| "She's Always a Woman" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Billy Joel | ||||
| from the album The Stranger | ||||
| B-side | "Vienna" | |||
| Released | 1977 | |||
| Format | 7", 12" | |||
| Recorded | A & R Recording, Inc., New York City | |||
| Genre | Jazz Rock |
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| Length | 3:21 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Billy Joel | |||
| Producer | Phil Ramone | |||
| Billy Joel singles chronology | ||||
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"She's Always a Woman" is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 album The Stranger. It is a love song about a modern woman, with whom he falls in love for her quirks as well as her flaws. The single peaked at #17 in the U.S. and in 1986 peaked at #53 in the UK when released as a double A-side single with Just the Way You Are. On May 2, 2010 the song re-entered the UK chart at #29. The song is played in compound time signatures of 6/8 9/8 and 12/8.
Contents |
| Chart (1977) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 17 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 2 |
| Chart (1978) | Peak Position |
| Canadian Singles Chart[1] | 12 |
| Dutch Top 40[2] | 15 |
| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
| Irish Singles Chart | 22 |
| UK Singles Chart | 53 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart | 29 |
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
| Austrian Singles Chart[3] | 37 |
The song was released in 1977, following several other hits from Billy Joel's successful album The Stranger including "Just the Way You Are", "Movin' Out" and "Only the Good Die Young". Musically, Joel has said that he was influenced by Gordon Lightfoot and his mellow acoustic guitar ballads. Lyrically, many people misinterpreted the words as being misogynistic or sarcastic, but it is a ballad, a love song that Joel wrote for his then wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth had taken over management of Joel's career, and was able to put his financial affairs in order after Joel had signed some bad deals and contracts. She was a tough and savvy negotiator who could "wound with her eyes" or "steal like a thief", but would "never give in". Because of her tough-as-nails negotiating style, many business adversaries thought she was "unfeminine," but to Joel, she was always a woman. The two eventually divorced in 1982.[4]
| "She's Always a Woman" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Fyfe Dangerfield | ||||
| from the album Fly Yellow Moon | ||||
| Released | 10 May 2010 | |||
| Format | Digital download | |||
| Length | 3:14 | |||
| Label | Fantastic Plastic, Polydor | |||
| Fyfe Dangerfield singles chronology | ||||
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Fyfe Dangerfield, lead singer of the band Guillemots, recorded a version of this song in 2010 which was used in an advertisement for the British department store John Lewis.[5] Subsequently, the Billy Joel original re-entered the UK singles chart at number 29 on 1 May 2010. On 1 May 2010, a new version of the advert aired; which shows more of the song cover. In the annual ITV poll for 2010 advert of the year; "John Lewis - She's always a Woman" ranked fourth.
The advert has been viewed on YouTube over 570,000 times (collectively from the top 3 results) since it aired on TV.[6]
"She's Always a Woman" first debuted on the UK Singles Chart on 2 May 2010 at #99. On its second week in the chart, the single climbed 85 places to #14, marking Dangerfield's most successful single to date. On 16 May 2010, the single climbed 7 places to a current peak of #7 before falling to #9 in its second week within the Top 10.
| Chart (2010) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[8] | 7 |
The American indie rock band Copeland released a cover of this song on the 2004 album Know Nothing Stays the Same.
In 2006, saxophonist Michael Lington covered the song from his renditions album "A Song for You".[9][10]
British singer John Barrowman released a cover version of this song on his 2007 album Another Side.
The King's Singers covered this song on their 2008 Grammy winning album "Simple gifts".
Bassist Jon Reshard released a cover version of this song on his eponymous 2009 album.
Actress and singer Lynda Carter released a cover version on her debut album Portrait.