Woman (Oh Mama)

Album: Venus (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The first single off Joy Williams' Venus album, the former Civil Wars songstress said of the song: "It's what it's like to experience the beauty, the spark and strength of what it is to be inside your skin. It's a song with energy and fire. I wanted to own the complexity and the three dimensional aspect of what it is to be a woman. I'm excited about being a woman. I'm excited to be where I am now, who I am now."
  • Williams (from USA Today): '"Woman (Oh Mama)' is like that first conversation you have on a first date. Everything's kind of meta, and it's the invitation to a deeper conversation."
  • Williams penned this tribal-sounding song with Matt Morris (Christina Aguilera's "Can't Hold Us Down," Kelly Clarkson's "Miss Independent") and Audra Mae (Miranda Lambert's "Little Red Wagon").

    It was Justin Timberlake who first introduced Joy Williams to his fellow The Mickey Mouse Club member Matt Morris. (Williams and Timberlake first met backstage at The David Letterman Show years previously and have kept in touch ever since.) She recalled: "I was describing [to Timberlake] the process of getting a certain distance on the record that I was happy about but feeling like there was another distance that I had yet to go, to push myself. He said, 'I think you need to meet Matt.' Matt and I met for coffee one day, and it was immediate kinship, with immediate creative connections. It was the breath of fresh air I really needed to find myself in the solo process."
  • Williams incorporated much of what she learned as part of the Civil Wars, when penning the songs for Venus. "I wanted to take the best parts of what I learned from being in the Civil Wars and bring it into a new space where I could infuse more of my influences," she said." I got to blend in Kate Bush, Portishead, Massive Attack and Peter Gabriel. I've brought my story with me, not tried to reject it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Prince

PrinceFact or Fiction

Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?

Trucking Songs That Were #1 Hits

Trucking Songs That Were #1 HitsSong Writing

The stories behind the biggest hit songs about trucking.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.