Shirley Brown - "Woman To Woman"

(Woman 1)
Shirley Brown's "Woman To Woman" from 1974 was my highlight from an impressive Stax compilation album I bought quite a few years back. There are a couple of interesting things about this song, other than being a brilliant Stax single... I will get to that soon. First, I better explain a bit about the song. The song starts as a spoken narration, as in a phone call from one woman telling the other, after finding her number in her man's pocket, that her man is not going to be shared with her.... in other words, a subtle way of telling her to leave her man alone. Now, I'm sure you know exactly what my interesting points are, but here they are all the same... 1, I don't think any woman would choose to sing a song like this anymore. 2, Most women in the situation the protagonist is in, with her cheating man, would tell him to fuck off, these days. So this song may have a generational gap that may seem strange to the Generation X and Y's, but it is also an amazing slice of soul from the baby boom generation that perfected the genre, although innocent in comparison to the current soul releases. Shirley Brown was apparently a second choice after Inez Foxx turned it down... we don't know what Inez Foxx would've done with this song, but we do know what Shirley Brown did and it is nothing short of brilliant.

(Woman 2)
I love answer songs (or response songs) and "Woman To Woman" had an answer song released in 1975 called "From His Woman to You" by Barbara Mason. It starts off with the phone narration from Shirley Brown's "Woman To Woman" and then we hear the reply from the so-called mistress.... Some may say she was just cashing in... I say, "fucking clever."

(Woman 1)


(Woman 2)


Woman To Woman (Woman 1)

"Hello, may I speak to Barbara? Barbara, this is Shirley
You might not know who I am but the reason I am calling you is because
I was going through my old man's pockets this morning
And I just happened to find your name and number"

"So woman to woman, I don't think it's being
Any more than fair to call you and let you know where I'm coming from
Now Barbara, I don't know how you're gonna take this
But whether you be cool or come out of a bag on me"

"You see it doesn't really make any difference
But it's only fair that I let you know that
The man you're in love with he's mine
From the top of his head to the bottom of his feet"

"The bed he sleeps in and every piece of food he eats
You see I make it possible
The clothes on his back, ha ha, I buy them
The car he drives, I pay the note every month"

"So I'm telling you these things to let you know
How much I love this man
And woman to woman I think you'll understand
Just how much I'll do to keep him"

Woman to woman, if you've ever been in love
Then you know how I feel
And woman to woman, now if you were in my shoes
Wouldn't you have done the same thing too?

Woman to woman, can't you see where I'm coming from?
Woman to woman, ain't that the same thing you would have done?
Woman to woman, now should I dare step aside
And let her take what's rightfully mine?

Woman to woman, was I right or was I wrong?
I ain't gonna let you break up my happy home
Now, woman to woman, now you see I don't want no trouble now
I hope you understand, I love that man and he's mine

I'm talking to you woman to woman
You should be woman enough to understand
That man, I love that man, woman, woman
Woman to woman, he's mine and I ain't gonna give him up
No baby and I ain't lyin' now
The best of my I give to my man

From His Woman To You (Woman 2)

Now wait a minute, Shirley
I'm a young woman
And can't aford to all the things
You do for this man
I don't even have a job

And I can't buy his clothes
Pay his car note
And I surely can't keep
Money in his pocket

But I can give him what he needs
When he needs it
And that's all he expects from me

I can give him love
From his woman to you

There's a thing or two
I'd like to say
I don't care who claims this man
I'm gonna love him in a way

Woman to woman
He spent last night with me
Stayed here 'cause this is
Where he wanted to be

From his woman to you
I've got to make it
As plain as I can
Seems to me you're doing
Too much for the man

From his woman to you
Buying his loving
It's giving up yourself
And I feel sorry for you
I feel sorry for you

I don't mind sharing
If you don't bother me
I, I, I, I won't bother you

From his woman to you
I don't know what
You're gonna, gonna do

But he's been given me
What he's getting from you
Woman to woman, ooh
That's, that's the truth

From his woman to you
Seems like, seems like
You're the fool
I'm his only woman

And I love him
And I ain't about to give him
Give him up, up, up

I'm his only woman