"Sisters, O Sisters" | ||||
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Single by Yoko Ono | ||||
from the album Some Time in New York City | ||||
A-side | "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (John Lennon) | |||
Released | 24 April 1972 (US) | |||
Format | 7" vinyl | |||
Recorded | February 1972 at Record Plant East, New York City | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 3:48 | |||
Label | Apple | |||
Songwriter(s) | Yoko Ono | |||
Producer(s) | John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector | |||
John Lennon singles chronology | ||||
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Some Time in New York City track listing | ||||
16 tracks
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"Sisters, O Sisters," also known as "Sisters O Sisters," is a song written by Yoko Ono that first appeared on John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's 1972 album Some Time in New York City, backed by Elephant's Memory. It was also released as the b-side to the couple's "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" single. It has also been covered by a number of artists, including Le Tigre and Tater Totz.
Authors Ken Bielen and Ben Urish describe "Sisters, O Sisters" as a "cheerful feminist anthem." John Blaney calls it "Ono's open letter to her oppressed sisters." Before the song begins on the album there is spoken dialogue in which Ono refers to the "male chauvinist pig engineer" and Lennon responds "right on, sister." The song's lyrics encourage women to use their power to improve the world. Music critic Johnny Rogan classifies the song as a "rallying cry".
"Sisters, O Sisters" was intended as a reggae song, but, according to Lennon, Elephant's Memory were all from New York, and they did not understand reggae. Lennon claimed that he tried to explain reggae to them by teaching them Desmond Dekker's "The Israelites." He stated that "If you listen to [Sisters, O Sisters], you'll hear me trying to get them to reggae." Blaney describes the result as "a conventional rock song with a reggae twist."
"Sisters, O Sisters" was produced by Phil Spector along with Ono and Lennon.Beatles expert Bruce Spizer describes the sound of the song's backing track as "a throwback to [Spector's] wall of sound girl group records of the 60s."