Helen Reddy and the Making of an Anthem
Congress was in the midst of finalizing the Equal Rights Amendment for state ratification and the U.S. Supreme Court was in the throes of deliberating Roe v. Wade when Helen Reddy recorded “I Am Woman.” The song became an anthem that helped define the women’s movement in the 1970s and made the singer an instant feminist icon.
More than 40 years after it became a hit in 1972, Reddy reflects on her signature song and its relevance today. She says she remembers lying in bed one night when the words “I am woman, hear me roar” came to mind. The opening lyrics have endured in the pop culture lexicon and was even echoed last year in Katy Perry’s hit song “Roar,” which is considered a feminist cry and a nod to Reddy.
Reddy says she was undoubtedly influenced by the women’s rights movement at the time, but her motivation was to write a song about women that would be different from those that were common on the radio back in the day.
“They were all cotton candy and garbage,” she tells The Advocate. “No one else was writing songs about strong women, so I thought, why not me?”
http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/music/2014/11/29/helen-reddy-and-making-anthem
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Thus, she had to be (figuratively) destroyed. So the endless parodies on SNL and Family Guy and Simpsons, etc.
But in fact, her work was admired by thousands of people. From what I understand, she later had financial issues, and when her landlord (post-lease) discovered she was "THE Helen Reddy", he told her that she was welcome to stay on the premises as long as she liked, for whatever she could afford, in light of what her work had done to improve the consciousness and lives of women everywhere.
Beyond I Am Woman, she wrote a ton of really moving and delightful songs. Two of my personal favorites are "Peaceful" and "You And Me Against The World". I've read that she now is touring again, like Cat Stevens, after many years of absence from the whole music scene. Brings me much happiness.
