Just Like a Woman

I'm going to tell you right now my mom is going to appreciate this post, even though most of it is a song I copied and printed and pasted here. I've been playing with Pandora.com today, and Richie Haven's version of "Just Like a Woman" came on. Y'all know I'm teetering on the edge of super crazy depression and I bawled like a baby when I heard it. (BTW, I'm getting help. I'll probably talk more about that on my other blog on Today's Mama; it is a blog about dealing with depression, after all. Anyhow, I love Richie Havens.

Did you know that this song has been accused of being misogynistic? I gotta tell you, Bob Dylan somehow was in my non-existent, not yet even born head when he wrote this one. The first time I heard this song with mature ears, I understood why legions of females were swooning over him. How many men write a song like this that not only speaks to women, but inhabits their psyches?

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Nobody feels any pain
Tonight as I stand inside the rain
Ev'rybody knows
That Baby's got new clothes
But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
Have fallen from her curls
She takes just like a woman, yes she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.


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Queen Mary, she's my friend
Yes, I believe I'll go see her again
Nobody has to guess
That Baby can't be blessed
Till she finally sees that she's like all the rest
With her fog, her amphetamine and her pearls
She takes just like a woman, yes she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.


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It's was raining from the first
And I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here
And your long-time curse hurts
But what's worse
Is this pain in here
I can't stay in here
Ain't it clear that.


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I just can't fit
Yes, I believe it's time for us to quit
When we meet again
Introduced as friends
Please don't let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world
Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes you do
You make love just like a woman, yes you do
Then you ache just like a woman
But you break just like a little girl.


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We women have secret places. We hide behind strong facades for the benefit of others around us when we really do feel just like little girls. When did all of this growing up and maturity and everything that we are supposed to be so wise about happen? And yes, we ache and break and all of those things The Great Dylan said. You know that Secret Garden that Bruce Springsteen talks about (which is worthy of it's own post)? When I hear this song, I feel like someone received ungranted access to that place. And only God and I have access to that little spot in my soul. And The Great Dylan.