"Sea Lion Woman" (also "Sealion Woman", "Sea-Line Woman", "See [the] Lyin' Woman", "She Lyin' Woman", "See-Line Woman", or "C-Line Woman") is a traditional African American folk song originally used as a children's playground song.[1]
The song was first recorded by folklore researcher Herbert Halpert on May 13, 1939. Halpert was compiling a series of field recordings for the Library of Congress in Byhalia, MS, when he ran across Walter Shipp, a minister, and his wife Mary, a choir director of a local church. Halpert recorded Shipp's daughters, Katherine and Christine, singing a spare version of "Sea Lion Woman" that defined the basic rhymes and rhythm of the song.[2]
The exact origins of the song are unknown but it is believed to have originated in the southern United States. According to Tom Schnabel of KCRW,[3] he was told that Nina Simone's "See-line Woman" was a 19th-century seaport song about sailors coming into port (e.g. Charleston or New Orleans) and prostitutes waiting for them, lined up along the dock, hence the term 'sea line' (a line of women by the sea) or alternatively, 'see-line' (women standing in a line to be seen). In this account, their dress colors allegedly signified the specific services they offered.
Nina Simone popularized the song as "See-Line Woman". Her original studio recording was first released in 1964 as the single B-side of "Mississippi Goddam", a song that marked her turn to political engagement with Civil Rights protest songs. On the single's label "See-Line Woman" is credited as having been written by George Houston Bass[4] and arranged by Simone.[5] The song was then part of her album Broadway-Blues-Ballads of the same year, and it was featured again as a single the next year, this time as an A-side coupled with "I Love Your Lovin' Ways". She often performed the song in concert, and, according to Tom Schnabel, Simone occasionally altered her lyrics.[3]
Song versionsedit
Most versions of the song cover Nina Simone's lyrics and arrangement with syncopated hand-claps (or percussion) and more than one back-up voice for the response.
An early cover of Simone's version was recorded in 1967 by the Australian beat band the Easybeats as the closing track for their album Good Friday.
In 1987, Irish rock band Hothouse Flowers released a live recording of the song (credited only to G. H. Bass) on a 12" maxi edition of their first single, "Love Don't Work This Way", a year before their first album.[6]
Nina Simone's version of the song was prominently covered by Feist for her 2007 album The Reminder. "Sea Lion Woman" was Feist's original title for this song but on the album it was shortened to "Sealion".[7] It charted through digital downloads under the title "Sea Lion Woman" and peaked at No. 94 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart.[8]
A remix of the seldom used original recording of the traditional song performed by the Shipp sisters was produced by Greg Hale Jones and Russell Ziecker entitled "She Began to Lie"; it became part of the soundtrack for the 1999 feature filmThe General's Daughter.[9]
Nina Simone's 1964 recording was remixed by Masters at Work for a 12" single release in 2002 (coupled with the original 1964 recording), and was part of the Verve label compilation Verve//Remixed of the same year. Other remixes of the recording were produced by J.Views in 2008, and by Ogris Debris in 2012.
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Sea Lion Woman also Sealion Woman Sea Line Woman See the Lyin Woman She Lyin Woman See Line Woman or C Line Woman is a traditional African American folk song originally used as a children s playground song 1 Contents 1 History 2 Song versions 3 Remixes and sampling 4 Lyrics 5 References 6 External linksHistory editThe song was first recorded by folklore researcher Herbert Halpert on May 13 1939 Halpert was compiling a series of field recordings for the Library of Congress in Byhalia MS when he ran across Walter Shipp a minister and his wife Mary a choir director of a local church Halpert recorded Shipp s daughters Katherine and Christine singing a spare version of Sea Lion Woman that defined the basic rhymes and rhythm of the song 2 The exact origins of the song are unknown but it is believed to have originated in the southern United States According to Tom Schnabel of KCRW 3 he was told that Nina Simone s See line Woman was a 19th century seaport song about sailors coming into port e g Charleston or New Orleans and prostitutes waiting for them lined up along the dock hence the term sea line a line of women by the sea or alternatively see line women standing in a line to be seen In this account their dress colors allegedly signified the specific services they offered Nina Simone popularized the song as See Line Woman Her original studio recording was first released in 1964 as the single B side of Mississippi Goddam a song that marked her turn to political engagement with Civil Rights protest songs On the single s label See Line Woman is credited as having been written by George Houston Bass 4 and arranged by Simone 5 The song was then part of her album Broadway Blues Ballads of the same year and it was featured again as a single the next year this time as an A side coupled with I Love Your Lovin Ways She often performed the song in concert and according to Tom Schnabel Simone occasionally altered her lyrics 3 Song versions editMost versions of the song cover Nina Simone s lyrics and arrangement with syncopated hand claps or percussion and more than one back up voice for the response An early cover of Simone s version was recorded in 1967 by the Australian beat band the Easybeats as the closing track for their album Good Friday In 1987 Irish rock band Hothouse Flowers released a live recording of the song credited only to G H Bass on a 12 maxi edition of their first single Love Don t Work This Way a year before their first album 6 Nina Simone s version of the song was prominently covered by Feist for her 2007 album The Reminder Sea Lion Woman was Feist s original title for this song but on the album it was shortened to Sealion 7 It charted through digital downloads under the title Sea Lion Woman and peaked at No 94 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart 8 The folk rock group Ollabelle rearranged the song in 2006 as a rock version for their album Riverside Battle Songs American experimental band Xiu Xiu covered the song as See Line Woman on their 2013 Nina Simone tribute album Nina The song was also covered by singers Katie Melua featuring Arno and Brooke Fraser from New Zealand among others An instrumental version of the song was recorded by jazz saxophonist Yusef Lateef on his 1967 Atlantic album The Complete Yusef Lateef Remixes and sampling editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message A remix of the seldom used original recording of the traditional song performed by the Shipp sisters was produced by Greg Hale Jones and Russell Ziecker entitled She Began to Lie it became part of the soundtrack for the 1999 feature film The General s Daughter 9 A house remix of the song was produced by Jerome Sydenham and Kerri Chandler calling themselves The Songstress for Ibadan Records in 1997 In 1999 a UK garage version titled See Line Woman 99 reached No 64 on the UK Singles Chart 10 and No 3 on the UK Dance Singles Chart 11 Nina Simone s 1964 recording was remixed by Masters at Work for a 12 single release in 2002 coupled with the original 1964 recording and was part of the Verve label compilation Verve Remixed of the same year Other remixes of the recording were produced by J Views in 2008 and by Ogris Debris in 2012 The song is sampled in H C P by Frayser Boy from the 2003 album Gone on That Bay The Durutti Column sampled this on the track Woman on their 2003 album Someone Else s Party Kanye West sampled Nina Simone for the track Bad News on his 2008 album 808s amp Heartbreak A house version of the song with samples of Nina Simone s recording by was produced by French DJ Bob Sinclar for his 2013 album Paris by Night A version is also found over the ending credits of the 2016 movie American Fable Wade s Remix of See Line by Dennis Cruz released by Solid Grooves Records Lyrics edit Sea Lion Woman Sea Lion Woman Sea Lion She drank coffee Sea Lion She drank tea Sea Lion And gamble lie Sea Lion Way down yonder Sea Lion I m going maul Sea Lion And the rooster crow Sea Lion And he got no lie Sea Lion Sea lion woman Sea Lion She drank coffee Sea Lion She drank tea Sea Lion And gamble lie Sea Lion Sea lion woman Sea Lion She drank coffee Sea Lion She drank tea Sea Lion And gamble lie Sea Lion The children s song lyrics Sea lion woman sea la She drinks coffee sea la She drink tea sea la In the candle light sea la Way down yonder sea la Hind a log sea la And the rooster crowed sea la And the gander lied sea la See line Woman by Nina Simone and George Bass citation needed See line woman She drink coffee She drink tea And then go homeSee line woman See line woman Dressed in green Wears silk stockings With golden seamsSee line woman See line woman Dressed in red Make a man Lose his headSee line woman See line woman Black dress on For a thousand dollars She wail and she moanSee line woman Wiggle wiggle Turn like a cat Wink at a man And he wink backNow child See line woman Empty his pockets And wreck his days Make him love her And she ll fly awaySee line woman Take it on out now Empty his pockets And she wreck his days And she make him love her Then she sure fly away She got a black dress on For a thousand dollars She wail and she moan c Warner Chappell Music Inc References edit Afro American Blues and Game Songs The Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture Retrieved November 8 2009 Entry and recording of Sea Lion Woman at the American Library of Congress a b The Real Meaning to Nina Simone s Classic Song See Line Woman by Tom Schnabel posted July 9 2013 on KCRW Rhythm Planet website Hughes Langston 2015 Selected Letters of Langston Hughes Rampersad Arnold Roessel David E David Ernest 1954 First ed New York p 401 ISBN 978 0 375 41379 7 OCLC 878812898 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Pictures of single labels on Discogs com Hothouse Flowers Love Don t Work This Way at Discogs Feist The Reminder AllMusic Retrieved 2020 04 29 Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Chart Billboard 2008 04 26 Retrieved 2020 04 29 Review of The General s Daughter from moviemusicuk us Retrieved November 8 2009 SONGSTRESS full Official Chart History Official Charts Company Official Charts Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40 Official Charts Company Official Charts External links editSea Lion Woman The Biography of a Song 2013 public lecture at Memorial University of Newfoundland Cover list on WhoSampled Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sea Lion Woman amp oldid 1148206047, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
