"Sea Lion Woman" (also "Sea-Line Woman", "See [the] Lyin' Woman", "She Lyin' Woman", "See-Line Woman", or "C-Line Woman") is a traditional American folk song originally used as a children's playground song.[1]
The exact origins of the song are unknown but it is believed to have originated in the southern United States. It was first recorded by folklore researcher Herbert Halpert on May 13, 1939.[2] Halpert was compiling a series of field recordings for the Library of Congress in Byhalia, MS, when he ran across Walter Shipp, a minister, and his wife Mary, a choir director of a local church. Halpert recorded Shipp's daughters, Katherine and Christine, singing a sparse version of "Sea Lion Woman" that defined the basic rhymes and rhythm of the song.
Notable covers include a version by Nina Simone (1964) under the name See-Line Woman, Ollabelle's version featured in the 2006 album Riverside Battle Songs under the name See Line Woman and Feist's cover featured in the 2007 album The Reminder. The Easybeats also recorded it, the song closing their 1967 album Friday On My Mind. A version remixed by Greg Hale Jones and Russell Ziecker entitled She Began To Lie, contains extracts from the original traditional song performed by the Shipp sisters and was used on the soundtrack of the 1999 feature film The General's Daughter.[3]
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Nina Simone popularized the song as "See-Line Woman" on her 1964 album Broadway-Blues-Ballads. The song was remixed by Masters at Work for the 2002 compilation Verve//Remixed and by J.Viewz in 2008.
| "Sea Lion Woman (aka Sealion)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| digital download by Feist from the album The Reminder | ||||
| Released | 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:39 | |||
| Label | Cherrytree, Interscope, Arts & Crafts | |||
| Writer | Feist, George Bass, Nina Simone | |||
| The Reminder track listing | ||||
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The song was covered by Feist on her 2007 album The Reminder. "Sea Lion Woman" is Feist's original title for this song but on the album it was shortened to "Sealion". Despite their version being based on the original lyrics, Feist and Bass were credited as writers for the Reminder recording. It charted in the Canadian Charts under the name "Sea Lion Woman".
"Sea Lion Woman" has charted only in one country through digital downloads.
| Chart (2008) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canada | 74[4] |
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