Renée Geyer singles chronology
"What Do I Do On Sunday Morning?" (1974) "It's a Man's Man's World" (1974) "Take Me Where You Took Me Last Night" (1975)

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.

Track listing

Australian 7" Single

• Side A "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" – 3:30
• Side B "Once in a Lifetime Thing" – 3:30

Charts

Chart (1974/75)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[18]	44

Other cover versions

The song has been recorded by many artists in various idioms over the years.

• American band The Residents recorded many cover of the song since 1984, and until 2020, performed the piece in many of their concerts.
• British band Brilliant recorded a cover of the song in 1985, peaking at No. 58 in the UK.
• Christina Aguilera performed a critically acclaimed rendition of the song as a posthumous tribute to James Brown at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Her performance has been voted as the 3rd Most Memorable Grammy Performance of all time, as presented in the 2007 CBS television special My Night at the Grammys.^{[19][20][21][22]} Later, in 2021, she performed the song for two nights at the Hollywood Bowl with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.^[23][24]
• 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.^[25]
• The cast of Glee featuring actress/singer Dianna Agron as her character Quinn Fabray covered the song during the twenty-first episode, entitled "Funk", and released it as a single. The song charted in the Canadian Hot 100 chart at 73, UK Singles Chart at 94 and in the Billboard Hot 100 chart at 95.^[26][27]
• Ventriloquist, Darci Lynne performed a cover with Petunia, her puppet, in Season 14 of America's Got Talent as a guest performer. Petunia dedicated the song to Preacher Lawson.^[28][29]

Sampling

• The song is sampled on Guilty Simpson's song "Man's World" produced by J Dilla.^[30]

• The song is sampled by Agust D with his self-produced song "Agust D".^[31]

Answer songs

• Neneh Cherry released the answer song "Woman" on her 1996 album Man in response to the chauvinism of the original.
• 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, 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.
• The song was featured in the 1993 television film Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 60s in Brussels, directed by Chantal Akerman.
• The song was also featured in the 2000 Liam Neeson/Sandra Bullock action comedy Gun Shy.
• The song appeared in the opening of the 2012 comedy hit Think Like a Man, starring Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union and Taraji P. Henson.
• The song was featured in the 2014 James Brown biopic Get On Up, starring Chadwick Boseman, Dan Aykroyd, and Viola Davis.
• The song was featured in the 2019 film The Kitchen.
• The song was featured in the 2020 film Birds of Prey, starring Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett, and Ewan McGregor.
• The ending song in The Godfather II.
• The song is featured in the video game MLB The Show 24.

References

1. Rodriguez, Robert (2012). Revolver: How the Beatles Re-Imagined Rock 'n' Roll. Montclair: Backbeat Books. p. 242. ISBN 978-1-61713-009-0.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 84.
3. White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In Star Time (pp. 54–59) [CD booklet]. Tamworth: PolyGram Records.
4. "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. April 7, 2011.
5. James Brown interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1970)
6. "It's a Woman's World". The Village Voice. December 18, 2007.
7. "Allege Infringement" (PDF). Record World. June 25, 1966. p. 3.
8. White, Cliff, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Are You Ready for Star Time?". In Star Time (pp. 29) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
9. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. April 23, 1966. p. 20. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
10. https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#i ^{[bare URL]}
11. Leeds, Alan, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". In Star Time (pp. 46–53) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
12. "James Brown – It's A Man's Man's Man's World" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
13. "James Brown – It's A Man's Man's Man's World" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
14. "James Brown Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
15. It's a Man's Man's Man's World – James Brown – Awards. AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
16. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
17. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5756." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2019/10/22.
18. 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. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
19. My Night at the Grammys (television special). CBS. November 30, 2007.
20. "Academy Announces Nov. TV Special". Grammy.com. The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
21. "My Night at the Grammys". IGN. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
22. "My Night at the Grammys". The Futon Critic. Futon Media. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
23. Aniftos, Rania (July 17, 2021). . Billboard. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
24. Cashmere, Paul (July 18, 2021). . Noise11.com. The Noise Network. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
25. "Coco Chanel Mademoiselle TV Commercial Featuring Keira Knightley". iSpot.tv.
26. "Hot 100: The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 122, no. 24. June 19, 2010. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510.
27. "Glee Cast – It's A Man's, Man's Man's World". αcharts.us. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
28. Malone, Michael (September 3, 2019). "Sean Hayes, Queen Latifah to Guest Judge on 'America's Got Talent'". Broadcasting & Cable.
29. Aniftos, Rania (September 4, 2019). "Ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer Returns to 'America's Got Talent' to Perform 'It's A Man's World': Watch". Billboard.
30. "J Dilla – exclusive – The Wire". The Wire Magazine – Adventures in Modern Music.
31. "BTS' Suga says his first mixtape 'Agust D' "sounds immature" in hindsight". NME. April 10, 2023.

External links

• Song Review from Allmusic